Three reasons why I write

“To the world you may just one person; to one person, you may be the world.”     -C.S. Lewis Three reasons why I write I’m asked nearly weekly, “Why do you write?” Here are three short stories that answer that question: My friend Wayne is living in Dallas right now. He’s awaiting a double lung transplant that will save his life. …

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Stolen Christmas Trees… Thoughts on Holiday Giving

A Stolen Christmas Tree From the book,  Wind in the Pines, by Curt Iles   copyright 2004 Creekbank St0ries “I know I tagged a tree in this area.”  Those are the words of my neighbor, Mitzi Foreman, as she walks through our Christmas tree farm on a blustery Sunday afternoon. Together we search through where she tagged her tree last week …

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The Warm Glow of Giving

The Warm Glow of Giving It’s the kind of December day Louisiana is famous for: cold, foggy, with a thick humidity that chills you to the bottom of your toes. Parking my truck at the Hope Center, I feel kind of like the weather. I didn’t sleep good last night and my “battery needs re-charging.”  I wipe my boots on …

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"Medic" A Christmas story from Dec. 1944:Battle of the Bulge

MEDIC! This is a different type of story from what I normally write. It was featured in a Christmas compilation called  The Write Before Christmas. By Curt Iles “Medic. Medic.” Nazi sniper Unerfeldewebel Franz Schmidt didn’t know any English, but in the case of the nearby wounded American soldier, he didn’t need to. The man’s anguished cries were beyond words. …

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Betting on the Saints

Betting on The Saints: Thoughts on 60 inch TVs, “Cryptkeeper” Tattoos, and Louisiana Rednecks It’s a scary combination: a bet, a case of beer, Louisiana rednecks*… and the New Orleans Saints. It sounds like a sure enough formula for trouble for any day of the week. *First of all a disclaimer: “Redneck” is not an offensive term where I come …

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A day with students is always a good day

I visited this morning with Mrs. Kelly Rudy’s third graders at DeRidder’s Carver Elementary.  We had a fun time together as I told them three stories:  The Evening Holler (from Stories from the Creekbank) , Joe Moore and the Skunk (The Wayfaring Stranger) , and Mayo’s Snake-Popping story (A Good Place). No matter the age, people love stories.  No matter …

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A Good Epitaph to Have

    A  Good Epitaph to Have. . . Have you ever thought about what epitaph you’d like to have? Years ago I walked along the seawall in Galveston, I saw one I admired.   A plaque there read: In memory of Leroy Columbo 1905‑1974 A deaf mute who risked his own life repeatedly to save more than one thousand lives …

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Can you hear me now? Thoughts on reaching the world

Can You Hear Me Now? A man I encountered in a rural area of Cambodia may have been the defining image of this interesting part of Asia. I saw him coming before he saw me: he was a rather large man for the Khmer race.  What really caught my eye was his attire. All he was wearing was a loose …

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Snowing in Dry Creek/Review of A Good Place/YouTube snow video

It’s rare to get snow along the Gulf Coast, especially in December.  Yesterday’s 2 inch snowfall was the earliest ever recorded.  Just a note:  we had snow last year in mid-December,  some during Easter 2007 (See the Easter Cold Snap in The Wayfaring Stranger) and previous to that it had last snowed on February 7, 1988.   Click here to see …

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Latest Posts: "Gratitude" and "Every Tribe has a 'Bogeyman.'"

Click here to read author’s notes on the hurricane that starts Chapter 1 in A Good Place. Gratitude: Two stories about a wonderful word. Gratitude: It’s a word that rolls off the tongue.  To read more No matter where you go, every culture has bogeymen stories to scare their children. In the following scene from A Good Place,  Eliza Moore …

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Excerpt from A Good Place

Landmark Longleaf Pine on Longville Gravel Pit Road. See below for more A good word:  “Compel” A short story from Hearts across the Water by Curt Iles Then there is the story of my friend Tom Dunville.  I’ve known Tom for seven years. He is a wonderful artist and the nicest guy I know… when he is sober.  Tom has …

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A special tree and a special couple

Thanksgiving for my parents, Clayton and Mary Iles This old beech tree still stands on our family land on the bank of Crooked Bayou.  It bears the initials of my mom and dad,  CI (Clayton Iles) and MP (Mary Plott.)  Today (November 25) is their 56th anniversary, so the tree pre-dates 1953. Even though my dad has been dead six …

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My favorite scene in "A Good Place"

A Good Place by Curt Iles Chapter 21 Author’s notes: Our narrator, twelve year old Mayo Moore, is on a log raft trip down the Calcasieu River.  He relates an incident on the River as they near the sawmills on Lake Charles. This scene is my current favorite.  Special thanks to my friend Joe Chaney for sharing a similar family …

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