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 …

"Sure enough she appeared with a four or five foot long chicken snake in her hand, grandpa hurriedly backing up as she came out the door."

View the short commercial-length book trailer for our new book, A Good Place at YouTube.

Some stories are too funny not to tell. They say you should be careful talking to yourself out loud: especially when you start answering back. Last week I was gassing up my truck on pump 4 at DeRidder’s WalMart.  Just minding my own business,  I glanced up at the Appalachian Trail* sticker on my truck’s back glass.  Thinking back to …

Arriving at Lake Charles on a raft of logs. In this excerpt from A Good Place, 12 year-old Mayo Moore, who has never been more than ten miles from home,  travels down the Calcasieu River on a raft of logs with his father and other local men.  On reaching the small town of Charleston (the 1862 name of present day …

Read an interview and review on our new book,  A Good Place, at the Beauregard Daily News. We’re really excited about this new novel.  It has sold over 500 copies in the first week and is getting positive feedback from readers and reviewers.

One of my heroes, Bobby Bonds, told me this story a few years before his death: As a teenager his Sunday School teacher was a WWII veteran named “Red” Harvey. Mr. Harvey told the boys in his class this amazing story: “During the war, my plane was shot down over Germany and I was badly injured before parachuting into enemy …

Be Still and Know Originally written May 1993 On a beautiful Spring Saturday, my three sons and I went to work on the nature trail at the camp.  As we hiked through the woods with our saw, pruning shears, and other gear, we were filled with the camaraderie of boys and dads in the woods. My youngest son, Terry, age …

God does not ask us to figure everything out, but He does ask us to trust Him in every situation and praise His Name because He knows best and will give us what is best.

My new novel, A Good Place, takes place in 1862-1865 in the part of western Louisiana known as “No Man’s Land.” It is centered in the area known as Ten Mile.  This historic region, located west of the Calcasieu River between Glenmora and Pitkin, is bisected by two beautiful creeks,  Ten Mile and Cherry Winche.

“From Big D.C. to little d.c.” A life-changing event in my life. …Sometimes the best place to be is right where God has planted us.” In 1997, I attended the huge Promise Keepers meeting at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  The name of the event was, “Standing in the Gap.”  This theme was based on the verse in Ezekiel …

The covers of A Good Place We selected a painting by my uncle Bill Iles for the front cover of my new novel. This oil painting entitled, “Upper Field Pines” proudly hangs in our living room. I love it because it pictures an image of the woods that I love so dearly.  My mother always said we “lived in the …

A special photo from a special meeting Last night we traveled to Shreveport for a missionary commissioning service.  55 new International Mission Board  appointees were commissioned for overseas service.  It was an inspiring service that I’ll never forget. I took the photo below after the service.  There’s a special connection between these two couples who’d never met. Gordon Fort and …

Scroll down to read Chapter 1.  Simply send your mailing address/number of books and how you want them signed. We’ll invoice you with the order. Books are $15.00 each with $5.00 shipping per order.) Chapter 1 A Good Place. WHEN Daddy shoved me under the table, I knew this wasn’t just any storm. As the crow flies, our Louisiana log …