About

 

 

About Curt Iles and Creekbank Stories

 

This page updated on 29 June 2024

Curt Iles

I’m a Southern writer who is passionate about sharing about the unique area that has been my lifetime home: the pineywoods region of western Louisiana. It is a unique area, long called “No Man’s Land” as well as the “Outlaw Strip” and I deeply love its history, culture, and people.

I’m a storyteller and am always searching for remarkable stories, especially those that reflect my heritage. You can read many of these stories in my thirteen books as well as over 1500 blog posts at www.creekbank.net/blog.

My writing manifesto (borrowed and adapted from poet Mary Oliver) is:

1. Staying Curious
2. Being Amazed
3. Sharing Remarkable Stories.

I adhere to a quote by Anthony

DeMello:  “The shortest distance between the truth and a human heart is always a story.”

I’m a storyteller from a culture of storytellers.

My life statement is to be a man God can use, be an encourager, and be respected by those who know me best.*

I seek to live by my life verse: Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.*

*Jesus speaking in Matthew 6:33

Creekbank Stories

Creekbank Stories is our writing platform, including our books, blogs, and social media platforms. It has been our brand since 2000.

Background

I’m a native of Dry Creek, a small Piney Woods community in western Louisana.

After graduating from East Beauregard High School, I attended Louisiana College, a small liberal arts college in Louisiana.

It was there that many life-changing events took place, primarily meeting my wife DeDe.

We raised our three sons, C

lay, Clint, and Terry in the nurturing community called Dry Creek. DeDe and I continued careers in school teaching, principal, and camp manager.

In 2012, we sold our possessions and moved to  Uganda, Africa, where we spent three years researching unreached people groups for the International Mission Board.

Upon our return to the United States in 2015, we settled in the central Louisiana town of Alexandria near our nine grandchildren.

I consider myself as a dual citizen. For the first time in my life, I live in a city, Alexandria.

However, I maintain my deep Dry Creek roots due to my mother, family land, and lifetime friendships.

  

My Writing

Throughout my life, I’ve been a writer. Long before my books and blogs, I was an avid journal writer, amassing hundreds of black-covered filled with notes, sketches, and outlines of stories.

These journals provided the foundation for my first independent short story collection, Stories from the Creekbank.

Since then, I’ve published thirteen books, including four historical novels, all available at Amazon.com. My writing revolves around the culture, memorable people, and history of Piney Woods, Louisiana.

“A writer is someone who writes

every day.”  I journal and create each day, simply doing what I’m called to do at this season of my life.

Where I’m From

 

Louisiana’s No Man’s Land is a region of mystery, legends, and great stories.

My writing emanates from a region of western Louisiana defined by several historical names, each affecting my life and writing.

This section was often referred to as the Neutral Strip or Neutral Territory. It was a fifty-mile strip disputed by the European powers and a young America.

To keep the peace, treaties were signed to keep law, military, and settlers out of what was soon known as “No Man’s Land.”

Without any civil or military structure and due to the proliferation of lawlessness, the region gained its most memorable name: “The Outlaw Strip.”

Nearly every branch of my paternal ancestors settled in this area, beginning with Louisiana’s statehood in 1812. They arrived over the next fifty years for a multitude of reasons. Most wanted the lure of free, homesteaded land and the freedom of being left alone. A few were running from shadows in their past.

The land they chose, the No Man’s Land, is where my family still resides, and my roots run deep. Invariably, my stories revolve around

d the sun of my homeland.

Lest I dig too deep a hole, my people come from a specific belt of No Man’s Land.

It’s known as the Piney Woods and was once the home of vast virgin pine forests.  Decades after the cutover-out get-out timber clearcut of the virgin longleafs, our Piney Woods were replanted in huge company-owned pine plantations.

 

From the air, my home parish of Beauregard is an unbroken sea of pines. It is bisected by creeks bordered with hardwoods. Small farms dot the 

landscape where earlier settlers carved out homesteads.

 

The Louisiana Piney Woods are beautiful and where my writing soul returns in my thirteen books, four novels, and thousands of blog posts.

 

Pineywoods people are unique in their culture, lifestyles, beliefs, and habits. They are at once the best friends you’d ever want, as well as the worst enemies you’d ever have.

 

I love them with all of my heart. They are my people.

 

I’m a Piney Woods writer, and that is what I’ll always be.  The experts say, “Write about what you know.”

 

That’s what I try to do daily. 

 

You can call me a Southern writer, Louisiana author, writer/historian of western Louisiana, or a product of No Man’s Land. I’m proud to answer to any of those monikers.

 

But most of all, I’m a Louisiana Piney Woods man. I observe it, pass on its stories, and celebrate its off-the-beaten-path personality and people.

 

I’m a Piney Woods writer and always will be. 

 

 

View all of our Books  

 

 

Read our 1500+ blog posts stretching back to 2009.

 

 

Creekbank Social Media

 

The Creekbank You Tube Channel

Curt’s Facebook Page

Twitter

 

View all of our Creekbank Titles 

The Creekbank Amazon Page