Louisiana Stories

  Uncle Quincy’s Goose   (From Curt Iles’s third book, Wind in the Pines.) “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” -Proverbs 21:23   You are probably familiar with the old story of the gossip who was confronted for spreading ...

December 31 New Year’s Eve   Finishing Strong   Ted Williams is generally considered the greatest hitter in the history of major league baseball. Two events from his career speak about the concept of “finishing strong.” In 1941, Williams entered the last day of the ...

Down in the Well   “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”   Proverbs 3:4   My neighbor Dudley Mercer tells a story from his Dry Creek childhood.  His family farm had a 35-foot deep well on which ...

Pray One for Another   “. . . And pray one for another.” (James 5:16) One of my favorite stories concerning prayer is told by my lifelong friend, Della Mercer. She faithfully taught the preschoolers at our church for years. Once at the end of ...

A word from Curt Thanks to all of you who prayed, gave and sent DeDe, my sister Colleen, and me to Africa. We all feel our trips were God-ordained and made a difference for the Kingdom. Once again, thanks! Scroll down to read my latest ...

A word from Curt The Borderlands Team is compiling a devotional book for Refugees. The following is a short devo I wrote. I hope it blesses your life.     Bricks without Fire   Scripture:  Daniel 3:24-25 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar . . . declared to ...

Hotel cleaning lady in Entebbe. On my arrival, I was badly jet-lagged. She came to me, “Bwana, your shirt is on backwards.” This is after I changed it correctly. I thanked her   New Life and Death: On the Refugee Camp Rollercoaster   Sometimes I ...

  John McCain   He is a hero and a patriot and fittingly, he is being buried as one. John McCain, regardless of your politics, was a great American. Whether you agreed with him or not, he would do anything for what he considered his ...

Go Trojans!   I wouldn’t believe this story (or tell it) if I hadn’t heard it directly from Jimmie Hooks. Mr. Hooks was one of my Dad’s closest high school friends, a successful business in DeRidder (Big D Corral and Hook’s) and a fine Christian ...

“Son, there are two things you should never sell: a dog or a gun. You’ll regret it later.” -Louisiana Rural Wisdom Life is full of decisions, and each decision you make is a trade-off. You’ll gain some things while losing others. Seldom in life is ...

A word from Curt This afternoon my oldest grandson Noah and I will slip into the edge of Kisatchie National Forest near Woodworth. We won’t have our guns. Turkey season doesn’t open until tomorrow. We’ll be there (rain or not) to look and listen. I’m ...

The best part of writing about Pineywoods Louisiana is how my books open the door for others to tell me their stories. Most of my historical fiction comes from actual stories told by my friends, both old and new. This is especially true with A ...

Coming of Age: it always involves a good story       Cherry Winche Creek lies deep in the Ten Mile country of western Louisiana. Our new novel, As the Crow Flies, begins when the drifting Cotton family’s wagon breaks down at the creek. ___________________________________________________ ...

Blog Post  #1300:  Our Most Popular Blogs Today marks the 1300th blog post I’ve published. According to views and shares, here are some of the most popular: Enjoy! *Scroll to the bottom of this post to order a copy of our newest novel, As the Crow ...