A Pineywoods Manifesto

      My Dad was a remarkable man in many ways. He had a deep, unshakable faith that he shares so well in the following treatise. Please feel free to pass this on to folks who need a good word right now. Curt Iles   Our Father Knows Best By Clayton Iles   1934-2003 Written 1987 I do not …

Plowing and The Harvest.   Enjoy the audio of this story. 1. Be Curious. 2. Be Amazed. 3. Tell about it.   I get in lots of trouble being curious. But I also learn so much. The best stories begin with a simple question,  “I noticed you . . .” Most folks are more than happy to share their story. …

Let’s live where our feet. Dig your roots deep. Stab your flag into the hill Still looking forward but also living in the moment.     Speed and Scale   We need to scale the ones we have—immediately—and invent the ones we still need. In short, we need both the now and the new. -Seth Godin

April 23, 2025 falls on a Wednesday. A lot is going on at the Creekbank today. Around noon, Matheus and I will approve “The Three Trees,” starting its two-day Amazon review. You’ll be able to purchase your copies at Amazon. You’re going to love it and want to pass it on to the young people in your life. Stay tuned. …

This blog post from 2018 follows the development of our earliest drafts of The Three Trees.   Its original name was The Pineywoods Manifesto.   A word from Curt We continue with chapters from our upcoming summer book, The Pineywoods Manifesto. It’s written for my grandson about the values and priorities of the unique culture of western Louisiana. Our plan …

Day 3 update on our upcoming book, ‘Three Trees.’ You can help. Scroll down.   Reader feedback continues to be highly positive on our latest short story collection, ‘Where I Come From.’ “. . . Creekbank Stories’s best book yet.” See for yourself today at Amazon https://bit.ly/eBookWhereIComeFrom It’s available in paperback, E-book, and hardback formats.   ‘Three Trees’ will debut …

On being confidential   It’s one of the most important traits of a strong leader. He can keep things in confidence. This leads to trust. Being confidential is also one of the most difficult parts of leadership. You’re going to have lost of information others don’t have, but you cannot share it without breaking confidence. Sometimes it will make you …

updated on Friday, December 27, 2024 Our favorite store, Foreman’s Grocery in Dry Creek, is open again! Stop in for some of the best boudin in Louisiana and pick up a signed copy of Where I Come From.   Where I Come From: Tales from the Pineywoods   66 new stories. 291 pages Paperback Price: $20.00 Hardcover $30.00 Kindle eBook  …

      Remnants of the terrible 2023 Westport, Louisiana fire. Avoiding a Personal Forest Fire: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” -‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ One of life’s saddest occurrences is watching a good, successful leader lose their way. It’s like driving past a terrible car wreck. You want to avert your eyes …

“For the man sound of body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.” -George Gissing Learn more at www.creekbank.net   Amazon/Curt Iles/Where I Come From  

This is an excerpt from Chapter 17, “A Falling Out,” in Where I Come From. THOUGHTS ON FALLING-OUTS One of the saddest things I’ve seen during the recent election is the trail of broken relationships. I call a broken relationship a “Falling-Out.” It goes well beyond a disagreement or argument. It leads to estrangement and isolation. As we’d say back …

Now available at https://bit.ly/KindleEbookWhereIcomeFrom The Talking Stick   I have his walking stick— the one he carried in the latter years of his life when I knew him best. His name was Frank Iles, but our family knew him as “Pa.” He was my great-grandfather and a major link to our family’s past. Pa’s ancestors were among the first pioneers …

A Dry Creek Soldier Comes Home Saturday, September 7, 2024 Dry Creek, Louisiana Taps There’s nothing quite like the sound of “Taps” echoing off a stand of tall pines. My friend Randy Sanchez plays “Taps” on a small World War I “Trench Bugle” in the far corner of the Dry Creek Cemetery. The antique bugle’s unique, raw sound, which no …

This is the landing page for our upcoming short story collection, Where I Come From. We’ll be updating information on the book here. “Leave this world better” from Where I Come From.   Front Cover Image   This is the image for the front cover of: Where I Come From: Stories from the Pineywoods CURT ILES ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Where I Come …