Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

The first short story in my first book, Stories from the Creekbank, continues to be one of our reader’s favorites. It is entitled “The Evening Holler” and I’ve told it and read it to literally to hundreds of groups over the past ten years. At the end of this short story is a special picture from Africa and a postscript …

  My beloved uncle, Bob Plott, died last week after a long illness.My mother’s only brother, he never married.Uncle Bob lived with my grandparents until their deaths in the early 1990’s. He then moved full time to his fishing camp on Texas’ Sam Rayburn Lake. He was so good to my two sisters and I.We will miss him. Uncle Bob …

On the Beginning of a Year Being a writer, I always equate the first day of a new year to the blank page in a new journal. As I open the notebook and leaf through its empty pages, the potential for what I will write there is limitless. However, from being a journal keeper for nearly thirty-five years, I know …

Plowing a ‘100 Foot Line’ There’s a fine stand of young slash pine at Dead Man’s curve on the Longville Gravel Pit Road. I’ve watched with interest the growth of this forest. After the field was earlier ‘clear cut’ for its marketable timber, a hard-working Mexican crew then replanted it in straight rows. By the following winter, the pines began …

My favorite quotes of 2008 I collect quotes and these are some of my favorites of the past year. Add yours on the “comments” section of this blog. I’d love to hear from you. Curt We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill Inspiration does exist, but it must …

Passage from Chapter 25 of The Wayfaring Stranger by Curt Iles Background: Joe Moore, a teenaged Irish immigrant has been befriended by an old Redbone woman known as Miz Girlie. This scene takes place in the longleaf pines of Louisiana in 1849. Joe slept each night on the porch. Miz Girlie gave him an old quilt and moss-filled mattress to …

“Medic” The following is an abridged (shortened) version of Curt Iles’ Christmas short story, “Medic” featured in the new story collection, The Write Before Christmas. A compilation of nineteen stories by fifteen Southern authors (including two by Curt) it is available at http://www.creekbank.net. Copies are $10.00 each plus $5.00 shipping per order. An autographed book is the perfect Christmas gift! …

Epilogue: Wet Paint This story is the final story from my second book, The Old House. It describes the strange mix of emotions a person feels when they finish a big project—regardless of if it’s a painting, a book, or building a house. I’ve just finished my next novel, A Good Place. Well, if you ever finish a book, I’ve …

A Brighter Day for Louisiana I’ve been a “Louisianian” (doesn’t that word roll off your tongue well) for all of my life. In those fifty plus years, I’ve never been prouder to say this is my state than now. (I’ve always been proud, have chosen to live here, raise my family, and cast my lot as a citizen.) I believe …

Curt will be part of the lineup at the upcoming “Get Published” Conference sponsored by The Baptist Message. Click here to learn more. Click on images for a larger view of the Louisiana Baptist Message “Get Published” Conference.

A New Word to Learn: “Belum” From the book, Hearts across the Water, by Curt Iles In Indonesia there are so many unique and unusual things. Chief among them are the nuances of their language. The following illustration is probably my favorite: When an Indonesian is asked a specific question, they qualify their answer in many ways and terms. For …

The Evening Holler I’m sitting in Crooked Bayou swamp on a cold still October morning. I love this time of year when the weather becomes cool and the sky is usually clear. As daybreak comes, a mile through the woods I hear a neighbor’s roosters crowing and in the opposite direction, I hear my brother-in-law’s loud voice scolding his dog. …

From the book, Stories from the Creekbank by Curt Iles To learn more, visit www.creekbank.net A Pair for Life Clay, Clint, and I crawled over the wet leaves to the bluff bank on the small stream called Dry Creek. We were just west of where the creek runs into Bundick Creek. As we crawled along, I kept looking at the …

The two maps (above) are in the second edition of The Wayfaring Stranger. The first map is sketched by my special Dry Creek friend, Debra Tyler. I think it is great. The second beautiful map is by my good friend, Peyton Freeman of Wise Publishing in Sulphur. Thanks Deb and Peyton! click on maps to see a larger view. The …