Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

Special thanks to the Camp Bethany family for letting me stay and write at your camp.  Thanks to Robert and Joan, David and Derinda, Kelli, and staff. Camp Bethany is a beautiful Baptist Camp west of Shreveport on the Texas/La. line. A Spent Bullet: Coming in November This is the “elevator speech”* explanation of my  upcoming novel, A Spent Bullet. …

Writing from the road. Yesterday I saw my friend Jane Young.  We were discussing her parents,  Audice and Irene Earl.  They were two of my favorite people. Mrs. Irene kept our boys at Palestine Baptist and she had to be the sweetest person I’ve ever known.  Jane told a story of her mother once being in a car where someone …

“It is in spending oneself that one becomes rich.”   -Sarah Hernhardt   “Lord, may today be a day of life and giving in my life. Amen.” I’m gathering Oxen stories.  Do you know any of know of any oxen experts in your community?

On Getting Things Done…. “I’ve got to do this, and I can’t do it alone.” It’s that necessary tension between taking the ball in your hands vs. realizing you cannot do anything alone. I learn (and re-learn) it each time I write a book.  So many gifted hands, hearts, and minds are involved in writing, editing, producing, and marketing a …

Help!  The Army is planning to remove/sterilize the wild horses of Kisatchie National Forest.  Many are descendants of the escaped cavalry horses from the La. Maneuvers. I’m writing a children’s book on them, Uncle Sam: A Horse’s Tale. Spread the word that removing these horse destroys part of our western La. piney woods heritage.  If anyone knows of any conservation …

As requested by faithful reader and friend Mona Gibbs, here is my story, “The Ripple Effect.” The Ripple Effect From the book,  Wind in the Pines by Curt Iles           Copyright 2004   Creekbank Stories. Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the …

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.   –Martin Luther King “What’s popular isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always popular.” One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it.  If you do …

I asked my friend Randy Smith for permission to share his personal resolutions.  I believe they’ll be a blessing to you. I like each of them, including “Listen to the Martins.”   Birds are one of God’s gifts to us reminding us of his creation and care. Randy is working in the Middle East right now.  Pray for him and send …

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.  -Thomas Carruther Thoughts on revising a 90,000 word novel: “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.” Morale is the single greatest factor in successful wars. -Dwight D. Eisenhower

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 they relied for all of their water needs. Dudley’s family also had a problem: one of their …

“Let another praise you…” The Parable of the Big Mouth Frog. Share this simple proverb with your children. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. …. Proverbs 27:2 There is a memorable proverb about a big-mouthed frog that lived in Canada.  Each year he enviously watched the geese wing their way …

People aren’t just looking for a friendly church, as important as that may be, they’re also looking for friends at church! -Stephen Davis