A word from Curt UpCountry We spend about half of our time Up Country. Our Journey takes us into northern Uganda, South Sudan, and Kenya. We are currently on a trip with our home church (Dry Creek Baptist LA) to their people group, the Kakwa. We’re posting chapters from our new ebook, Trampled Grass. If you enjoy the stories, please …
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Homesick Day
The sun sets on another Saturday Over Lake Victoria and Entebbe. It’s amazing how quickly the equatorial darkness falls. Dusk one moment. Nightfall the next. Smoke from charcoal fires linger in the late rainy season air. Laughing Ugandan children pass by Outside our razor wire compound wall. The haunting Muslim prayer call echoes from The loudspeakers at the …
Read More »A Conspiracy is Born ‘A Spent Bullet’ Chapter Six
Chapter 6 In Cahoots Ben heard the approaching footsteps and shoved the bullet under his pillow and began innocently singing: “Do your ears hang low, do they flop, do they flop? Can you tie ‘em in a bow, can you tie ‘em in a knot?” He sat on the edge of the bed as the doorknob turned. “Can …
Read More »Mon.Jan.31: Thoughts on True Grit
Grit… What is it? Today’s quote: “I am not the most successful or most talented person in the world, but I succeeded because I keep going, and going, and going.” -Sylvester Stallone I heard a speaker recently refer to it as “DQ.” Don’t quit. Grit is simply the refusal to quit. Grit won’t quit. It rhymes and it’s true. The …
Read More »Burned yet Blessed by the Fire . . . a story that touches hearts
Click here to hear podcast of “Burned Yet Blessed” From Deep Roots, the new short story collection by Curt Iles Burned yet Blessed “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today.” Nothing breaks my heart like a field of burned pines. Yet that is exactly what I’m looking at driving toward …
Read More »Mon. July 19
In chapter 11 of my upcoming novel, A Spent Bullet, a Grasshopper scout plane crash lands into the Reed family okra patch. It’s nose and propeller bury in the ground, and Mr. Reed (Poppa) brings his plow team to pull it loose. This brings on a conversation between the pilot and the old farmer about the values of “horsepower.” This …
Read More »A Day In The Life Of A Writer
Curt in one of his “offices” Thur. Oct. 22 Lake Charles, LA I am so privileged to write for a living. It is my calling, but I try to never forget what a joy and honor it is to write. You see, I’m “writing for a reason.” My reason to write is to honor God and connect to the hearts …
Read More »A Tale Of Two Caps
A Tale of Two Caps… a story on racial understanding. I cringed when the national news last Friday led on a story, “From Louisiana, a justice of the peace has enraged… ” I knew it was going to be something that put my beloved home state in a bad light… and it did. I’m not going to even dignify that …
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