Darrel Smith

These days, Darrel makes his home in Nevada, though he grew up far from the desert sands, hills and mountains. He was raised by a proud Cajun family in the Heart of Acadiana - in a tiny town called Carencro, hugging the outskirts of Lafayette, Lousiana.He has always prided himself on being a storyteller.

In his own words " This story is merely a work of fiction spun from imagination. However, the very act of storytelling transported me back to my roots. With each word, I could almost taste the rich, spicy gumbo and hear the lyrical Cajun French blending with English all around me. The characters may have been invented, but they moved through a landscape etched into my soul.

I could vividly picture the moss-draped cypress trees standing sentinel over bayous that serpentine through the lush green world of my childhood. The familiar scents of filé gumbo and my grandmother's biscuits the size of a man's hand seemed to waft up from the pages. Drawing from those indelible memories reconnected me to the Cajun culture that shaped who I am.

While Nevada's vast open beauty stretches all around me now, a piece of my heart will forever remain in those bayous and back roads of Acadiana. This fictional tale became a winding path leading me right back to the rich heritage I'll always call home.