WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION? #writing #creativity

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raine

As I put the finishing touches to a first draft, I thought about what inspired me to write the story in the first place.

Wooden Headstone - SilveCliff Cemetery
photo copywriten and property of the author

First. I am a compulsive reader. I have been since a very early age. If it is printed, then I pretty much have to read it.

Second, I love history. This goes along with the compulsive reading. Add to that a ridiculous joy in digging through old books, researching ancestors, and the lives of people who lived way back when and you might get a small glimpse of what whirls around in this head of mine.

Third, I am an avid movie watcher, especially the old black and whites. Give me a film noir and I'm  a pretty happy camper. A good B-Western or early Western TV show can also be great fun. How many of you ever saw the short lived Tony Young 1961 TV western 'Gunslinger'? I used to stay up and watch that show. (I had very understanding parents.) Boy did that show fuel my imagination back then.

After moving west in my twenties, all things western history took over. My friends and I, in those early days, would take off in the truck and head into all parts of the state. One of my early trips was to the Taylor Park area and the ghost towns located there. Imagine doing the polka at 9,000+ feet in the town of Tin Cup. I later did research and found out that small little 'ghost' town at one time had the distinction of being one of the roughest towns in Colorado. The story is, seven marshals were killed there in just a few months time.

Tin Cup town hall where the author went
to a dance. from TinCupCo.com

Now, I spend time reading books about the ghost towns of Colorado, both in the mountains and on the plains. I've researched early settlements, the fur trade forts, railroad history and the lives of some of the early residents.

Perhaps my greatest pleasure and constant source of research and fun is the story of early women, especially the women doctors who were practicing medicine prior to 1900. Theirs is a story that I will continue to research and write about until I can write no more.

All of these pieces come together in the stories I write and the non-fiction papers.

I've told you some of what inspires me. I can still enjoy 'The Cisco Kid', 'Have Gun Will Travel'. If an old Rocky Lane movie comes on I will try to catch it. Of the singing cowboys, I'll take Eddie Dean over any of the others. He may not have been a compelling actor, but his voice was pure gold.
Eddie Dean - Cool Water

I've re-read Louis L'Amour's "Flint" at least six times and Elmore Leonard's "Three-Ten to Yuma" story is a must.

What is your inspiration? What is your favorite TV show, favorite B-Western, or novel?

Watch for the latest Kiowa Wells story coming in April.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

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