Angela Raines is the pen name for Doris McCraw. Originally from the Midwest, Doris now calls the Rocky Mountains her home. Doris is a writer, historian, actor,and teacher. An avid reader, Doris loves to spend time in history archives looking for the small, unknown pieces of history. Many times these pieces end up in her stories or poems.
A photographer, Doris also writes haiku and combines them with her photography.
In here spare time she writes, casts and performs with a local murder mystery company.
What are you currently working on?
I am in the process of rewrites of a novel, and two short stories. The novel is based on a murder trial in Colorado Springs in 1879 and told from the wife’s point of view (she was thought to be a soiled dove, but had two children). One short story is called “Andrew’s Angel” about saving a soul. The second short story takes place in Victor, Colorado, during the labor wars of 1903-04 with a former Pinkerton and a lady doctor.
Describe your perfect hero.
Strong enough to take care of any situation, gentle enough to love a woman and secure enough to allow her to be a strong as she needs to be.
Complete this: My hero never leaves home without his...
sense of self, pride, and self-confidence.
List 6 books on your keeper shelf (fiction or nonfiction).
Any book by Louis L’Amour or Andre Norton. I also can’t do without my dictionary, thesaurus and the two books on the expedition to Mt. Everest to locate the Mallory and Irvine bodies. (I know the last two sound strange, but in their own way the men of the expedition remind me of the pioneers heading into the unknown west.)
If you could go anywhere in the world free, where would that be and why?
Right where I am. I love the mountains and plains of Colorado and the history that is such a wonderful part of my life.
If you were transported back in time to the Old West, what one modern-day item would you take with you, and why?
A book on herbal medicine. What better way to survive the occasional bump in the road?
Thanks to Linda Broday's Heartfelt Stories of the Old West for allowing us to reprint this interview.