Occasionally, I am asked where writers get their
ideas. There are many answers and I will discuss some of these in future blogs.
However, I learned recently that a friend published
a book. It is a non-fiction book about the author (Betty MacDonald) of books
she read as a child. Betty, The Story of Betty MacDonald, Author of the Egg and I is one specific example of where books come from.
Anne had enjoyed the books of Betty MacDonald, who
wrote about life in the northwest, particularly in the Seattle/Puget Sound area.
Years later, Anne would reread The Egg
and I and an idea was born. She decided to look more closely at the
writer’s life and a new book was born from that memory.
About Betty MacDonald
In 1932, MacDonald had a story published in the Seattle
Town Crier magazine. It would be more than 10 years before her book The Egg and I was published (1945). That
book was a lightly fictionalized account of life as the wife of a chicken
farmer in the 1920s.
Surprisingly, the book became a success and the
story was made into a movie starring Claudette Colbert & Fred Mc Murray. Her
Ma and Pa Kettle characters also were used in other movies.
Suddenly the poor, former wife of a chicken farmer and
divorced mother of two girls became famous and rich. Her writing continued to
provide for a secure life for her and her family. She ran into one problem during
this period, because apparently, her portrayal of one set of neighbors hadn't been sufficiently altered and
she was sued. However she did win the cases.
With her self-mocking humor, MacDonald wrote about
her battle with tuberculosis and life in a sanitarium in The Plague and I, published in 1948. She wrote about job hunting
during the depression, (when in Washington state 1 in 4 Americans were out of
work). In Anybody Can Do Anything. Her
book, Onions In The Stew was
about life on Vashon Island during
the war years.
Her books give readers a peak into average life
during the depression and World War II and vivid descriptions of the northwest.
MacDonald also wrote the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series
of children’s books and Nancy and Plum. The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books were
illustrated by Hilary Knight and Maurice Sendak.
About Anne Wellman:
Anne’s book seemed to start slowly with many details
about MacDonald’s early life and that of her unusual family, which I had
already read about in The Egg and I.
However, the more I read, the more I began to care about these people and the
more I became interested in life during those years.
Anne said it took her five years to write “Betty, The Story of Betty MacDonald, Author
of the Egg and I.” Her detailed bibliography and references reveal the
extensive study she put into this book. She is already working on a book about another author.
Anne has lived in Scotland, Australia, England and
the United States of America. She worked for the government for 35 years.This is her first published book, but hopefully not her last. It is available
through Amazon.
If you have questions, you can contact Anne at annewellman21@gmail.com.
Books we read as children generally leave an
impression and many can remember their favorite books years later. Was it Wind
in the Willows, Black Beauty, Harry Potter, Heidi, Treasure Island? Author Lois
Szymanski loved Marguerite Henry’s Misty
of Chincoteague and has written a lot of books about ponies, as well as on other
subjects. What books made a difference in your life?
