'Don't get jealous; get inspired'

 

“My inspiration for writing is all the wonderful books that I read as a child and that I still read. I think that for those of us who write, when we find a wonderful book written by someone else, we don't really get jealous, we get inspired, and that's kind of the mark of what a good writer is.” –  Patricia MacLachlan

 

Born in Cheyenne, Wyo. on this date in 1938, MacLachlan is best known for her 1986 Newbery Medal-winning novel (and series of books) Sarah, Plain and Tall, also adapted into television movies by Hallmark.

 

MacLachlan “grew up on the prairie” and said the experience shaped both who she was and how she learned to portray things.   While she studied, married and lived in New England most of her adult life, she kept a small bag of dirt from the Wyoming prairies to call to mind her Wyoming roots.

 

MacLachlan wrote many award-winning and sought-after books – 35 in all – and her final two, My Life Begins and Snow Horses: A First Night Story both came out  in 2022, the year of her death.  For a great example of her poetic, poignant style, check out her 2015 novel, The Truth of Me, a celebration of how our unique "small truths" make each of us magical and brave in our own ways.

 

“I have great editors and I always have,” she modestly said of her successes.  “Somehow, great editors ask the right questions or pose things to you that get you to write better. It's a dance between you, your characters, and your editor.”