Her works include novels and a book about small towns in Iowa and Illinois.
After her father Alfred Jensen died in a tractor accident, McDonald and her mother Myrtle moved to Harlan, Iowa, where she attended elementary school.
They later had a son named Elliot Jr.[1] McDonald sold her first story titled The Birthday Cake to a Sunday school paper for US$6.50.
[1] McDonald said that the first novel that Redbook bought "paid for a bright yellow convertible, trip to Europe, carpeting and central air for her home.
"[3] She wrote a romance novel, but refused to say the title of it despite receiving royalties and fan letters.
After writing about small towns for the newspaper Quad-City Times, she wrote a 1977 book titled Pathway to the Present in 50 Iowa and Illinois Communities.
[2] Governor Robert D. Ray appointed McDonald as the chairperson of the Iowa Arts Council in 1969 and she served until 1973.