Madeline started writing at the age of 5 when she dictated a story to her mother. While attending Northern Illinois University she met Carl Sandburg. He read some of her works and encouraged her to keep writing. They remained friends and stayed in touch throughout the years. In 1925 she married Raymond Nuttall. They lived in Chicago where Madeline attended writing classes at the University of Chicago. In 1930 her book "A Prisoner in Babylon" was published. This was a difficult time to launch a writing career, since the country was struggling to survive the Great Depression.Widowed in 1938 she and her two small sons returned to Sterling. She supported the family by teaching and working as a librarian. She wrote a novel, "The Gift," which was published in 1951, about the Sterling area. Residents of Sterling easily identify many local landmarks. It has been translated into Japanese and is in the stacks at the University of Tokyo.Madeline has written over 300 stories, some published in various magazines. She served as the first secretary of the Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society.