Turnbull wrote plays, including
Genessee of the Hills (1905),
A Society Policeman (1905),
Classmates (1907, with
William C. deMille),
On the Square (1913, with her brother),
The Deadlock (1913), and
At the Mitre (1914). In 1912, a script she submitted anonymously was produced in New York by
Henry Wilson Savage, as
The Stronger Claim. Turnbull wrote for 51 films between 1914 and 1939. She worked for
Paramount Pictures and the
Famous Players–Lasky studios in
Islington, and also spent some of her career in Hollywood. In 1915, she wrote at least three films that starred
Blanche Sweet; she also wrote films starring
Edna Goodrich and
Enrico Caruso. She was described as a "popular writer" and William C. deMille's assistant in a 1915 article about film dramas. Turnbull also wrote novels, including ''W. A. G.'s Tale
(1913), Looking After Sandy
(1915),
The Close Up
(1918), Alabaster Lamps
(1925) Madame Judas
(1926),The Handsome Man
(1930), and The Bride's Mirror'' (1934). "I am sure," she told an interviewer in 1926, "that I get much more pleasure in writing a book or play than
Mr. Ford has ever gotten from all the machines he has put on the market." == Personal life ==