Patricia McLinn | Romance Novelist

I hope to stay smoke free, both my hubby and I gave up smoking after more than 40 years of puffing away.

I'm hoping that my health returns to normal and I can get off all this medication.

To have enough money to continue to take care of my girls and pay all of our bills. The economy is looking scary and it has me worried

Aside from world peace, finding the rest of what I need to complete my antique phonograph collection

In 2008, I hope for a president that will lead us into a positive stable future!

I'm hoping to figure out what i want to do with my life, and i hope i get faster internet.

In 2008, I hope to finish my Creative Writing exams so I can get my diploma. I hope to make a poetry site

My son is competing in Karate tournaments for the first time this year. I hope he does well.

If I had cable TV, I would spend most of my life watching HGTV (love, love, love “Designed to Sell,” “Curb Appeal,” “Freestyle,” and more)

My hometown, Lombard, Ill., is the Lilac Village. At various times I recall lilac colored water tower, trash receptacles, police cars with crossed stalks of lilacs and many lilac-decorated flags. But the May festival, with Lilacia Park as its headquarters, is the lilac peak in Lombard.

As a kid, I remember busloads of garden groups asking if I was a native lilac-ian. (Lilacia is pronounced Lie-Lay-Sha.) I also remember being told that we had the third-largest collection of lilacs in the world. I’ve never seen that confirmed, but I do see that both Canada’s Royal Botanical Gardens and Rochester, N.Y., claim the largest collection in the world, so that might leave the way clear for Lombard’s claim.

Lilacia Park began existence as the home of Col. William and Helen M. Plum. (No kidding – Colonel Plum.) He’d been a telegrapher in the Civil War and graduated from Yale Law School. He came to Illinois, stumbled onto the village of Lombard, some 25 miles due west of Chicago, and decided to settle there. He and his wife built a white frame house atop a rise. The Plums bought their first two lilacs bushes in 1910 in France after visiting the famous gardens of Victor Lemoine. And they kept planting and planting lilacs around their home.

Helen died in 1924 and the Colonel in 1927. His will left the house as a public library in honor of his wife, and the grounds as a public park. The first festival was 1930, with a parade and the selection of a queen. The famous landscape architect Jens Jensen was commissioned in 1929 to design the park. (If you read my BABY BLUES AND WEDDING BELLS, you might remember Fran and Miss Trudi’s excitement at discovering Jens Jensen had a hand in Bliss House’s gardens.) Jensen built winding paths, a lily pond and a waterfall that remain today, as well as adding tulips along the edges of the paths in front of the banks of lilacs.

Somewhere there lurks film of a certain 4-year-old author-in-the-making dressed in her spring best beside her cousin and buddy Rick, looking equally natty, posing angelically before those blooming tulips and budding lilacs. Then, apparently under the impression that the camera was off and all adults were distracted, our young heroine and hero faced those tulips and – whap-whap-whap – used their cherubic little hands to send petals flying. Officials never learned of this transgression, so I’m happy to say I was not banned from Lilacia Park.

Lilac Time now is a two-week festival with varied activities. Check out the Lombard Park District site for photos, information on this year’s schedule, activities and the all-important Bloom-O-Meter .

The Helen M. Plum Memorial Library remained in the Plums’ frame house for nearly half a century. I remember walking between stone pillars, up a slanted walk flanked by lilac bushes, then climbing broad steps to the porch. Inside it smelled wonderfully of old wood, old books and new worlds to explore. The floors creaked with a marvelous sound that made me feel as if each step were an adventure. A blocked off stairway seemed to dare a kid to venture into forbidden territory. The children’s section was to the right – I have a vague impression it was once the front parlor. Kids were supposed to stay in that room, but I was known to wander. My older sister would check out selected adult books for me. (Not too adult – I am her baby sister after all.) I missed the old building when they tore it down for a modern looking (and in my mind lackluster) building. Okay, the plumbing was better, which I did eventually appreciate when – in my first job beyond babysitting -- I worked as a page at the library. But it lacked the romance of the house the Colonel and Mrs. Plum had surrounded by lilacs.

~~~~~~~~

WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR?

This is dedicated to Lombard, Illinois, my hometown.

To its people, past and present, who have been true friends. And to the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, which has fostered many a reader over the years. Keep those lilacs blooming!

Some of you know that I’ve been sending books and other packages to our troops serving in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lt. MaryAlicia Verdecchia is one of “my” soldiers, who has become a friend. Click here to read an address by Lt. MaryAlicia Verdecchia, U.S. Army, at the May 2005 Women Veterans’ Week in Branson, Missouri.

Other multi vote getters

Rhododendron

Lily – varying types

Trees

Daffodils

Vegetables

Crepe myrtle/myrtle

Apple trees – varying types

Morning glories

Sunflower

Fire bush

Geraniums

Strawberry

Bush

Willow tree

Peonies

Mint

Lily of the valley

Hollyhocks

Green peppers

Lilacs

Hydrangea

Pansy

Basil

Tulips

Daisies

Butterfly bush

Pumpkin plants

Zinnias

Jasmine

Petunias

Other single vote getters

Variegated ginger

Blue bells

Sweet pea

Asparagus

Agastache

Asters

Palm tree

Hibiscus

Pampas grass

Cherry tree

Herbs

Lavender

Mums

Japanese maple

Orange blossom tree

Gladiola

Gerbera daisy

Azaleas

Cosmos

Mountain laurel

Impatiens

Birch tree

Bleeding heart

Iris

Hibiscus

Dogwood tree

Rosemary

Gardenia

Sedum

Hyacinth

Camellias

Heather

Honeysuckle

Cardinal lobelia

Wisteria

Corn

Snowball bush

Fig bush

Indian paintbrush

Begonia

Ivy

Concord grapevines

Hosta

Ruella palm

Raspberry bush

Black-eyed susans

Poplar

Watermelon

Zucchini

Sunset hyssop

Foxglove

Oak trees

Portulcha

Marigolds

Corn

Iris

Ornamental cabbage

Poppies

Snowdrops

Verbena

Carrots

Columbine

Orchid

Snapdragon

Green beans

Pasque flowers

Sweet William

Azaleas

Agapanthus

Delphinium

Rhubarb

Purple coneflower

Peas

Green onions

Carnation

MOVIES! MOVIES! MOVIES!

Wow! I asked for you favorite movies, and did you ever come through! I know it was difficult to choose a single movie as your favorite, and I appreciated the comments about “anything with Cary Grant” or “how can you go wrong with Fred and Ginger?” The wonderful thing is that with so many people selecting one movie we covered a lot of ground.

It’s such a fabulous list that I’m sharing it with everyone. As I was going through it, I kept thinking, Oh, yes, I have to watch that one again. And Ah! Someone else loves my favorite. Or Hmmm, I’ll have to try that one. And, yes, there were one or two that I thought, Unh-unh, no way <g>

I hope you all will enjoy the list and get as many ideas as I did. Bring on the popcorn!

YOUR TOP THREE FAVORITE MOVIES:

Gone with the Wind
Pretty Woman
The Wizard of Oz

10.) You won’t have to listen to Pat whine about not having any readers.
9.) You’d make a white-haired lady very happy – no, not Pat, her mother. (Harumph!)
8.) There’s sure to be a good-looking guy somewhere in the book. Okay, he’s with another woman, but you can cross off all the references to her name and put yours in.
7.) There’s likely to be a cute dog or interesting kid in the book.
6.) You’d help keep a real live cute dog in dog food.
5.) Pat’s so far behind in her TBR room that she can’t possibly gripe at you for not actually reading the book before the end of this decade.
4.) You’d make a white-haired lady very happy – did I tell you she’s almost 85?
3.) You could be part of a select group that proves its independent thinking by not following the herd to the mega-sellers. And should Pat ever become a mega-seller, you have full I-told-you-so rights with all your reading buddies.
2.) Did I mention no whining and making a white-haired lady happy?

And the No. 1 reason to buy Patricia McLinn’s books (out in stores in late March and late May) …..

1.) You’ll avoid any of the pushing and shoving that happens in front of the mega-sellers’ books – and who doesn’t appreciate an easy shopping experience?

These are tallied from responses to a contest at www.PatriciaMcLinn.com – remember there’s always a reason to celebrate each day!

1.) Christmas
2.) Halloween
3.) Birthday
4.) First warm spring day
5.) Fourth of July
6.) Thanksgiving
7.) Wedding anniversary
8.) First crisp fall day
9.) Anniversary of significant event (sobriety, life-saving surgery, meeting SO, birth of child)
10.) Every day!

Patricia McLinn’s readers wrote in with their favorite and/or fantasy vacation destinations for a contest. Imagine each one and enjoy a mini getaway!

2.) Australia
The Olympics, Brisbane, exploring the outback.
3.) Europe
Portugal, Ireland, walking tour of the British Isles, Italy, Greece, Crete, Paris.
4.) Disney World
5.) Cruise
To Alaska, Europe, the Caribbean.
6.) The Mountains
Canadian Rockies, North Georgia Mountains (Smokies)
7.) Pack the Books
A week or a month. The Alaska woods, Bahamas, Jersey Shore or tropical island with “all the time in the world to lie on the beach with a good book and a cool drink. Wouldn't that be heaven? … Yes!”
8.) See the USA
Maine. Mackinac Island, Michigan, Alaska (“in the summer”) California, Florida, Palm Springs, Calif., walking the boardwalk at the Jersey shore, camping through New Mexico, Vegas.
9.) Family visits
Go together or get together, location doesn’t matter.
10.) Exotic and fantasy
South Pacific, Bora Bora, Hong Kong, Peru, Fiji islands, a tropical paradise with no kids, deserted island with significant other, first class grand tour of Europe - including a crossing on the QE II and a ride on the Orient Express, Patagonia, live as honored guest at historical park, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, back-country horseback or motorcycle nature tour of New Zealand, Ghost and Vampire tour, castles and more castles, cottage on the California coast, honeymoon in Mexico, exotic island.

My fantasy would be no kids, no housework, sleep as long as I want, just be waited on where the temp is 75 degrees and no rain.

My fantasy vacation...I'd plan for the Caribbean with my family. After seeing our mass of baggage checked in, and my family safely boarded on the plane, I would sprint through the door at the last second. While my guys got sunburned and paid too much for pizza in the Caribbean, I would plop myself on the couch with the stereo too loud and read, read and read some more. There would probably be more than one bag of Doritos involved, too.

In honor of THE UNEXPECTED WEDDING GUEST (May 2003) we asked readers for wedding gift ideas, and – Wow! What fabulous answers. So fabulous they’re divided into two categories, you’ll notice the top 10 bloated a little and there still were great ideas left off.

1.) A large beautiful basket full of goodies for their wedding night, like champagne, glasses, chocolates, candles, massage oil, mood music CD, Do Not Disturb sign, and a book of Kama Sutra OR basket of wine with glasses; cheese and crackers--all to eat when they return from their honeymoon
2.) Crystal (Waterford as top choice of course) champagne flutes (with champagne), candlesticks, bells, vase (with white roses to represent the beginning of their marriage)
3.) A coupon good for one long weekend of babysitting, the services of a nanny, free babysitting with their firstborn child.
4.) A trip -- Tickets to Disney World, all-expenses-paid weekend retreat (bed & breakfast in the Rockies or secluded beach), Ireland, honeymoon cruise, Niagara Falls, a sunset carriage ride to a fabulous remote spot for a catered dinner under the rising moon and stars, weekend a Bed and Breakfast on their first anniversary.
5.) A framed, limited edition print. One of a kind wedding gift, sure to be no duplicates, and will be enjoyed for years to come. An elegant throw-pillow on which modern technology has reproduced a childhood picture of the bride and groom. Commission an artist to paint a portrait of the couple from a favorite photograph – or do it yourself if you’re talented
6.) Picture frames – pewter, crystal, silver, antique or best of all, handmade. One special one or a variety for all those wedding photos. Have the wedding invitation framed.
7.) Linens -- A one of a kind handmade heirloom quilt with their names in silk threads, a wedding quilt, embroidered pillowcases, midnight blue satin sheets, down pillows, red satin sheets, white silk pillowcases, a bedding set so you will know that your gift will be responsible for many sweet memories.
8.) Money. A donation to their favorite charity. Gift certificate – Neiman Marcus, Tiffany’s, Victoria’s Secret, World Market, for spa, for maid service for the first month, for a champagne hot-air balloon ride for 2
9.) Fun and games -- Patricia McLinn books they can read together, board Games designed to keep their sex life healthy, a kite to share on the beach
10.) Living presents -- a climbing red rose bush, to symbolize the entwining of their life and love, flowers once a month for a year, a robust flowering tree, a fragrant fertile lemon tree in a pretty pot
11.) The practical – A Dust Buster, toaster, microwave, a double sleeping bag, towels, his & hers ear plugs, Tupperware--it lasts forever!!, condoms! and (the ultimate practicality) a burial plot
12.) A coil bound book of favorite recipes from both families (and stories behind them if applicable), with family photos and ingredients to make a week's worth of meals.
13.) An extravagant honeymoon in Switzerland, plus a Swiss Bank Account!!!

1.) An understanding heart, one that looks over the faults of another and understands forgiveness.
2.) An ice-cream maker. Life is just better with ice cream.
3.) A tool box filled with tools and cute sayings attached like "hammer out your differences", measuring tape-"love can't be measured", glue--"seal with love' etc.
4.) My wedding gift would be a boomerang. A boomerang, like their love for each other, once set free is supposed to come back to the person who set it free.
5.) A dog
6.) A slave collar and a whip --along with a card stating that they can choose who gets what
7.) A plaque that says...."Remember: The best things in life are worth fighting for, like your love!"
8.) Register their name for a star to be named after them
9.) time alone
10.) Running shoes and handcuffs
11.) A huge joke book. Humor is the best way to keep a marriage intact.
12.) A survival guide!
13.) A unique family keepsake: A golden key, which opens a heart-shaped cedar trinket box, revealing inside a tiny crystal timepiece, a miniature pewter compass, and a hand-carved marble crucifix. On the underside of the box reads these words: "Through our suffering and pain, please remember that love, time and faith will lead to us to forgiveness -- eventually healing all wounds and unlocking the mystery of the future, which will set one's course in the right direction!"

1.) People leaving.
2.) Thunder (and sometimes construction sounds that could be mistaken for thunder.)
3.) Fireworks (unless you can turn off the sound.)
4.) Not being in the middle of anything that’s going on.
5.) Having his teeth brushed (brushing his teeth would be on my list, too, if I got to have a list!)
6.) Having his nails clipped.
7.) Being groomed.
8.) Being inside when stuff’s going on outside (unless No. 2 or 3 is happening.)
9.) Stuffed animals that make weird noises when someone (naming no names) squeezes them
10.) Being left behind.

6.) Buddy and women’s fiction writer (as well as being one of the original stars of Silhouette) Emilie Richards
http://www.EmilieRichards.com

1.) My screen porch
2.) In bed
3.) Wing chair with ottoman
4.) Car (if someone else is driving)
5.) Airplane
6.) Airplane waiting area
7.) Any porch, preferably overlooking mountains or water. A rocking chair doesn’t hurt
8.) Train
9.) Holed up in a hotel room, maybe with some room service
10.) Love seat in my office. It’s last only because I really, really should be working.

I listen to these while I write and love the ones with lots of energy (I write faster).

1.) Pirates of the Caribbean
2.) Captain Blood: Music from Errol Flynn movies
3.) Silverado
4.) Harry Potter 1
5.) A Town Like Alice
6.) The Man In the Iron Mask
7.) How the West Was Won
8.) The Quiet Man
9.) Shakespeare in Love
10.) Public Television’s Greatest Hits