Ask Elnora--About Diamonds??? Lenora Worth

Hello, my sweet summer friends. It's always exciting when a new book is coming out. My next one will be out this August. It's a suspense--We love those, don't we? "The Diamond Secret" is set in New Orleans. What better place for a treasure hunt and lots of strange clues that all come together? My hero, Cullen Murphy, is Irish. Sigh. Irish and ambitious. My heroine Esther Carlisle runs an antique shop that she inherited from her stoic father. Cullen comes looking for an infamous diamond but discovers a diamond in the rough in prim little Esther. While she's always longed for a grand adventure, Esther is too sensible to fall for the good-looking adventurer. It's Indiana Jones meets Southern mystery. It was so much fun to write this book. After all, Elnora knows that diamonds are a girl's best friend! Unless someone is trying to kill you in order to get a diamond. That got me to thinking about grand adventures. Who amongst us has been on one? Who amongst us is afraid to go on an adventure? Recently, some friends took Big Daddy and I out on a boat ride. Elnora doesn't really like big bodies of water, except to look out on them while enjoying coffee and a good book and maybe some chocolate. It's safe to sit and read about adventures but ... to go on one? What if I break a nail or worse, a leg? What if bad guys do start chasing me? Anyway, I went on this boat with friends and we went out into the big bay. The really big bay. And we kept on going until we reached a little sliver of a sand bar that had a sign post at the end which told how far away certain places were. The sign also had the words "Skull Island" and "You are here" on it. So there I stood on Skull Island out in the middle of the really big bay and of course, my writer's mind was coming up with all sorts of scenarios. How did Skull Island come to be known as Skull Island? Were there really skulls on this island and did I really want to know that? While there, we saw a stingray and I thought about being out in the ocean on a raft with sharks and stingrays all around. Frightful. But it all ended okay since we got back in the boat and started home. The boat captain (we'll call him Bennie) also pulled the boat up to another kind of secretive place which could only be reached by boat or a long, long road that seemed to go nowhere. Of course, my mind went into imagination land again. Who lived on such a desolate, bug-infested place? Modern day pirates, drug runners, criminals and misfits, murders and mad men? I didn't want to find out. So when the boat got stuck in the shallows, I sent up a little prayer. I did not want to spend the night with whoever lived in the two houses we saw from the shore. Thankfully, we managed to get back out into deeper water and then we headed home. I had survived Skull Island and what was probably a band of pirates. The next week, our captain sold that boat so I won't be taking anymore trips like that for a while. But my mind is still out there, wondering while it's wandering. For Elnora, those few hours were grand and scary and interesting. What kind of adventures have you been on? Let's discuss this some more. I had fun talking about this over on the Love Inspired Authors Blog yesterday, so I thought we'd continue it today in celebration of my next book and in celebration of all the adventures, large and small, that we find in life. We are blessed to have adventures, right??? :))

Ask Elnora--About Starting Over? Lenora Worth

Hello, lovely end-of-the-year friends. Elnora doesn't make New Year's Resolutions. Elnora is resolved on a lot of things already. But I do so believe in starting over. I think the hip term these days is a "do-over." Sometimes, it's the only way to make things right, right?? For example, Elnora loves pie. Chocolate pie, coconut pie, pecan pie, and sweet potato pie. In fact, I've had sweet potato pie for breakfast all week long (and yes, I know it's off the charts on Weight Watchers points.) But ... there is something so comforting about a piece of pie and a good cup of coffee. Comfort food--it wraps us in memories like an old quilt. With each bite I take, I remember my mother making home-made pies. She'd stand at an actual pie safe (does anyone else know what one of those is??) and roll out the pie dough on the big enamel counter. The smell of a home-made sweet potato pie is like nectar from heaven. So I kind of feel that with each bite of that sweet pie, I get a nice do-over of some good childhood memories. Now, Elnora trying to bake her own--that might turn into a nightmare. I attempted gingerbread cookies last week, as some might recall. I have a big container of them sitting on my counter. They turned out pretty good, except one must dip the little brats in coffee in order to soften them for proper eating. I call them my biscotti gingerbread cookies. Not bad with a latte, let me tell you. I might need a do-over on how to bake cookies, too. But I digress. On to the new year and fresh, new perspectives. There is something enchanting and enticing about a blank calendar. There are no mistakes to white out. We have a whole new twelve months to get things right or discover something new and challenging. We'll have plenty of time to explore all the possibilities that stretch over months and months of pure white just begging us to pencil something in. Some people pick a new word for each new year. Some people decide they will finally do that one thing they've secretly wanted to do and oh, joy, they have a whole year to follow their bliss. A new year offers everyone a second chance or a first adventure. So let's discuss. What will you do with the next twelve months? I hope we can all fill that white space with lots of notes and exclamation points so when those twelve months are up, we can look back and nod and say "That was a good day" or "I'm so glad I tried that and succeeded." Are you ready for new beginnings and a few do-overs? After all, it should be as easy as pie, right?

My Mystery Adventure

Summers fly by so quickly. I hate how fast they vanish. I often think I’ll have more time in the summer to spend with my grandchildren and then, POOF, they are back in school. This year I was determined not to think about making time but to actually make it. Thus was born our mystery adventures.

A mystery adventure is one trip every week where Grandma Pat picks you up for the day and doesn’t tell you where you’re going. Yesterday, our mystery adventure was to a local hobby store for cake decorating supplies.

My ten-year-old granddaughter’s favorite TV show happens to be about cake decorating. When I told her what I had planned, she squealed, “Can we use Fondant?” I said yes and she actually jumped for joy. Who knew?

I thought the sugar high came AFTER eating the cake.

I confess that I have never done more that slap frosting from Betty Crocker’s cans onto a cake and called it good. My local grocery store has a great bakery where they make cakes with Fondant, so why should I go to all that mess and trouble. Well, as it turns out, the mess is the best part of a mystery adventure.

Icing bags in hand, my granddaughter and I spent an hour trying out all the tips in our kit and licking our fingers. We frosted a cake shaped like a castle, rolled and cut Fondant into flowers, and added candy unicorns for good measure. It was an afternoon of fun that was over all to soon. I hope she never forgets it.


Happily, I sent the cake home with her and her parents. I had the fun, let them have the calories.

What are some of your fond memories of time spent with your grandparents? I’d love to hear your stories.