READER INTERVIEW ~ Lenna 😀

Today, I am excited to be interviewing Lenna Hendershott, who lives in Oregon.

 Welcome Lenna!

Lexi: How did you get into reading romance novels?

Lenna: I’ve been a reader since middle school, and at the time it was safe to ride the city bus to the public library alone. I read the mythology and biography kids section through and by then the librarian pointed me to more books. I was in high school by then and I read all of Mary Stewart and Victoria Holts books and was pointed to Georgette Heyer and read all of hers. By then I took a break in college and found a copy Bertrice Small’s Adora and Sergeanne Golon’s Angelique and I was hooked.

Lexi: What are you good at?

Lenna: Everything crafty, especially with textiles, paper and beads. I love art. I have oil painted, knit & crochet, even made a fisherman’s sweater for my high school boyfriend. I love counted cross stitch and making charm bracelets which I have done for HRR-Historical Romance Retreat. I’m their “Charm Angel” making the scavenger hunt charm bracelets for the event. I also sew. I learned at 4 thanks to my mother who was self taught and made middle and high school clothes out of necessity. I made many of my children’s baby and toddler clothes and now I make historical costumes for attending HRR.

Lexi: Now I see why you like my mom's creations so much.  You two would get along wonderfully!

Lexi: What makes you happy?

Lenna: Creating and helping brighten other people’s day. I try to give at least one person a day a compliment, even if it’s “that color looks good on you”. Someone once told me my smile was a gift, so I try to gift it to everyone I meet.

Lexi: You have such a great outlook on life.  I love having people like you around! 

Lexi: Tell me about your significant other.

Lenna: My husband of 41 years this month, just retired from being a sole practitioner attorney. We were high school classmates but didn’t date until college. He was our Sunday school VP and he was so cute. He drove a Triumph Spitfire convertible and I called him for a ride when my car broke down. I made sure to wear my mini-skirts as he is a leg man…..

Lexi: Happy anniversary! 💗

Lexi: What’s your average day look like?

Lenna: Right now pretty boring as I’m under “Covid house arrest” given my multitude of health issues. Before it was Exercise classed at our local rec center M-F mornings and computer emails/FB in the afternoons and running errands & doctor appointments. Evenings were making dinner, watching TV & reading with my husband. I really miss my chair yoga and deep water aerobics classes that helped me be with people, kept my weight down and blood sugars in easier control.

Lexi: I hope you've been able to do some excercising at home. Like you said, health is everything, especially when someone has challenges.

Lexi: Who made the biggest impact on your life?

Lenna: That’s a hard question, many people have. First my mother, who was my best friend and a fountain of wisdom even though she didn’t know it. I also was influenced by one of my kids Sunday school teachers. She was such an awesome role model of the best Christian woman I could imagine. Then there was author Karen Ranney who helped me through some really hard years in my life, even though we never got to meet. She was there for me through her blog and emails when I felt alone and overwhelmed. I miss her imput now that she passed away suddenly this year. I still don’t know what took her.

Lexi: Oh, I didn't realize Karen had passed.  I used to read her books when I started on romances. 😢

Lexi: Do you have any pets?

Lenna: We always have one cat. My husband and I love cats and he’s a bit allergic so it’s only one short hair. Currently it’s Rascal who is 4-5 years old that we rescued from a widow who was left with her husband’s 2 cats. Rascal was beating up his litter sister in his grief over losing his human he’d bonded with. He’s now very firmly bonded with my husband and talks us to death! I’ve never had a cat who could out “talk” my toddlers but he does!

Lexi: Sounds like Rascal is a real character!

Lexi: What are you proud of?

Lenna: That my husband and I have raised 2 very successful children. Both are college graduates and have great jobs that are salary with full benefits. So far no grandchildren but I am ever hopeful, lol. Our daughter and her husband bought the house I grew up in and lives on the other side of town. She’s the Assistant Manager of our city’s Victoria’s Secret and before Covid sent her all over the area helping out the other stores when they had problems. Our son is a Construction Engineer with a local Sand & Gravel company here in town. They send him all over the area to oversee jobs and makes bids on jobs for the company. They were sending him out of town to get extra education for things at the company to help them be better, before Covid. He’s living with his serious girlfriend as she finished her degree in Computer Programming & Networking at OSU. 

Lexi: I'm so glad to hear that your children are doing well and everyone is safe.

Lexi: Okay, now it's time for the quickies!

Dark-haired hero or light-haired?  Dark
Hot and spicy or sweet and chaste?  Hot & spicy
Beard or no beard?  Trimmed beard
Chest hair or no chest hair? Chest Hair
Morning person or night person?  Night (but not as late as I used to be, lol)
Coffee or tea?  COFFEE!
Cats or dogs? Cats
Hero with long hair or short?  Long but NOT a man bun!
Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds – glittery stones
Hiking or swimming? Hiking

Lexi: Lenna, this is awesome!!  Thank you so much for answering my questions; I learned so much about you! 😊