Rupert Willows – Sandi Krawchenko Altner

Few things are more gratifying to a writer than to have someone say they like your story. Readers who share their comments about what they like, what they found lacking and what they are recommending to the world is the lifeblood of an author’s career. We learn from the criticism and we are encouraged by the praise.

This may seem like a small thing, but it remains remarkable because there are thousands of books sold before a review is posted. I’m talking about your neighbor, your sister, your co-worker here, not the big time reviewers in newspapers and bloggers who get books in advance of publication. It’s the reader who buys the book or who is given a copy by a friend, or borrows it from the library who matters. A choice is made. A book enters your life to occupy your time for days. If you hate it you will drop it in four minutes. But if you like it, you become invested in the world of the characters. You come to know the people in the story and you develop opinions about them. Sometime you fall in love and it is sad when the book ends and you feel that the story should have gone on, just a little bit longer, or that there should be another book, or an entire series.

Once in a rare while, a reader feels compelled to share their thoughts. That is gold for a reviews writer. For me, this has made all the difference and has created the desire to write the sequel to Ravenscraig. (This next one will be all about art forgery in 1914 being sold to millionaires in New York.)

Next time your book club gets together, ask your members how many books they read in a year, and ask how many reviews they have written in their lifetime. It’s true that those who take the time to post those reviews are very special indeed to the authors. Even the big names are likely to read your words when you post those reviews.

So it is that I send out a big thank you today to the readers that have found Ravenscraig and have been moved to write a review. Writers live off the kind words of people who love our stories. We know that not everyone will get what we are saying, but for those who do, there is no greater joy than a fab review on Amazon. It drives us to keep going, despite it all.

So to Mazza who posted this review in the UK, I can only say thank you so much for your enthusiasm and for sharing your thoughts.

Thank you Mazza!

Happy weekend everyone.

And by the way, if you want to send me a note, I will certainly write back to you. You can write to me at sandikaltner@aol.com. Or connect with me on Twitter @SandiAltner.

Also please see the reviews on Amazon.com

DSCN2714 — Armstrong’s Point c. 1915 courtesy Manitoba Archives. Filed under Winnipeg Streets.

Armstrong’s Point is among my favourite neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and was the ideal choice for the location of the fictional home Ravenscraig Hall in my novel Ravenscraig.

Tucked into a bend in the Assiniboine River, the lush landscape and expansive lawns of “The Gates” as it is often called, have continued to inspire new generations of homeowners for more than a century. There is no other place quite like this, and it fascinates me.

You will get a sense of the luxurious homes that were built in Armstrong’s Point at the turn of the 20th century if you read the opening chapter of Ravenscraig, which you will find here on line.

To this day, Armstrong’s Point remains a distinctly beautiful and peaceful residential area, hidden away from the busy streets of downtown, yet a short walk to the city centre, public transportation, fine restaurants, bakeries, walking paths, as well as churches and a synagogue.

No, you will not find a real Ravenscraig Hall, there, but I can tell you exactly where it would have been located had it existed.

I wanted to share this short video to show what Armstrong’s Point looks like today. It was produced by Compass Digital Media of Winnipeg and is narrated by Bill Richardson. I hope it will help you understand why the residents association of Armstrong’s Point remains so fiercely protective of their historic neighbourhood.

The following notes were posted by Compass Digital Media to accompany the youtube video.

Historic Armstrong’s Point received its name in the mid-1800s, when the land was first granted by the Hudson’s Bay Company to Captain Joseph Hill.

When Captain Hill returned to England five years later, he left his boatman James Armstrong in charge and the area gradually came to be known as Armstrong’s Point. In the early 1880s when Hill heard that land values were escalating in the Canadian west, he returned to Winnipeg, reestablished his title to his property, and sold it to a syndicate headed by J. McDonald and E. Rothwell.

The Armstrong’s Point Association was formed 54 years ago to “preserve the residential nature” of one of Winnipeg’s most cherished neighbourhoods. Over the years, residents have come and gone, but still somehow, this peaceful, naturally beautiful setting remains, cherished by all who live here and visit here.

Of the 123 homes on the Point, 75 are on the city’s Inventory of Historically Noteworthy Buildings. The ornamental Tyndallstone gates were erected in 1902 and were designated by the City as historically significant in 1993.

The Cornish Library, a Carnegie library built in 1915, was named after Winnipeg*s first mayor, Francis Cornish. Ralph Connor House, home to the University Women*s Club at 54 West Gate, has been designated municipally and provincially and was recently named a National Historic Site. Beechmount at 134 West Gate is on the Canadian Registry of Historic Places.