A little update

Spring is supposed to be here but looking outside it doesn’t appear that way with all of that snow still on the ground. We had some warm weather a couple of weeks ago and the snow was beginning to melt. But then it got cold again and we had another snowstorm which dumped more snow onto the ice that had been forming. The culverts are still frozen and the water has not been able to drain toward the Red River. We don’t live far from the river. I’m a bit worried that we might get water in our basement from overland flooding. We’ve never had problems before but that doesn’t mean anything. Like they say when you invest money in the stock market: Past performance does not guarantee future results.
The river rose quite a bit last week and there was some flooding along River Road. A few houses had their basements filled with water. Now the municipality raised the surface of the road by putting gravel on it. In some places the road was raised up to six feet. Actually, the road is acting like a dam that is supposed to keep the water away from the properties on the other side. The river level has dropped a little but it will rise again when the water comes up from the States. Maybe even higher than before. Apparently it is not to reach the level we had in the Flood of the Century in 1997. Much of the land south of Winnipeg will still be flooded. Winnipeg will be spared with the expansion of the floodway around the city.

This is a picture of the ice that was pushed up onto the road while it drifted down the river toward Lockport.




This is River Road with a view toward Lockport. It won’t take much until the water floods the road

We went to the Museum of Man and Nature in Winnipeg last week to see the display of dinosaur skeletons. The display was lent to the museum from China. Some of the skeletons are genuine but most were replicas of originals. To read about dinosaurs is interesting but to see the skeletons is mind boggling. It is hard to believe that these giant creatures once roamed the Earth so many millions of years ago. I’m glad I wasn’t alive then. But maybe I was? Some people call me a dinosaur.

I haven’t done much writing. Been busy installing a new floor in our kitchen. I used those laminate floorboards that just click together. Apparently it’s easy and anyone can do it. What a nightmare with all the angles around the counters! It took me a whole week of measuring, cutting, and clicking (and cursing) until I finally finished it. I still have the back hall to do but that will be a cinch now that I’m an expert. (Ha, ha…)

I’ve been tracking my sales on Fictionwise and found that my books seem to be selling quite well. Six of my books were in the top twenty sellers on March 14, with ‘Mother of Light (The Xandra, Book Two) being at number 7, Goddess of Life at number 9 and Seeds of Chaos, Book One at number 10. Seeds of Chaos, Book Two was number 5 in overall sales in the twenty days before March 21. Dual Visions was number 4 on March 21 and Cliffs of Time reached number 7 on March 29 in overall sales.
Stardogs Two (Redemption) reached number 3 in sales on February 7. How many books that translates into I have no idea. Unfortunately, the money I receive for my books is so pitiful it is hardly worth mentioning. Fictionwise takes most of the money. It seems to be the Law of the Universe: The one who does most of the work gets rewarded the least.
But that’s okay…I guess. I write for fun and not for the money (Grrr….)