Andrew Todd

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 7 The seven boys sat at a large table in a Pizza Hut they had stopped at on the way to Dream Makers Rescue Ranch. They had left as soon as the younger boys had gotten out of school. Given their numbers they had taken two vehicles. CJ, Danny, Mattie and Spin had ridden in CJ’s jeep, while Dusty, Zak and Dylan were riding in the Triple J’s F-250 Super Cab. The Super Cab was also towing an empty trailer that most of the boys thought would be carrying Max’s

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 6 Zak was grinning ear to ear as he pulled up to Mattie’s house. He turned to Dylan who was in the passenger seat. “Hey, Dyl, would you mind getting in the back seat with Spin? I really need to talk to Mattie.” “Sure, no problem,” Dylan said as he opened the door and motioned for Mattie to take his place. Once everyone was buckled in Zak took off for Spin’s house. Mattie looked over at Zak who still had a Cheshire-cat grin on his face. “What are y

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 5 “I’m your brother.” Zak stood in the entryway stunned by Danny’s declaration. Dusty had his hands on Zak’s shoulders and was gently kneading the muscles he felt getting tighter and tighter. “I don’t, I, what do you…” Zak couldn’t get a coherent sentence out. Danny stood silently in the doorway. Finally, CJ broke the silence. “Why don’t we all go into the living room and sit down and figure this out?” “I think that’s an excellent idea,” came a voi

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 4 “I’m afraid I’ve sold the ranch.” Mr. Jones started chuckling as four of the boys began shouting and clamoring for more information. “Hold on!” Mr. Jones hollered. “Mr. Jones, what do you mean, you sold the ranch?” asked Zak. “What about us? What about the horses?” “Zak, like I told you on your birthday, I never intended this to be a full ongoing business. This was supposed to be a hobby for my retirement, but you boys have helped make it into

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 3 Zak was walking briskly through the halls. Mr. Malcolm had asked him to stay behind after his English Literature class and he was hurrying to meet the guys for lunch. He stopped at his locker to switch out his books for his next class. He was in such a rush he kept screwing up his combination. Finally, he made himself stop and took a deep breath. He went back to the lock and finally popped the sucker open. He switched out his books and was just ab

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 2 “CJ?!?” Spin, of course, spoke first. “I thought your name was Charlie?” CJ grinned. “Well, it’s like this. My parents insisted on giving us boys Spanish names and Americanized nicknames… so Pedro became Pete, Mateo became Mattie and I, Carlos, became Charlie. They thought this would make us more accepted in school, but when you are the only Latino kid in a sea of very Caucasian ones, life can be difficult… for me, being Charlie, meant that with m

That's ok, since I'm just starting to read his new story, you can confuse me with him...

Lessons Learned By Andrew Todd Chapter 1 Zak pulled up in front of Mattie’s house and was about to honk his horn, when he saw Mattie come out the front door. Mattie scrambled into the passenger seat of Zak’s new Ford Escape. “Good morning,” Zak greeted Mattie, cheerfully. Mattie looked at Zak and grinned. “Is this the most excited you’ve ever been for the first day of school?” Zak grinned back. “Oh, you have no idea. Just having the two of you with me, I feel so much more comfortable

Zak, Dusty, Mattie and Spin are back and making new friends, catching up with family and learning new lessons.

I missed the part about the call when I was re-reading the story...need to fix that... The first chapter for 'Lessons Learned' the new story will start on New Year's Day. I'm still writing away, but as you can see I often have to go back and make corections and changes as things pop up. I'm nuts about my continuity. Don't fret not picking up who CJ was, I wasn't trying to make it obvious, but he is Mattie's brother and he will be a big part of the new story.

Well, I was trying to hold out for Christmas Eve, but I settled for 'The Mayans Were Wrong' Day or as it's called around my house 'Happy, We Didn't Blow Up' Day... I have posted a new story. I wasn't sure exactly how to post this one, so I'll explain what I am doing. The new story is titled 'Danny & CJ' it introduces two new characters named (funny enough) Danny and CJ to the 'Riding Lessons' universe. I created a 'book' for this story called 'Interludes' because I have plans for a number of these one part chapters to introduce new characters to the main story. I am working on the second one as we speak, These will be posted irregularly as I feel the need to tell these smaller stories or give more background on these characters. Now, the main event...the next book in the 'Riding Lessons' series is well underway. I have been working diligently for the past few weeks on this new book. The title of the new book is 'Lessons Learned' Dusty, Zak, Mattie and Spin are back and they are joined by the previously mentioned Danny and CJ and a few other new characters. I hope to start posting the new chapters on New Year's Day and then go to a once a week posting schedule. Right now I am working on Chapter 8 as well as the second 'Interludes' story. I like to have a buffer in case I need to go back and make changes for continuity sake. Hope everyone enjoys the new stories. Have a wonderful Holiday season (which ever one you plan to celebrate) and an awesome new year. Thanks for the wonderful feedback I have recevied from so many.

Danny & CJ By Andrew Todd Daniel Aaron James had been born twenty-one years ago to Alison James. As long as he could remember it had been just him and his mom. His mom had told him that his father had deserted her when he learned she was pregnant and she would not terminate the pregnancy. Danny had had a happy childhood. He and his mom did not have a lot. Alison worked full-time and went to college at night. By the time Danny was eight she had graduated and was able to get a teaching job

Danny and his horse, Angel, relocate to Florida so Danny can attend college, there he meets CJ, the love of his life, all goes well until one fateful day...

That's definitely the way I'm leaning. The idea I have for a second chapter works just as well for another story, probably even better...

Ok, so I thought I knew what I was doing... I recently posted a new story 'Infinity' both here and on Nifty. My original idea for the story was a far cry from what I ultimately prooduced. I was a little unsure of the end product, but sometimes the muse gets what she wants and not necessarily what I planned. I was so up in the air about this story that after I got it back from my editor, I re-wrote the last line of dialog and I added the very last line of the story. I thought both made the story better, but I broke my own rule for any re-writes, I did not re-read the whole story. I literally made these changes as I was posting the story here and submitting it to Nifty. I was thrilled to get some great reviews almost immediately. And when it posted to Nifty, the next day, I started receiving great e-mails from my usual group of fans there as well. But, I started noticing something in the reviews and in the e-mails. It wasn't until I received an e-mail from one fan in particular that I went back and re-read the whole story and realized what I had done. When i had re-written that last line of dialog and written that last line of the story, I had made it the ending much more 'fluid' then what I had planned. Many people who were reading the story believed that Finn, the character who spent the story in a coma, had awakened long enough to profess his love for Jack and then died. They were writing me these heartfelt letters of praise, because just allowing Finn and Jack this closure was a 'great' thing. Giving two people in love a chance to say their 'final goodbye'. I would love to say that I was this brilliant, but to me Finn was alive. That had always been my intention, that Finn had awoken professed his love for Jack and they lived 'happily ever after'. The end. But after re-reading the story, I saw how things could be interpreted either way. Plus, a lot of people wanted me to continue the story. So, I guess now I am thoroughly confused. My original intent was to write a series of Holiday themed stories to plug into the spaces between my long 'Riding Lessons' books. However, when I finished 'Infinity' (not even the original name I wanted to use). I had given up on that original idea and decided that this was a one chapter Christmas story and everything that I had to say had been said as far as Jack and Finn were concerned. If Finn was alive, as I had always intended, then the boys had their happy ending and I was done. But, if Finn had not survived and he had awoken just long enough to profess his love for Jack, then that opened a whole lot of possibilities for me. I know where Jack's story goes from there. I know what happens next, but if I write that story...do I spoil the original story for everyone who read it the way that I had originally intended. Do I 'wreck' their happy ending? So, I guess, I am posing that question to my readers. Do you want things left as they are...however you are interpreting the ending of 'Infinity'...or do you want that story to continue with Jack alone? I'm not promising to write the next chapter, I just want to get an idea of how people feel before I even invest the time and energy. I'm happy with the status quo and I like the idea that I have for Jack's next chapter, but I don't want to ruin anyone's happy ending either. I have a young friend, who does not like sad stories...he only likes happy endings...I keep trying to explain to him that the pain we get handed in life often leads to our happy endings...am I right? On a more personal note...I am looking for a couple of 'Beta Readers' for my next book in the 'Riding Lessons' series. I have a couple people now who I share chapters with, but since they have become friends....they tend to 'love' everything I send them...I'm looking for soem readers who will tell me exactly what they think...the good, the bad and the tacky...I don't promise to change a single word , but I do promise to listen to every critique openly. If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail at atodd867@gmail.com or im me here. I only need two or three people. Thanks.

Infinity By Andrew Todd Jack Chase sat next to the hospital bed listening to the constant beeping and buzzing of the machines that were keeping his best friend, Finn Rafferty, alive. Jack reached over and stroked Finn’s jet-black hair; he ran his hand along Finn’s face seeing the remnants of the horrible bruises that had been there when Finn had been brought into the hospital several weeks earlier. Jack took Finn’s motionless hand in his own. He ran his finger along the veins

It's Christmas Eve and Jack sits by his comatose best friend's hospital bed, he reflects on their years of friendship and prays for a miracle.

Wow!! Just WOW!! Every once in a while you are lucky enough to have a dream come true. Last night I got to have one of mine come true. I was lucky enough to get to see Idina Menzel in concert. If you aren't familiar with her, she was the original 'Maureen' in 'Rent' (and did the movie), she originated the role of 'Elpheba' in 'Wicked' for which she won a Tony...and if your idea of 'art' is the boob tube...she also played 'Shelby Corcoran' on 'GLEE'. She is one of the most amazing performers I have ever seen. Giving a dymanic, funny, thoroughly entertaining show. But, the dream that came true for me, was not just seeing this amazing performer in person. It was having the opportunity to hear her sing the amazing 'Defying Gravity' from 'Wicked' in person. For a theatre geek of my generation, this would be the equivilent of hearing Barbra sing 'Don't Rain On My Parade' live or Judy sing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'. Some twelve hours later, I still have goosebumps. What a fantastic way to begin my favorite month of the year!!

RIDING LESSONS By Andrew Todd Chapter 25 Six tired boys, six exhausted horses, and two dogs with an abundance of extra energy emerged from the woods and headed towards the barnyard of the Triple J Ranch. Although only four of them had to leave, Zak and Dusty had decided to come back for a while. Dusty wanted to give Zak one more driving lesson before his driver’s test tomorrow. As they came around the corner, they saw Steve, Nick’s older brother, waiting for them. Zak turned to Nick an

RIDING LESSONS By Andrew Todd Chapter 24 “Faster, Oxy!! Faster, Zaky!!” Max cried as Zak and Dusty cantered Onyx and Phoenix through the woods. Zak looked over to Dusty and the two grinned at each other enjoying the freedom of being on the trail and the joyful laughter coming from little Max. As they approached the opening in the trail, both boys slowed their horses to a walk. “Aww,” sighed Max. “Wanna go fast.” Zak held tight to Max and laughed. “We need to let Onyx and Phoenix have

Thanks. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving as well. looks like you finished just in time. Just posted Chapter 23.

RIDING LESSONS By Andrew Todd Chapter 23 “SURPRISE!!” Zak nearly jumped out of his skin as everyone popped out of their hiding places in the barn. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZAK!!” they all hollered. Zak looked around the barn. Someone had obviously spent a lot of time preparing the barn today. The two horses that were usually in the stalls in this section had been moved and the whole area had been scrubbed and polished. All the stall doors were opened and two of them were set up with buffet tab

Mattie figures very heavily in the next part of the story (at least he does in the way I currently have it planned). He is my enigma and solving that puzzle will be a big piece of the next story...

RIDING LESSONS By Andrew Todd Chapter 22 Zak lay in bed dreaming. He grinned in his sleep. In his dream, Dusty entered his room. His tall, dark and beautiful boyfriend. Dusty stood by Zak’s bed and stripped slowly for Zak’s enjoyment. First he removed the band that he used to keep his long black hair in a ponytail. His thick pin-straight hair cascaded down onto his shoulder. Zak shivered. He loved when Dusty’s shiny hair was loose. Next, Dusty pulled his wife beater over his head reveal

RIDING LESSONS By Andrew Todd Chapter 21 Spin awoke in the middle of the night. Mattie was snuggled up against him fast asleep. He turned and looked at the clock on the night stand; it was just after 2 am. It was now or never. He slipped out of the bed. He grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and tiptoed into the bathroom. He quickly got dressed without turning on the light. He did not want to chance waking Mattie; he knew his cautious boyfriend would try to talk him out of this. He pa