Happy New Year

Happy 2013!!

So here I am making my first blog post.

One of my readers suggested that I start a blog to keep in contact with everyone who is following my stories since it is becoming harder and harder to keep up my e-mail and reviews.

I'm not sure how adding another communication medium is going to lessen things, but we'll give it a whirl.

First, by way of introduction, I'm Andrew Todd...or at least I have been for about three months now.

In September of this, oh wait, last year...I was on a short medical leave and having already seen every episode of NCIS, which USA seems to play over and over and over, I was quite bored and decided to begin writing a story whose basic premise had been floating around in my head for a while.

The basic idea was about a teen age boy, shy, lonely...who is made to take riding lessons at a local ranch and falls in love with the young cowboy who is his instructor.

After some stops and starts, that germ of an idea became 'Riding Lessons' a story, the first chapter of which I submitted to the Nifty Archives in early October.

I was figuring I'd maybe get a comment or two. I'd write few chapters, finish the story and that would be that.

Then all Hell broke loose.

Everytime I posted a new chapter, the e-mails would flood in. People asked me to start a mailing list letting them know when I was posting a new chapter. I received an invitation from www.iomfats.org to have my story posted on their website. I was refered to www.gayauthors.org to post my stories and I received more mail and reviews from that site.

In the course of a month and a half I wrote twenty-five chapters of 'Riding Lessons'. To say I was overwhelmed by the response would be a huge understatement. I hadn't planned on such a response and really didn't know what to do.

So, I decided to end 'Riding Lessons' at what I felt was an appropriate ending spot and re-group.

One thing I had promised myself when i started and promised every reader who asked was that I would never leave the story unfinished.

As a long time reader at Nifty and other sites, there is nothing I hate more than when I get hooked on a story and the author leaves it unfinished.

Being on the other side, I can understand writer's block and life getting in the way...but my promise was that when I got bored or blocked or was through...there would always be a last chapter with a 'the end'.

After finishing 'Riding Lessons' I took a brief breather. Wrote one short story 'Infinity' and then began plotting my return to the land of 'Riding Lessons'.

Since the best way for me to continue was to add some new blood to the old, I decided that I would first write some stories to create some backstory for new characters. The first of these 'Interludes' (as I named this collection of stories) featured two new characters and was titled 'Danny & CJ'. If you've read it and cursed me out for the ending, sorry, but my intention with this first story was always to leave it hanging so I could bring CJ to the 'Riding Lessons' world and move him on from there.

My next step was to start writing the new series. I have renamed the series several times. The first title gave too much away (at least I thought it did) and I had two other names to decide between and eventually settled on 'Lessons Learned' which i felt was a more overarching title and really touched upon what I was aiming at for this new series...for the boys to learn and grow and connect.

So far I have posted three chapters of 'Lessons Learned' to Nifty and GA and I have adopted a weekly posting schedule...I post a new chapter every Friday.

I am way ahead on my writing, currently about halfway through Chapter 14.

Many people want to know why I don't post more frequently.

Several reasons: 1. I like to keep a 'buffer' of chapters in case I need to go back and change something I can, 2. By keeping to a once a week posting schedule and staying a head...if I get blocked or need to work on a new project I can continue posting without interuption.

So, why the blog? Not really sure.

I guess one reason, is that I get asked so many questions and get so many great comments, that I thought that if there was a common place to ask and answer those questions it might save time.

I may also offer insight into what I am working on.

I also get asked often to recommend new stories and writers and this would be a place to do that as well.

I'm also a very opinionated person...so I'm sure there will end up being some rants (many of a political nature) if I keep at this long enough.

But, for now. If you haven't caught up with my writing, you can find it at the Nifty Archives, www.gayauthors.org, www.screeve.org , and soon it will be published at www.iomfats.org .

So check it out and let me know what you think.

A