Dramatic storyline

Author and story	Nominator and motivation
Kim Roberts The Acts of a Mother's Love at Ponnyexpressen	Mary Ayers `The story really digs deep into Buck's parentage--and the problems that result from it, as well as the strengths that Buck ultimately derives from it). It is written artfully and beautifully--covering a topic that I haven't seen many fan fics delve into.`
Becca As Long As I Breathe at Ponnyexpressen	Cecilia There's everything in this story, assault, sickness, death and despair mixed with love and forgiving. Each and every chapter had it's own little drama and I keep rereading this story constantly. Both cring and laughing, this story is so - WOW! Why does not somebody make a movie out of this?
Sid Jack Fell Down at Ponnyexpressen, Saddles and Spurs and The Kidnation	Aimee This story had me hanging on for every chapter. Sid didn't just settle everything nicely in a few chapters. Instead, she was able to really explore the emotions of all the characters, letting us see exactly what they were going through.
Becca What Might Have Been at Ponnyexpressen	Aimee This was a great look at how Lou's life could have turned out if she hadn't escaped from Wicks. Becca handled the plot so well, showing us that no matter what happened, Lou and Kid belonged together.
Nesciri Autumn Gale at Vaya con Dios Ike	Aimee Nesciri had me begging for more after every chapter. This was a very emotional story, and she handled a very delicate situation so very well. The story was full of creativity, suspense, saddness, and happiness. It is definitely on the list of my favorite stories!
Jen Riding Out the Storm at The Hitching Post	Dana I loved the way Jen wove the past and the present together, comparing Lou's worry over Kid's return from the war to her concern over his return from town. Even the smallest details, like the name of their ranch, were fully explained. A really beautiful story!
Beth Wildfire at Saddles and Spurs	Ann One of the best fics I've read in a long time. I didn't know whether to nominate it in romance or drama. It had so many memorable dramatic scenes. One that sticks out in my mind is Addy wandering into the snow storm to look for Wildfire. It was so breathtakingly vivid. I could write 10 pages about all the wonderful little details in this story but I think your time would be better spent if you go and read it yourself.
`Katta` `My Gift from God` at Ponnyexpressen	Laura C This story can stand alone. Someone who has never even heard of The Young Riders would fall in love with Sister Ruth and the young Ike and Buck. The entire story is beautifully written - a love story in the fullest sense.
Lisa R Secrets of the night at The Kidnation and the FanFicList	Sid From start to finish, this story has the best kind of drama: well-written and very believable. It truly tears at your heart. You really feel along with the characters, Lou's anger, Kid's despair, their family's helplessness. Lisa even makes Doritha much more human and understandable, so you know that's great writing!
Miss Raye Even God Must Get the Blues at Ponnyexpressen	Dana Even though it's a short story, this was a really unique way to look at violence against women and Kid and Jimmy's reactions to it. The story was powerful and memorable. It sort of hits you like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List, not that it's violent, it just addresses a very serious subject matter. I think you could read this story without knowing squat about TYR and still be moved by it.
Wendelyn Ford Days of Passage at The Express Station Page	Nesciri This story has you hooked from the start - the character Abby is so well-written that after a while you stop just being a reader and become a part of the story. You fervently wish for Abby's happiness and the end is just heartbreaking. Simply amazing! Beth I can't express how happy I was when this story was finally finished! This is one of the first TYR fanfics that I've ever started reading, and I was drawn in instantly. It was filled with so much drama, suspense, and romance, and at the same time that I was awaiting a conclusion, I didn't want the story to end. Looking for and finding updates was always something I looked forward to. But now that the story is completed, I think it definitely deserves recognition as one of the best epic fanfics out of all the ones out there. Excerpt from Ch. 17 These days that had passed with her (Abby) were her rites of passage, she finally concluded. A feeling that she had passed from her innocence into her a certain air of knowing left a hollow place in her heart, but she knew it would not be hollow forever. The love of Jimmy would fill that void and the exhilaration of that feeling left her heart soaring. These days of passage brought her to a better understanding of what the remaining days would bring. She wouldn't fear it, not anymore.
Gizmo Memory at The Young Riders Saddlin' Station	Brenda The reason I am nominating this story is because I couldn't stop reading it until I had totally finished it. The suspense was perfect. Just when I thought that I had figured out what was going to happen next, something totally different would happen.
Kim Roberts Demons at Ponnyexpressen	Vicki Everything about this story is stunning. The visual imagery is amazing, the characters are well-realized and three-dimensional, and the plot had me gripping the edges of my desk, at one point with tears in my eyes.
Miss Raye Following my Heart On The FanFicList	Beth This story had me sucked in from the very beginning. It cut right to the action, and the conflicts were just ongoing, keeping me constantly on the lookout for updates. It is so original, and had a great deal of history woven into the plotline. There's drama, action, romance...it's got it all! (and best of all, it has lots of jimmy and lou!)
Charla Sins of War at Rider's Ranch and Ponnyexpressen	Sid From start to finish this story hooks you in and doesn't let go. It'sfull of rich detail, wonderful maintenance of character, and heart-wrenching moments. Every chapter is absolutely amazing. I wouldactually think about this story during my day, wondering what was going to happen next, wondering who Lou would choose. It was drama at its best. The ending was absolutely perfect and exactly right.
Beth Seasons of Change at Saddles 'n' Spurs	DCAmy Jimmy is such a great character to write about his past and the demons that are there and how he has to deal with them, etc. In this story, Beth sends Jimmy on a serious soul-searching journey after the end of the Express. He decides that he can't stay in Rock Creek and heads to Kansas to join Rosemary and the abolitionists. There are so many great scenes where Beth has Jimmy struggling over his emotions about his father, how Rosemary isn't the woman he thought she was, his relationship with his sister, his thoughts on living by the gun, etc. This is really great writing about Jimmy and Beth does an excellent job of staying true to his character. Beth writes a scenario that I can definitely see taking place.
Jamie Paybacks at Ponnyexpressen	DCAmy Starting with Lou, her siblings and Rachel getting robbed to Rachel dying to the boys rescuing Lou to Rachel's funeral to the final scenes when the boys avenge Rachel's death. Despite the death of Rachel ,who I love, this story was well-written and I just loved how the boys were so protective of their girls. And the best scene was the end when the boys killed the gang that attacked the girls and as Jamie writes "the debt was repaid". Oh, to have some boys like that...chivalry at its best.
Mary The Ties That Bind at Ponnyexpressen	DCAmy The whole story is just packed with drama. Buck has so much to cope with from figuring out that Teaspoon's good friend is actually his murderous betraying father to dealing with all the half-breed issues to struggling with his loyalties between his two families, etc. Of course I am biased to Buck stories, but Mary is such an excellent writer and she did a wonderful job of exploring all of Buck's emotional issues.
Dana Times of Trouble at Ponnyexpressen	DCAmy This whole story left me emotionally exhausted by the end. Kid& Lou went through terribly traumatic events from their barn being burned to their second baby being stillborn to someone killing their dog to Lou being raped. Dana put them through hell, but did an excellent job of writing to do it.

Author and story

Nominator and motivation

Mary Ayers
The story really digs deep into Buck's parentage--and the problems that result from it, as well as the strengths that Buck ultimately derives from it). It is written artfully and beautifully--covering a topic that I haven't seen many fan fics delve into.

Becca
As Long As I Breathe

at Ponnyexpressen

Cecilia
There's everything in this story, assault, sickness, death and despair mixed with love and forgiving. Each and every chapter had it's own little drama and I keep rereading this story constantly. Both cring and laughing, this story is so - WOW! Why does not somebody make a movie out of this?

Sid
Jack Fell Down
at Ponnyexpressen, Saddles and Spurs and The Kidnation

Aimee
This story had me hanging on for every chapter. Sid didn't just settle everything nicely in a few chapters. Instead, she was able to really explore the emotions of all the characters, letting us see exactly what they were going through.

Becca
What Might Have Been

at Ponnyexpressen

Aimee
This was a great look at how Lou's life could have turned out if she hadn't escaped from Wicks. Becca handled the plot so well, showing us that no matter what happened, Lou and Kid belonged together.

Nesciri
Autumn Gale

at Vaya con Dios Ike

Aimee
Nesciri had me begging for more after every chapter. This was a very emotional story, and she handled a very delicate situation so very well. The story was full of creativity, suspense, saddness, and happiness. It is definitely on the list of my favorite stories!

Jen

Riding Out the Storm

at The Hitching Post

Dana
I loved the way Jen wove the past and the present together, comparing Lou's worry over Kid's return from the war to her concern over his return from town. Even the smallest details, like the name of their ranch, were fully explained. A really beautiful story!

Beth

Wildfire

at Saddles and Spurs

Ann
One of the best fics I've read in a long time. I didn't know whether to nominate it in romance or drama. It had so many memorable dramatic scenes. One that sticks out in my mind is Addy wandering into the snow storm to look for Wildfire. It was so breathtakingly vivid. I could write 10 pages about all the wonderful little details in this story but I think your time would be better spent if you go and read it yourself.

Katta

My Gift from God

at Ponnyexpressen

Laura C
This story can stand alone. Someone who has never even heard of The Young Riders would fall in love with Sister Ruth and the young Ike and Buck. The entire story is beautifully written - a love story in the fullest sense.

Lisa R

Secrets of the night

at The Kidnation and the FanFicList

Sid
From start to finish, this story has the best kind of drama: well-written and very believable. It truly tears at your heart. You really feel along with the characters, Lou's anger, Kid's despair, their family's helplessness. Lisa even makes Doritha much more human and understandable, so you *know* that's great writing!

Miss Raye

Even God Must Get the Blues

at Ponnyexpressen

Dana
Even though it's a short story, this was a really unique way to look at violence against women and Kid and Jimmy's reactions to it. The story was powerful and memorable. It sort of hits you like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List, not that it's violent, it just addresses a very serious subject matter. I think you could read this story without knowing squat about TYR and still be moved by it.

Wendelyn Ford

Days of Passage

at The Express Station Page

Nesciri
This story has you hooked from the start - the character Abby is so well-written that after a while you stop just being a reader and become a part of the story. You fervently wish for Abby's happiness and the end is just heartbreaking. Simply amazing!

Beth
I can't express how happy I was when this story was finally finished! This is one of the first TYR fanfics that I've ever started reading, and I was drawn in instantly. It was filled with so much drama, suspense, and romance, and at the same time that I was awaiting a conclusion, I didn't want the story to end. Looking for and finding updates was always something I looked forward to. But now that the story is completed, I think it definitely deserves recognition as one of the best epic fanfics out of all the ones out there.
Excerpt from Ch. 17
These days that had passed with her (Abby) were her rites of passage, she finally concluded. A feeling that she had passed from her innocence into her a certain air of knowing left a hollow place in her heart, but she knew it would not be hollow forever. The love of Jimmy would fill that void and the exhilaration of that feeling left her heart soaring. These days of passage brought her to a better understanding of what the remaining days would bring. She wouldn't fear it, not anymore.

Gizmo

Memory

at The Young Riders Saddlin' Station

Brenda
The reason I am nominating this story is because I couldn't stop reading it until I had totally finished it. The suspense was perfect. Just when I thought that I had figured out what was going to happen next, something totally different would happen.

Kim Roberts

Demons

at Ponnyexpressen

Vicki
Everything about this story is stunning. The visual imagery is amazing, the characters are well-realized and three-dimensional, and the plot had me gripping the edges of my desk, at one point with tears in my eyes.

Miss Raye

Following my Heart

On The FanFicList

Beth
This story had me sucked in from the very beginning. It cut right to the action, and the conflicts were just ongoing, keeping me constantly on the lookout for updates. It is so original, and had a great deal of history woven into the plotline. There's drama, action, romance...it's got it all! (and best of all, it has lots of jimmy and lou!)

Charla

Sins of War

at Rider's Ranch and Ponnyexpressen

Sid
From start to finish this story hooks you in and doesn't let go. It'sfull of rich detail, wonderful maintenance of character, and
heart-wrenching moments. Every chapter is absolutely amazing. I wouldactually think about this story during my day, wondering what was going to happen next, wondering who Lou would choose. It was drama at its best. The ending was absolutely perfect and exactly right.

Beth

Seasons of Change

at Saddles 'n' Spurs

DCAmy
Jimmy is such a great character to write about his past and the demons that are there and how he has to deal with them, etc. In this story, Beth sends Jimmy on a serious soul-searching journey after the end of the Express.
He decides that he can't stay in Rock Creek and heads to Kansas to join Rosemary and the abolitionists. There are so many great scenes where Beth has Jimmy struggling over his emotions about his father, how Rosemary isn't the woman he thought she was, his relationship with his sister, his thoughts on living by the gun, etc.
This is really great writing about Jimmy and Beth does an excellent job of staying true to his character. Beth writes a scenario that I can definitely see taking place.

Jamie

Paybacks

at Ponnyexpressen

DCAmy
Starting with Lou, her siblings and Rachel getting robbed to Rachel dying to the boys rescuing Lou to Rachel's funeral to the final scenes when the boys avenge Rachel's death.
Despite the death of Rachel ,who I love, this story was well-written and I just loved how the boys were so protective of their girls. And the best scene was the end when the boys killed the gang that attacked the girls and as Jamie writes "the debt was repaid". Oh, to have some boys like that...chivalry at its best.

Mary
The Ties That Bind

at Ponnyexpressen

DCAmy
The whole story is just packed with drama. Buck has so much to cope with from figuring out that Teaspoon's good friend is actually his murderous betraying father to dealing with all the half-breed issues to struggling with his loyalties between his two families, etc.
Of course I am biased to Buck stories, but Mary is such an excellent writer and she did a wonderful job of exploring all of Buck's emotional issues.

Dana

Times of Trouble

at Ponnyexpressen

DCAmy
This whole story left me emotionally exhausted by the end. Kid& Lou went through terribly traumatic events from their barn being burned to their second baby being stillborn to someone killing their dog to Lou being raped. Dana put them through hell, but did an excellent job of writing to do it.