JUNE 1, 2009: Road to Redemption updated. I love reviews, criticism, hellos. (Wink Wink) On a side note, I have been delayed due to having to relocate to a foreign country for work. Phew.

MARCH 17, 2009: Finally began posting Road to Redemption, a legitimate sequel to From Twilight to Dawn. This story will bring together the foundations I have set in To Love and to Sin and The Dance of Shadow and Flame.

FEB 17, 2009: Posted Epilogue of The Dance of Shadow and Flame. Thus comes my darkest journey to an end. Thank you, dear readers.

FEB 8, 2009: Posted Chapter 14 of The Dance of Shadow and Flame.

The 'final spur' is becoming something of a limping marathon, wrought with hospitals, deaths, accidents, illnesses, etc. Do bear with me. Meanwhile, I am recuperating by re-reading every single review I have received on this site. Your reviews heal me better than any painkiller, and I am elated when I see that readers and I share the same joy, sorrow, fear, excitement. I know not many of you are left now, it being quite post-LOTR in the 2009, but to all who have once walked with me in my journeys, thank you. And to all who are with me now, thank you. Just as my young Legolas says - I shall fear no evil (be it illness, fatigue, lack of confidence, whatever.)

JAN 10, 2009: And as announced, a FAQ – a small ‘thank you’ to readers and reviewers who have read, have waited for, and continue to read my works.

Q. Which story was the easiest, and which the most difficult, to write?

A. Every story is a bloody mess. But dark stories are difficult for me, because I plunge into a story very deeply. Little Legolas stories are relatively easy, namely The Strength of One Green Leaf ; I was new to English fanfiction, and had no idea of the challenges I would later make up for myself - I was just itching to tell a story. Maybe that fearless enthusiasm can be accredited for the overwhelming reception and awards that story received in contrast to my later, darker fics. My greatest personal trial was To Love and to Sin, as it opposed every fiber of my usual self - happy endings, chaste love, perfect father and just ruler, blah blah. And because my tales all come from a deep place inside of me, in addition to tiptoing around the balance of how much to reveal and conceal in a taboo topic, I struggled momentuously every step of the way as I spun my darkest tale yet.

Q. Tell us about your characters - your favorite, easiest to write, hardest to write, how you characterize them, etc.

A. In the movies, the elf - the oldest and most experienced member of the Fellowship minus Gandalf - was surprisingly inconspicuous. In pondering this, I began to construct his earlier history, resulting in The Strength of One Green Leaf. Although I touch on other characters, my stories are all segments of my Greenleaf Chronicles. As for Thranduil, persistent winner of most-popular-elf award in my stories, I know next to nothing about him canonically; I step into each character (villains too) and carve out their traits, good and bad. Currently I'm writing some pretty ugly stuff in The Dance of Shadow and Flame, but I believe it is through ugliness that true noble qualities shine. Speaking of which, that story may yet end up beating To Love and to Sin in darkest-story award...

Q. It has been said that you know nothing of Canon, and have little command of English.

Yes, it's true that I haven't read the books, though I hope to make time for it someday - for now I want to devote my time to writing, and retain the carefree quality of my works, as quoted on fanfiction net: unleash your imagination and free your soul. Haha. And yes, I am a bilingual immigrant; my readers can be the judge of my language skills. ;)

Q. Stories or comments about readers and reviewers?

Before my 2-year-break from English fanfiction, I had an array of consistent reviewers, some of whom I was quite attached to. A reviewer and I ended up squabbling personally over difference in political opinion, but we hugged (in a manner of speaking) and all was well. I look back upon those times fondly; I get quite attached to people, even online. And of course, there are disgruntled comments or uncomfortable silences when I explore taboo topics or portray relationships that seem novel. I was quite stressed about that when I was writing Imladris-centric fics, but my Glorfindel and Erestor's so-called "??" relationship did not suffer alterations due to criticism. I'm stubborn.

And I even look back at that fondly. By all means, I do appreciate all comments, be it wordless drooling, biting criticism, or just a 'hi'.

Q. Plans for upcoming stories?

After completing my present story - which will serve as a backdrop to my next story - I will pick up where I left off in From Twilight to Dawn. The upcoming tale will return to Legolas and Thranduil's struggles before a dark past returned, entwined with Erestor and Glorfindel's quiet steps toward salvation, or so to speak. I have more tales lined up, so if readers will stay with me, I have quite a journey ahead of me still.

Q. What are your biggest challenges in writing?

It's always difficult to switch between languages, since I go back to being a blank slate. And I like to challenge myself to experimenting with different styles, as seen in my Imladris fics as opposed to Mirkwood fics. The Dance of Shadow and Flame was the furthest extreme in my experiment with abstract lyricism, and in the midst of that story I lost 8 years' worth of writing in one computer failure, which led to despair and failure to return to English fanfiction for two years. Within those years I was trained in my university to follow the new trend: dry, simple and emotionless. And now, returned as a little Hemingway factory, I face the challenge of gliding into the midst of my most anti-Hemingway narrative. I almost can't believe I wrote with such passionate honesty, all those innocently emotional stories. In an age of cynicism, where it's cool to be sardonic and not so cool to be emotional or sentimental, I now struggle to regain the sensitivity I've been taught to cast away in shame.

Q. Tell us something personal about yourself - your background, education.

Hmm. I was a college freshman when I started writing LOTR fiction. Now I am an ESL teacher, an actor, and a musician. Perhaps my bilingual background liberates my usage of the language despite my journalistic instincts to struggle against it. And last but not least, it's pretty obvious I have a big head. I blame it on the artistic streak.

Thank you for reading. I hope Fanfiction net doesn't boot me from its site for narcissistic use of site space.

NOV 28, 2008: Chapter 4 of Dance of Shadow and Flame posted. Yes, at last I have returned to Fanfiction Net. My sincerest gratitude to all ye readers who have waited for me and given me encouragement through reviews, emails and PM's. Please enjoy!

FEB 3, 2007: Forgive me for the rant. I don't know why I'm sad for a little thing like this. It was just a small review with a hateful remark left on the review page, among other reviews that overwhelmed me with kindness and openmindedness. I suppose I am growing up, and begin to tire of resisting those who want me to divide my world into a black and white worldview according to their liking. I am surprised to find myself tempted to give up and say, "This is NOT slash, ok? Get on with it." I constantly remind myself that my characters are not 2-dimensional and should be treated better - but with my limited skills of writing, and narrowmindedness, I am always struggling to hold on to my initial conviction - or even hope of even bringing my visions to life in a convincing manner. If I do not, I will have failed, becoming nothing but a hypocrite who claims that she has created a butterfly when she has only envisioned one and succeeded in creating a worm.

I am probably just as squareheaded as any other flamer out there. Forgive me for my narcissistic rants.

AUG 24, 2006: My Erestor and Glorfindel seem notorious for making readers edgy. They are once again causing unease amongst some readers in my newest work, Dance of Shadow and Flame. Please note that the category is Drama/Angst, not Romance. I will not define their reltionship in terms of sexual labels; as a similar controversy has been stirred up during my posting of Tears of Yesterday, please read my thoughts on this below.

MAY 3, 2005:To Live Another Day nominated for MEFA Awards.

APRIL 21, 2005: Nominated for Parma Eruseen Awards.

Best Plot/Concept: The Strength of One Green Leaf

Best Study of a Character Through Multiple Works: Kasmi Kassim, Legolas

Best Chaptered Story: The Strength of One Green Leaf

FEBRUARY 13, 2005: The Strength of One Green Leaf won the Flame of Anor Award for Best Action/Adventure.

JULY 26, 2004: I think a written work is like a tree. You can either relax and enjoy the rustling of the unfamiliar leaves, or back away thinking it's poison ivy.

Cultures and eras change and perceptions change with them. Does Aragorn not kiss Boromir before his death in the movie? Does Legolas not mention being bound by love to Aragorn? In one culture, people of the same gender who hold hands, hug, and sleep together are good friends, while in another culture they are homosexual partners. The thin ice I tread is the modern Western culture of homophobia. If you think I am straddling the rope between "friendship" and "romance", I daresay you are creating an imaginary rope; though not a "romance", my characters' relationships cannot be defined as "friendship" if it would restrict them from being intimate. Please, do not draw a line based on your own values when reading a story written by someone else and tell them that they are crossing your line, which did not, does not, and hopefully will not have to exist to them just to please the reader. I daresay it's not the way I wrote it, but the way you are reading it. If you feel that my tree is poison ivy, you are free to leave its shade and walk away. But please do not expect me to dig up the roots to explain myself to your satisfaction, or to disguise my tree to make it look more like a tree you are familiar with. If you have qualms about male friendships in my story, I suggest reading Someone Reading's review of Tears of Yesterday, ch. 9, SakuraSun's review of chapter 11, and Chloe Amethyst's review of Chapter 12.

JULY 18, 2004: Some readers expressed discomfort regarding Erestor and Glorfindel's relationship in Tears of Yesterday. Though slash was not my intention, I am unwilling to give assurances, because I believe art should be free to reside outside one's sphere of analysis and comfort zone. I won't draw a boundary and define my work by saying 'they're just friends' or 'this is slash'. Trust me and please relax, judgments and inhibitions cast aside for a moment.

AU - Fanfiction is bound to be AU; only Tolkien can write canon. So 'canon policemen', please look the other way. As long as the characters stay in character, it's fanfiction's license to put them in different situations.

ADULT MATERIAL - Flaming someone because of one's moral righteousness doesn't constitute literary criticism. Please critique the writing. Incest and homosexuality change meaning depending on cultures, so let's be respectful to people with different standards.

MARY SUEs -Pointing out canon mistakes is only helpful to those who strive to fit canon and ask for help. A Mary Sue is not one of them. Sometimes I wonder if we criticize to help authors improve, or just to protect our fantasy; we should probably be respectful to other people's versions of that fantasy. Being hostile may succeed in making authors quit, but let's all be reasonable when crushing someone's feelings.

JULY 1, 2004: The Strength of One Green Leaf nominated for MPA Awards in Best Action/Adventure.

-Timeline to Kasmi's GREENLEAF CHRONICLES-

Dance of Shadow and Flame

Tears of Yesterday

The Strength of One Green Leaf

Of Elflings and Adolescents - spans timeline of next two vignettes listed

In the Dark of the Night

Trolls and Oliphaunts

A Winter Evening in Imladris

Of Overgrown Dwarves and Lembas

To Love and to Sin

From Twilight to Dawn

Road to Redemption

Unfinished Earth

Into the Light

Beasts of Burden

To Live Another Day

I Will Not Let You Fall

Cry Not for the Moon

-ARCHIVES-

Complete Archive: Fanfiction Net

Archives in Progress: LOTRFanfiction, Parma Eruseen, Hanneth Annun

Partial Archives: Double Vision, Anti-Evil!Thranduil Campaign, The Trees Remember, MPA Awards, MEFAwards

-BEWARE-

English is 2nd Language. And never read LOTR books.