Hello, my Name is Cactuskim.

(It would seem that my parents had a very odd sense of humor giving me that name... either that or Cactuskim is only my pen name ;p)

I have been a LOTR fan since long before the movies came out. I also love the Silmarillion and the rest of the supplemental books that Christopher Tolkien has put so much hard time and labor into editing and sharing with the world. I have been reading Fanfiction for about 5 years but have only written 2 stories (so far) which I have never posted at or any other large fan-fic board before... something I am finally about to change.

The first story I wrote "The Weaving Cow" was actually written ~2 years ago... Did I mention that I am a horrible procrastinator? It won 3rd place for best overall comedy in the 2006 MC awards when I shared with that group.

I will not post WIPs because I am a very slow writer and I don't want to get lynched or have people just lose interest... not sure which would be worse ;p. So if you see me start posting a story, expect to see a new chapter every 3 to 4 days until it is complete. OK, maybe as long as a week between chapters, (I am a horrible procrastinator after all remember? ;p), but no longer than that.

My favorite LOTR Fanfic writers are Cassia and Siobhan who wrote the Mellon Chronicles series. Unfortunately they are no longer writing LOTR. Here is a link to their stories if you have not read them before. (hope the link works)

http:///fanfiction.html

I also have many other friends in Fanfiction and very much enjoy their stories. (Note to self; add friends/authors to favorite authors list... and try not to procrastinate this time) ;p

Other interests:

I love creating art, especially LOTR Art work. I use Photoshop, a Wacom drawing tablet, and sometimes a program called ArtRage to create my art work... I created the icon you see here. If you do not recognize that Legolas pic, it is because it is not really a Legolas picture ;p.

I love Horses, archery, fencing, History (Yeah, I Love History, I am weird) and many other things including good books. I especially love the Shannara series by Terri Brooks.

I feel that fanfiction should be about creatively enjoying and sharing your love for a source story, and expanding and improving your abilities as a writer. I try not to trample canon under my heel... it hurts like a lego when you step on it barefoot ;p... and try to keep my characters actions true to the spirit of the original. However when canon is silent or a bit dodgy, I choose to let my imagination run free. Long before the movies came out I felt from reading the books that Legolas and Aragorn knew each other prior to the Fellowship quest and had at the very least a good working relationship. Because of this I chose to write them as good friends. If you are curious as to why I think this, drop me an e-mail and I can send you my reasoning privatively.

I look forward to getting to know a lot of new people... which can only be done if you review (Hint Hint ;p), and also to hearing from old friends (Hint ;p)

Cactuskim

Note: The Weaving Cow is now a 2008 MEFA nominated story! ;p

Note 7/25/08: I have just started posting my story "Death of a Heart". This story is complete and is 5 chapters long. I will be posting a new chapter at least once a week, maybe sooner until all chapters are posted. There will be an appendix at the end of the last chapter that will show the research and reason's for some of my decisions when writing this story. I have listed this story under LOTR even though it takes place in late first age because the main characters Thranduil and Doriflen (an OC from the MC's) do not appear in the Silmarillion but usually appear in 3rd age stories, and this story also ties into other 3rd age pre LOTR stories. Death of a Heart won first place for best Emotional Torture in the 2007 MC awards.

9-03-08 Last chapter added to Death of a Heart. So sorry I was late posting this chapter and the one before it, I got kidnapped by RL