As many a fan is aware, the story written by Zahra and hosted by Sharleen started out with a single chapter that spanned into a vast and deep novel. Ending after 100 chapters, this story had been in the making since early 1998 from what can be gathered, but no doubt she started working on it earlier than that. First posted on Queen Vera's website, The Jenova Project (later The Saucy Bard), the fanfic was an instant success! I remember stumbling across it while in the school library, the only source of internet I had at the time, just before graduating that summer in 1999.

A dedicated website was launched in the summer of 2000, showcasing the story up to that point and the many wonderful pieces of fanart that had been sent by fans (myself included). The site was clever, well structured for its time, and just the thing fans needed to distract themselves while waiting for Zahra to churn out another chapter. It was also one of the first times I think many of us aspring writers really got to know an author. Zahra did a few interviews as well as blurbs about herself. We became enthralled with her personality and her sincerity. We read about how her family had escaped Kuwait in the height of the conflict going on when she was younger. We learned what her favorite music was, and about other literary works she liked. We learned that she was going to school to become a doctor. And then, once the last chapter was posted online and the fans rejoiced, Zahra quietly slipped from the face of the internet and into legend.

Over the years, as the fanfic's popularity waned into obscurity, a cult following began to emerge. Surprisingly in the most unlikely of places, my very own Final Fantasy 7 fansite, Nibelheim: The Shinra Mansion. I had posted the story up years previous in its completed form, sans fanart at the time. And I started getting guestbook hits, wanting to know if I knew where Zahra had gone. Other posts asked if I had any of the fanart, which thankfully I had saved quite a bit of it. I started searching "Snow Fields FF7" on Google just to see what would come up. And to my immediate surprise, there were blog posts, forum quanderies, even articles on LiveJournal and DeviantArt, praising this classic fanfic. It had become a staple in the fanfic coummunity. People raved about how wonderful it was, genuine, a surprisingly good pairing, and of course, all the love for Zahra's original character, Davoren J. Murdock.

I felt revitilized by all this new attention and decided to give the Snow Fields section a facelift with what it is today. It's own dedicated site on my domain complete with any fanart I had saved, with items being added as recently as I launched this new section. My efforts did not go unnoticed. Slowly, the site made the rounds, attracting fans new and old alike. And I am so happy that it has been so well recieced. I never knew Zahra personally, or Sharleen or Celyne, or anyone one else who was heavily involved. I sat back in the shadows, quietly enjoying it all until it started to disappear from the internet. I felt it was my duty then to keep the candle burning.

Recently, I've teamed up with Odysseus via the Lifestream.net forums. With his excellent internet sleuthing, and my old collection of links, we were able to scour the internet for every shred of Snow Fields information that was to be had. (Praise be to the Wayback Machine!) Ody has compiled this information in a Part One book (with more to come in Part Two) that I can say without a doubt is a true work of art in and of itself. I think it's safe to say that we have done our part in the preservation of this masterpiece that holds a special place in all of our hearts. I only hope that Zahra would be proud of us and our efforts.


A dated note from Zahra to the fans:

For the readers I would like to thank each and everyone of you who has read through my fanfic "I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields". The support & encouragement I have continued to receive has been overwhelming and at times, quite touching. Special thanks also goes out to those who've written to me, whether by email or in the guestbook, as well as to those who've donated their fanart of the story.

I hope you've found my fanfic worth your time & effort.