HASA will close on March 31.
Information about the Open Doors project to transfer the story archive and opportunities to help with that, and about the rescue of the Research Library will be posted on HASA's Livejournal page and here on Blogger.
Last but not least:
Authors: thank you all for your support over the years and the reading pleasure you provided to so many with the stories you posted and see you at AO3!
Showing posts with label HASA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HASA. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Monday, January 5, 2015
HASA closure and migration news
At the beginning of 2015, this is where we are in the closure and migration process:
- The MOU with Open Doors has been submitted
- Once Open Doors has signed, there will be a two week period for doing any last edits or updates to stories. This puts the freeze date in mid to late January. After that, the site will be read-only for what is left of its existence.
- After the freeze, stories will be exported to an interim site to prepare them for being imported at AO3 - the import process will take some time, given the number of stories. If you want to help with this, let us know; the more people who help with the transfer, the sooner the collection will be available at AO3.
- Also: if you are already at AO3, let us know! This too will help immensely with the transfer of stories.
- Julie has volunteered to maintain the HASA collection on AO3!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
HASA News - Reviews
As I type this, there are 10 stories waiting for your review (remember to log in before you follow the link).
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly – which is good for everyone. If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check out a story?
Or, if you are a writer, take the plunge and submit a story for review; and when you do, please remember: Put one in, take one out.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do for the other authors who have a story in review what you'd like other reviewers to do for you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read.
Becoming a reviewer
If you're not an active reviewer, but think you can spare a bit of time... – even if you just review one or two stories in a month, every review is welcome. If you are logged in, you can sign up here if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Daunted by the idea of reviewing? Don’t worry, reviewing at its simplest comes down to asking yourself: “Would I recommend this story to someone?” Then, whether the answer is 'yes' or 'no', you can make a choice from the capsule reasons to clarify your decision. If you want to, you can add a few more words to convey what you (dis)liked about the story, but just the capsule reason is perfectly fine as well.
And remember: even if you think you're too critical or not critical enough: your review is only one of nine, and all points of view are welcome. Not every reviewer has to review every story and in the end it does all level out to a balanced judgement.
Reviewed story spotlight
These stories have passed through review since the previous bulletin. Congratulations to all authors; well done!
Western Duty, Eastern Desire by Adonnen Estenniel
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 2nd Age - Pre-Rings
Summary: The impossible choice comes to all: a time when the balance of the scales depends upon whether or not one does the right thing. But the 'right thing' is often subjective, as two Istari must learn.
Where no Birds Sing by Linda Hoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: When Roheryn goes lame, Aragorn and Faramir are stranded in a stormand forced to seek shelter. A story for Halloween.
Tales of the Steward by Itarille1
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Short pieces concerning the seven-and-twentieth (Ruling) Steward of Gondor, as recorded by one of his grandson. Book-verse, late Third Age – early Fourth Age Gondor.
Make an author’s day, review a story or post a comment.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
HASA news - January 2010
Of course the news of this month for HASA is the launch of the newly made-over site last month. If you haven’t done any exploring yet, jump in!
Also, congratulations to all authors who won or placed in the MEFAs, and applause to the many people volunteering their time to make the awards a success.
Birthday Cards
If it’s your birthday in January, and you would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.
At the moment there are two requests:
Imhiriel (Jan. 3) would like drabbles focusing on diplomacy (between allies or enemies, successful or not, any age, race, place) and Princess of Gondor (Jan. 11) would like something (romantic!) focusing on Aragorn and Arwen.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
You’ll find a list of stories in review at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the 5 new stories that are waiting for reviewers.
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up to become one? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as it may seem, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Challenges and Nuzgûl
In honor of the new site, here is a new challenge!
1. Locate the Treasure link hidden on the Challenges home page. That is your story focus.
2. Select a Treasure from any other publicly viewable section of the web site. The public sections besides Challenges are: HASA Home, Stories, Playlists, Forums, Resources, and About.
3. Write a story of any type or length using those two treasures. Drabbles, poetry, vignettes, short stories, longer than that - all are welcome.
4. Link to the two treasures in the story.
5. If you can make use of more than one treasure in crafting your tale, go for it! Just be sure to link.
The challenge runs through January and will close on Sunday, February 7, 2010.
Have fun exploring and writing!
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgûl by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge. Prospective Challenges can be found here
Click here for the Challenges homepage, to enter Challenges, suggest new ideas, and wander through old Challenges (and perhaps be bitten anew?).
December Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In December:
--- 16 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 38 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 4 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath
Also, congratulations to all authors who won or placed in the MEFAs, and applause to the many people volunteering their time to make the awards a success.
Birthday Cards
If it’s your birthday in January, and you would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.
At the moment there are two requests:
Imhiriel (Jan. 3) would like drabbles focusing on diplomacy (between allies or enemies, successful or not, any age, race, place) and Princess of Gondor (Jan. 11) would like something (romantic!) focusing on Aragorn and Arwen.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
You’ll find a list of stories in review at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the 5 new stories that are waiting for reviewers.
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up to become one? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as it may seem, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Challenges and Nuzgûl
In honor of the new site, here is a new challenge!
1. Locate the Treasure link hidden on the Challenges home page. That is your story focus.
2. Select a Treasure from any other publicly viewable section of the web site. The public sections besides Challenges are: HASA Home, Stories, Playlists, Forums, Resources, and About.
3. Write a story of any type or length using those two treasures. Drabbles, poetry, vignettes, short stories, longer than that - all are welcome.
4. Link to the two treasures in the story.
5. If you can make use of more than one treasure in crafting your tale, go for it! Just be sure to link.
The challenge runs through January and will close on Sunday, February 7, 2010.
Have fun exploring and writing!
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgûl by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge. Prospective Challenges can be found here
Click here for the Challenges homepage, to enter Challenges, suggest new ideas, and wander through old Challenges (and perhaps be bitten anew?).
December Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In December:
--- 16 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 38 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 4 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
HASA news - December 2009
The December news focuses on Birthdays, Reviews, Resources and Challenges.
Birthday Cards
If it’s your birthday in December, and you would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
You’ll find a list of stories in review at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the 2 new stories that are waiting for reviewers.
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up to become one? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as it may seem, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Challenges and Nuzgul
Click here for the Challenges homepage.
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge. Prospective Challenges can be found here
There are currently no open Challenges (except Birthdays), so if you have any spare Nuzgul lying around, don’t hesitate to see how many others it can bite!
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Eluréd and Elurín born in Ossiriand
Fëanor creates the Silmarils
Character Biographies
Bëor the Old
Elurín
Places
Nennin
Celebros
Things
Gift of the Elf-minstrels
Doom of the Noldor
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
November Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In November:
--- 20 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 32 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 1 Beta Story was published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
- -
Nath
Birthday Cards
If it’s your birthday in December, and you would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
You’ll find a list of stories in review at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the 2 new stories that are waiting for reviewers.
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up to become one? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as it may seem, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Challenges and Nuzgul
Click here for the Challenges homepage.
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge. Prospective Challenges can be found here
There are currently no open Challenges (except Birthdays), so if you have any spare Nuzgul lying around, don’t hesitate to see how many others it can bite!
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Eluréd and Elurín born in Ossiriand
Fëanor creates the Silmarils
Character Biographies
Bëor the Old
Elurín
Places
Nennin
Celebros
Things
Gift of the Elf-minstrels
Doom of the Noldor
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
November Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In November:
--- 20 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 32 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 1 Beta Story was published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
- -
Nath
Friday, November 13, 2009
Chapter display problem SOLVED
UPDATE: the problem is solved, and you should be able to access chapters normally again.
---
A needed security update to the HASA database is currently preventing story chapters from displaying.
Please note: no data has been lost!
The chapters are fine, and will be restored to view as soon as possible.
It is all a retrieval error, and Tech Support is working on it. It may be a few hours before the data is displaying correctly again.
We apologize for the inconvenience...
---
Nath
---
A needed security update to the HASA database is currently preventing story chapters from displaying.
Please note: no data has been lost!
The chapters are fine, and will be restored to view as soon as possible.
It is all a retrieval error, and Tech Support is working on it. It may be a few hours before the data is displaying correctly again.
We apologize for the inconvenience...
---
Nath
Sunday, September 6, 2009
HASA news - September 2009
Exciting new things are happening at HASA! Those of you who have visited the site in the last few days have already seen the expanded focus on Challenges. And there is another new feature drawing attention to reviews.
Reviews
Reviews are now visible at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the list of 10 new stories that are waiting for reviewers. Why not check one out?
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as you may think it is, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in September and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Click here for the Challenges homepage.
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge? Prospective Challenges can be found here
There is one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge '09*. On July 1st, it was HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
August Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In August:
--- 7 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 46 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 2 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
---
Nath
Reviews
Reviews are now visible at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the list of 10 new stories that are waiting for reviewers. Why not check one out?
Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as you may think it is, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in September and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Click here for the Challenges homepage.
If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge? Prospective Challenges can be found here
There is one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge '09*. On July 1st, it was HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
August Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In August:
--- 7 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 46 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 2 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
---
Nath
Sunday, August 2, 2009
HASA news - August 2009
The general news bulletin for August 2009, focusing on birthdays, reviews, profiles and stories.
Profiles
Time for a bit of summer cleaning? There are a bunch of new nationality flags available, but even if you're not from any of these places, it may be a good idea to go and have a look to see if your profile is still up to date (email address, beta reader status, bio etc).
New flags to wave:
Catalonia
European Union
French Guiana
Heard and McDonald Islands
Montenegro
Serbia
Reunion
Svaldbard and Jan Mayer
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in August and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 13 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you're not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... why not sign up? You're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
We have one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge ‘09*. On July 1st, it was HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
If you have an idea that you’d like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
July Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In July:
--- 32 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 57 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 6 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
---
Nath
Profiles
Time for a bit of summer cleaning? There are a bunch of new nationality flags available, but even if you're not from any of these places, it may be a good idea to go and have a look to see if your profile is still up to date (email address, beta reader status, bio etc).
New flags to wave:
Catalonia
European Union
French Guiana
Heard and McDonald Islands
Montenegro
Serbia
Reunion
Svaldbard and Jan Mayer
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in August and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 13 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you're not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... why not sign up? You're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
We have one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge ‘09*. On July 1st, it was HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
If you have an idea that you’d like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
July Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In July:
--- 32 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 57 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 6 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
---
Nath
Monday, July 6, 2009
HASA news - July 2009
HASA news - July 2009
The general news bulletin for July 2009, focusing on birthdays, reviews, resources and stories.
To start with: thanks to the generosity of our donors, costs for July are covered! Thank you all!
Of course, money (though welcome) isn't the only way you can "donate" to HASA. Just as much as funds to keep going, HASA needs you to write stories, make comments, perform reviews, post to forums etc. If you would like to donate, but your budget won't allow it, pick out a favourite story and post a comment. It just takes a minute and it will make that author's day!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in July and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 15 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you're not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... why not sign up? You're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
We have one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge ‘09*. On July 1st, it's HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
If you have an idea that you’d like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Frodo and Sam set off for Mordor
Éomer pursues the Orc-raiders towards Fangorn
Character Biographies
Nerdanel
Isengrim Took II
Places
Argonath
Caragdûr
Things
Shire-reckoning
Shire-reform
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
June Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In June:
--- 13 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 42 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 2 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
--Nath--
The general news bulletin for July 2009, focusing on birthdays, reviews, resources and stories.
To start with: thanks to the generosity of our donors, costs for July are covered! Thank you all!
Of course, money (though welcome) isn't the only way you can "donate" to HASA. Just as much as funds to keep going, HASA needs you to write stories, make comments, perform reviews, post to forums etc. If you would like to donate, but your budget won't allow it, pick out a favourite story and post a comment. It just takes a minute and it will make that author's day!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in July and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 15 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you're not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... why not sign up? You're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
We have one open Challenge: the HASA Birthday Challenge ‘09*. On July 1st, it's HASA's seventh birthday, and there is of course no better way to celebrate than with a challenge involving the number seven or any other 'lucky number': The Challenge will run over the summer to give all entrants enough time to write your story, be it an epic story or a ficlet, and closes on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday. We wish you luck and a Happy Birthday to HASA.
* (please note, you need to be logged in for this link to work)
If you have an idea that you’d like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Frodo and Sam set off for Mordor
Éomer pursues the Orc-raiders towards Fangorn
Character Biographies
Nerdanel
Isengrim Took II
Places
Argonath
Caragdûr
Things
Shire-reckoning
Shire-reform
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
June Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In June:
--- 13 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 42 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 2 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
--Nath--
Sunday, May 3, 2009
HASA news - May 2009
The general news bulletin for May 2009, focusing on birthdays, challenges, reviews and stories.
To start with, some very good news: thanks to the generosity of our donors, costs for May are covered! Thank you all!
Of course, money (though welcome) isn’t the only way you can "donate" to HASA. Just as much as money to keep going, HASA needs you to write stories, make comments, perform reviews, post to forums etc. If you would like to donate, but your budget won't allow it, pick out a favourite story and post a comment. It just takes a minute and it will make that author's day!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in May and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 19 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you’re not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... If you've been a member of HASA for thirty days and think this might be an area you'd like to get involved, it's easy to get started. Read the links below, and then click "Reviews Home" and click on the link to "Activate my status now." You'll be taken to a list of stories awaiting reviewers. Click on the title, read it, and enter your review.
(please note: you need to be logged in for these links to work):
--- Reviews Overview
--- Review Policies
--- Review Criteria
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
Here's a simple thing to try. You're all familiar with the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do until other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Alas, there are no current open Challenges, but perhaps you have ideas you’d like to see written? Grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Frodo and Sam set off for Mordor
Éomer pursues the Orc-raiders towards Fangorn
Character Biographies
Nerdanel
Isengrim Took II
Places
Argonath
Caragdûr
Things
Shire-reckoning
Shire-reform
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
April Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In April:
--- 6 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 37 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 6 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
To start with, some very good news: thanks to the generosity of our donors, costs for May are covered! Thank you all!
Of course, money (though welcome) isn’t the only way you can "donate" to HASA. Just as much as money to keep going, HASA needs you to write stories, make comments, perform reviews, post to forums etc. If you would like to donate, but your budget won't allow it, pick out a favourite story and post a comment. It just takes a minute and it will make that author's day!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in May and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.
Reviews
Right now, there are 19 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you’re not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... If you've been a member of HASA for thirty days and think this might be an area you'd like to get involved, it's easy to get started. Read the links below, and then click "Reviews Home" and click on the link to "Activate my status now." You'll be taken to a list of stories awaiting reviewers. Click on the title, read it, and enter your review.
(please note: you need to be logged in for these links to work):
--- Reviews Overview
--- Review Policies
--- Review Criteria
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
Here's a simple thing to try. You're all familiar with the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do until other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Alas, there are no current open Challenges, but perhaps you have ideas you’d like to see written? Grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Resources
The HASA Research Library is a very useful resource for writers as well as for online discussions on book canon. You can find entries on characters, settings, events, and items, containing cited quotes about the item you are trying to find more information on. This portion of the site is available here.
Would you like to get involved with Resources? If you like researching and want to help develop this section of HASA you can contact the Resources & Research Library through the contact form at http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/contact.cfm.
Some recent articles in Resources:
Timeline Events:
Frodo and Sam set off for Mordor
Éomer pursues the Orc-raiders towards Fangorn
Character Biographies
Nerdanel
Isengrim Took II
Places
Argonath
Caragdûr
Things
Shire-reckoning
Shire-reform
Good luck researching your story! If you enjoy this section of the site, why not tell the researchers (they’re listed at the bottom of every entry).
April Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In April:
--- 6 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 37 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 6 Beta Stories were published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
HASA news - April 2009
HASA news - April 2009
With March, Back to Middle-earth Month, now behind us, it’s time to erm... stay in Middle-earth a bit longer? A round of applause for everyone who took part, whether you wrote just one or two prompts or managed to do them all, and thanks to the organisers over at SWG for their hard work in thinking up all these prompts!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in April and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for the March requests.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Alas, there are no current open Challenges, but the prospective April Poetry Month Challenge needs just two more people joining in to become a Challenge.
And perhaps you also have an idea you’d like to see written? Grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Reviews
Right now, there are 15 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you’re not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... If you've been a member of HASA for thirty days and think this might be an area you'd like to get involved, it's easy to get started. Read the links below, and then click "Reviews Home" and click on the link to "Activate my status now." You'll be taken to a list of stories awaiting reviewers. Click on the title, read it, and enter your review.
(please note: you need to be logged in for these links to work):
--- Reviews Overview
--- Review Policies
--- Review Criteria
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
Here's a simple thing to try. You're all familiar with the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do until other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Forums
Forums are where you will find people discussing research questions and stories.
A quick overview of forum links:
On Our Minds displays the ten most recent posts in forums open to all HASA members. It’s a good way to catch up on what you’ve missed, though the page can move quickly when lots of forums are active at once.
If you've been out of touch for longer than a few days you might want to use the One Month of Posts page. This page is just what it sounds like: a list of forums that have been posted to in the last month, beginning with the most recently updated.
Workshops are specialized writing communities. They allow you to share stories you aren’t ready to post to the whole site, and many have interesting forums attached to them. Explore workshops to find a group of members interested in similar topics. (You must be logged in to see this link).
March Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In March:
--- 10 Reviewed Stories
--- 35 General Stories
--- 7 Beta Stories (Remember, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
-Nath-
With March, Back to Middle-earth Month, now behind us, it’s time to erm... stay in Middle-earth a bit longer? A round of applause for everyone who took part, whether you wrote just one or two prompts or managed to do them all, and thanks to the organisers over at SWG for their hard work in thinking up all these prompts!
Birthday Cards
If you have a birthday in April and would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic, you can request it here.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for the March requests.
Challenges and Nuzgul
Alas, there are no current open Challenges, but the prospective April Poetry Month Challenge needs just two more people joining in to become a Challenge.
And perhaps you also have an idea you’d like to see written? Grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge?
Prospective Challenges can be found here
Reviews
Right now, there are 15 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in first).
If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check one out?
If you’re not an active reviewer, but would like to be one... If you've been a member of HASA for thirty days and think this might be an area you'd like to get involved, it's easy to get started. Read the links below, and then click "Reviews Home" and click on the link to "Activate my status now." You'll be taken to a list of stories awaiting reviewers. Click on the title, read it, and enter your review.
(please note: you need to be logged in for these links to work):
--- Reviews Overview
--- Review Policies
--- Review Criteria
As you can perhaps guess, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.
Here's a simple thing to try. You're all familiar with the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do until other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out.
Forums
Forums are where you will find people discussing research questions and stories.
A quick overview of forum links:
On Our Minds displays the ten most recent posts in forums open to all HASA members. It’s a good way to catch up on what you’ve missed, though the page can move quickly when lots of forums are active at once.
If you've been out of touch for longer than a few days you might want to use the One Month of Posts page. This page is just what it sounds like: a list of forums that have been posted to in the last month, beginning with the most recently updated.
Workshops are specialized writing communities. They allow you to share stories you aren’t ready to post to the whole site, and many have interesting forums attached to them. Explore workshops to find a group of members interested in similar topics. (You must be logged in to see this link).
March Stories
All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.
Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Why not go to http://www.henneth-annun.net/ and read the currently featured story?
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In March:
--- 10 Reviewed Stories
--- 35 General Stories
--- 7 Beta Stories (Remember, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
-Nath-
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Donations for January site hosting needed
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
Currently our balance is at $48.99, which means we will need donations to pay the December hosting bill, which is due January 8th. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 161 visitors. If a fraction of that number who have not donated yet can donate $5 each we will be funded for next month. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Currently our balance is at $48.99, which means we will need donations to pay the December hosting bill, which is due January 8th. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 161 visitors. If a fraction of that number who have not donated yet can donate $5 each we will be funded for next month. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
We're OK for December!
17 Nov Update: Thanks everyone! With donations from readers & members, we now are covered for December. Thanks very much for reading, enjoying & supporting HASA
Julie
=========
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
Currently our balance is at $42.83, which means we will need donations to pay the December hosting bill, which is due December 8th. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 117 visitors. If a fraction of that number can donate $5 each we will be funded for next month. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Julie
=========
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
Currently our balance is at $42.83, which means we will need donations to pay the December hosting bill, which is due December 8th. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 117 visitors. If a fraction of that number can donate $5 each we will be funded for next month. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Site hosting update: OK for November, Donations for December needed
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
Currently our balance is at $154.21, which means we have November covered, but will need donations for December. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 118 visitors. I've seen it over 200 and never under 50. Readers, thanks for visiting and enjoying! Writers, thanks for writing and posting your stories! If a fraction of that number can donate $5 each we will be set for December. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Currently our balance is at $154.21, which means we have November covered, but will need donations for December. If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see a message, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 118 visitors. I've seen it over 200 and never under 50. Readers, thanks for visiting and enjoying! Writers, thanks for writing and posting your stories! If a fraction of that number can donate $5 each we will be set for December. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Friday, September 26, 2008
Site Hosting update
Thanks to recent donations, HASA is funded through November.
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
I am very happy that readers and writers continue to support this site. (As I write this message, “Visitors currently online” is at 123 – a fun number that makes me smile.) If you haven’t yet made a donation, please consider doing so sometime soon. Since November and December are busy months for me, I am hoping that December will be fully funded by the end of October. I will keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are $150 US.
I am very happy that readers and writers continue to support this site. (As I write this message, “Visitors currently online” is at 123 – a fun number that makes me smile.) If you haven’t yet made a donation, please consider doing so sometime soon. Since November and December are busy months for me, I am hoping that December will be fully funded by the end of October. I will keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Thanks for enjoying HASA,
Julie
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Funding update: OK for October, Donations for November needed
HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment ofquality JRRT fanfiction. Currently, our monthly hosting costs are$150 US.We have been getting a series of $5 and $10 and $25 donations so thathosting fees for next month are covered. There are stillmatching funds left over for the 3rd quarter challenge that areavailable through September 30th. We still need about $35 forNovember.
If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see amessage, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 153 visitors. I've seen it over 200 and never under 50. Readers, thanksfor visiting and enjoying! Writers, thanks for writing and postingyour stories! If just 7 of you can donate $5 each, HASA will be setfor October. If you donate before the end of this month, we may get ahead start on December. I'll keep you informed.
Julie
If you look down at the bottom of any HASA page you will see amessage, "Visitors Currently Online". As I write this it's at 153 visitors. I've seen it over 200 and never under 50. Readers, thanksfor visiting and enjoying! Writers, thanks for writing and postingyour stories! If just 7 of you can donate $5 each, HASA will be setfor October. If you donate before the end of this month, we may get ahead start on December. I'll keep you informed.
To see the HASA donation page, click here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/donate.cfm
Julie
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Qtr. 3 Funding Challenge
When checking over the site for problems after the recent attack, I noticed that site hosting donations are a little over $50 short for the August hosting bill due week after next.
I spoke with HASA's Secret Admirer, who generously agreed to do another matching funds challenge!
Our funding goal is $200, which will pay for August and September. Our Secret Admirer will match dollar for dollar up to $200 from now through September 31. This way, every dollar you give is worth $2.
Thank you for your support!
Anglachel
I spoke with HASA's Secret Admirer, who generously agreed to do another matching funds challenge!
Our funding goal is $200, which will pay for August and September. Our Secret Admirer will match dollar for dollar up to $200 from now through September 31. This way, every dollar you give is worth $2.
Thank you for your support!
Anglachel
Friday, July 25, 2008
Site Restored
Beginning in the late afternoon of Monday, July 21, I received emails from a number of HASA site visitors that something was terribly wrong with the site. Because of regulations at my workplace, I had to wait until I got home to view the site. My heart sank when I saw the errors affecting almost every page of the site. It was obviously malicious work, so I shut off the site to prevent further access.
Looking at source code, I saw information that should not have been there - JavaScript snippets, strange URLs, and other text garbage. A quick Google search revealed the problem. There had been a worldwide SQL injection attack on ColdFusion sites that ran on IIS web servers. Many sites had been brought down and a lot of data had been corrupted. Luckily, the attacker had only tried to insert code to convert site links to go to his own web site, and had not tried to delete data or erase databases. The ColdFusion community had responded quickly. By the time I was looking for information, the exact attack had been identified, various clean up scripts had been posted, and I had the tools necessary to fix the database.
What is a SQL injection attack? It is the nastiest, most destructive web site attack out there. In general terms, a coder takes a site form or URL, looks for a variable that appears to be an ID used by a database to locate a record, such as a story. Most database driven web sites work like this. The coder then resends the URL or form with a string of database commands (Structured Query Language statements) and tries to take over your database. If their SQL string is written well enough and if the database under attack is not protected, these commands can do anything from insert text to delete the entire database to (under very rare conditions) take over the server itself.
ColdFusion has a number of features to foil SQL injections right on the server and there are coding practices to help prevent the attacks. Just over a year ago, I had spent a month retrofitting much of the site to protect the main data tables and search functions from attacks. However, real life demanded my attention, and I did not get all the tables protected. Some of the lookup tables, like Story Era, were still vulnerable, and that's where HASA was attacked. In addition, the SQL statement used for the attacks was very sophisticated and bypassed most of the server-level protections.
The first thing to do was assess the damage. I ran some scripts and discovered there were 29 fields in 11 tables where trash data had been inserted. None of them affected the main story, forum, comment or review tables, which was a great relief. Also, non-HASA databases had not been affected, which meant damage was contained. Next, I ran a scrubber on those tables which located the bogus text and stripped it out. The biggest advantage here was that I did not have to run a restore from a backup, which would have lost content added to the site since the time the backup was run.
Data restored, I now had to track down those vulnerability points in the site. That is what has taken so long as every individual page in the site that an external (not logged in) user can reach had to be examined for all database connections and then those connections had to be evaluated for whether they were injection points. After the pages were reviewed, corrections made, and new code posted to a hidden site for the testers to check for bugs, all the forms had to be gone over. Forms are more dangerous than URLs, though more difficult to compromise, because they are the most common way to insert data into a database. The forms were completed yesterday. After that, the revised code was merged with the production code, uploaded again to another protected test area and put through its paces. That went on until pretty late last night.
There are a few glitches left. One form, the Knowledge Base search in the Research Library, could not be fixed and has been taken offline. The index search and all of the individual section lookups the Research Library are working. Also, the pop-up forum window attached to story pages will throw an error message if you try to use it. The Who's Online feature for logged in members does not appear to be working in production. There are a few conditions on a few forms we were not able to reproduce, so it's not 100% certain that they are working.
More testing will continue over the next month to be certain all access points were caught and to fix any bug accidentally introduced during the fixes. If you encounter an error message or you see something that just seems wrong on the site, please use the Contact form and send me an email at Tech Support.
This was the worst technical problem the site has experienced in its seven year history because of the data corruption. We got away with correctable damage, but it could have been much worse had the attacker been trying to destroy data. My deep thanks and appreciation for the site members who alerted me to the attack and provided their assistance to get the site fixed.
Anglachel
Looking at source code, I saw information that should not have been there - JavaScript snippets, strange URLs, and other text garbage. A quick Google search revealed the problem. There had been a worldwide SQL injection attack on ColdFusion sites that ran on IIS web servers. Many sites had been brought down and a lot of data had been corrupted. Luckily, the attacker had only tried to insert code to convert site links to go to his own web site, and had not tried to delete data or erase databases. The ColdFusion community had responded quickly. By the time I was looking for information, the exact attack had been identified, various clean up scripts had been posted, and I had the tools necessary to fix the database.
What is a SQL injection attack? It is the nastiest, most destructive web site attack out there. In general terms, a coder takes a site form or URL, looks for a variable that appears to be an ID used by a database to locate a record, such as a story. Most database driven web sites work like this. The coder then resends the URL or form with a string of database commands (Structured Query Language statements) and tries to take over your database. If their SQL string is written well enough and if the database under attack is not protected, these commands can do anything from insert text to delete the entire database to (under very rare conditions) take over the server itself.
ColdFusion has a number of features to foil SQL injections right on the server and there are coding practices to help prevent the attacks. Just over a year ago, I had spent a month retrofitting much of the site to protect the main data tables and search functions from attacks. However, real life demanded my attention, and I did not get all the tables protected. Some of the lookup tables, like Story Era, were still vulnerable, and that's where HASA was attacked. In addition, the SQL statement used for the attacks was very sophisticated and bypassed most of the server-level protections.
The first thing to do was assess the damage. I ran some scripts and discovered there were 29 fields in 11 tables where trash data had been inserted. None of them affected the main story, forum, comment or review tables, which was a great relief. Also, non-HASA databases had not been affected, which meant damage was contained. Next, I ran a scrubber on those tables which located the bogus text and stripped it out. The biggest advantage here was that I did not have to run a restore from a backup, which would have lost content added to the site since the time the backup was run.
Data restored, I now had to track down those vulnerability points in the site. That is what has taken so long as every individual page in the site that an external (not logged in) user can reach had to be examined for all database connections and then those connections had to be evaluated for whether they were injection points. After the pages were reviewed, corrections made, and new code posted to a hidden site for the testers to check for bugs, all the forms had to be gone over. Forms are more dangerous than URLs, though more difficult to compromise, because they are the most common way to insert data into a database. The forms were completed yesterday. After that, the revised code was merged with the production code, uploaded again to another protected test area and put through its paces. That went on until pretty late last night.
There are a few glitches left. One form, the Knowledge Base search in the Research Library, could not be fixed and has been taken offline. The index search and all of the individual section lookups the Research Library are working. Also, the pop-up forum window attached to story pages will throw an error message if you try to use it. The Who's Online feature for logged in members does not appear to be working in production. There are a few conditions on a few forms we were not able to reproduce, so it's not 100% certain that they are working.
More testing will continue over the next month to be certain all access points were caught and to fix any bug accidentally introduced during the fixes. If you encounter an error message or you see something that just seems wrong on the site, please use the Contact form and send me an email at Tech Support.
This was the worst technical problem the site has experienced in its seven year history because of the data corruption. We got away with correctable damage, but it could have been much worse had the attacker been trying to destroy data. My deep thanks and appreciation for the site members who alerted me to the attack and provided their assistance to get the site fixed.
Anglachel
Monday, September 3, 2007
September Challenge Bulletin
NOTE: Please be sure you are logged in when clicking on the links.
Challenge Forums!
Our Challenge forums have been brought out of the cellar and are now easily available for general reading: Challenge Forums. The Story Discussions, Birthday Cards, Prospective Challenges and Writing Mary Sue forums are open to the public for reading (only site members may post) and all the rest are instantly available to members after logging in.
Birthdays!
September 22nd - Calanthe would love to read a birthday story, no matter how long or short, about what the fall equinox (which incidentally takes place on Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday) does mean to Frodo and Bilbo personally and/or its importance within Shire culture. I am happy, too, about any story about Frodo or Bilbo star-gazing in their birthday night.
Post your request at the Birthday Cards Forum
Also, don't forget to create a story for the birthday card workshop. This lets others put drabbles they write in an easily accessible location. Enter your story in the challenge for SEPTEMBER drabbles. All birthday stories will also now be listed in a master playlist. There are instructions on how to do all this at the top of each thread in the Birthday Cards Forum; if you need help just ask the Workshop Manager, Gwynnyd.
New Challenges
No new challenge this month so far. Make a suggestion in the prospective Challenges thread, located here. When five people accept, you have created a new Challenge!
Open Challenges
- New Members 2006 - 2007
Closes October 29, 2007
This is a challenge for new members. By definition, a new member is any member who has been a member for fewer than four months or who, at the time of reading this, has written three (3) or fewer Tolkien fanfics.
Choose one of the following - there are choices from any Age, from "The Hobbit," from "Lord of the Rings," from "The Silmarillion", from "Unfinished Tales", and three choices from the Peter Jackson "Lord of the Rings" - movies.
Keep a New Year's Resolution
- Wander over to the Nugzul pen and adopt one today.
- Review one story weekly.
- Browse the Resources section - the Research Library and more!.
- Leave a comment monthly.
HASA Challenges Team
Friday, June 15, 2007
Playlists Are Public!
Reading stories is fun. Sharing favorite stories is even more fun. Until today, it was not easy for HASA readers to share their favorite stories with other readers. Playlists are HASA's answer to the question "Read anything good lately?"
What's a Playlist?
A playlist is set of stories someone has put together in order to share with other readers. They take their basic concept from music playlists that you can put together and share with other listeners. Playlists are pretty simple, really. They have a title and a short explanation of why the list owner put it together. After that, there are one or more stories on the list, each with a short statement of why it was included on the list. Once a list of stories has been created, the list owner can set the stories in order.
How Do I Use a Playlist?
That will depend on whether you are a list reader or a list owner.
- List Reader - Just go to playlists, and read over the list until you see a collection that interests you. If you are a member and logged in to the site, you can save your favorite lists in your own Playlist collection. It is a great way to quickly build a library of favorite stories! Even if you are not a HASA member, playlists are available for the general public to use.
- List Owner -
- If you are a reader, you can collect your favorite stories in one place and tell people why you think they are so great. Give some visibility to your favorite writers!
- If you are an author with sets of stories (perhaps you are writing a story cycle), you can put all of your related stories into a single list and then put them in chronological order. Your readers will love you for it!
- If you co-write stories and series with other authors, you can create a joint list. Set up a Workshop, add your stories to the Workshop, and then create a workshop playlist from them. Instant story collections!
You can have as many playlists as you like, and store as many lists in your collection as you wish. You can set up a list beforehand in My Stuff/Playlists and then add stories as you read, or you can create lists on the fly. It's all up to you!
The most recently updated lists automatically appear on the HASA home apge, so be sure to take a look and see what other people are reading. Create a list today and give other HASA visitors something good to read over the weekend.
Happy Reading!
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