What would your gift give? Here are some numbers: HASA's hosting expenses are about $5 per day. A $5 donation will provide a full day of story reading - that is about 700 chapters, viewed over 1,000 times (some chapters are viewed more than once). And that's just counting stories! Every day, hundreds of other site pages are clicked, from authors in My Stuff, to members in the Forums, to more readers in the Playlists, Resources and Reviews.
Be a good Hobbit and give a gift to all of your fandom friends on your birthday, or become a subscriber. It will be much appreciated.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
Monday, May 9, 2011
HASA news - Birthdays, stories
May birthdays and links to the stories written or updated in April.
May Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in May, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
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. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In April:
- 6 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
- 35 General Stories were published or updated.
- 3 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
Sunday, May 1, 2011
HASA news - Challenges
In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.
Birthday Challenges
The April Birthday Challenge has just finished, though I’m sure the April birthday babes won’t mind a very late drabble.
The May Birthday Challenge has just opened, and we already have one request. Feel free to add your own request if your birthday is in May, and/or start writing if you’re feeling inspired.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
There are no closing challenges this month.
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
May’s Nuzgûl will be: Heroes and Demons.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun.
Other news - donations
First, thank you to everyone who donated after last week’s appeal. It is much appreciated, and helps to keep HASA going.
However, we’re still over two months’ worth in the red, so please consider donating in May if you haven’t done so recently. Every little bit helps, even if you can only give $5.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
Birthday Challenges
The April Birthday Challenge has just finished, though I’m sure the April birthday babes won’t mind a very late drabble.
The May Birthday Challenge has just opened, and we already have one request. Feel free to add your own request if your birthday is in May, and/or start writing if you’re feeling inspired.
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
There are no closing challenges this month.
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
May’s Nuzgûl will be: Heroes and Demons.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun.
Other news - donations
First, thank you to everyone who donated after last week’s appeal. It is much appreciated, and helps to keep HASA going.
However, we’re still over two months’ worth in the red, so please consider donating in May if you haven’t done so recently. Every little bit helps, even if you can only give $5.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Donations needed
Currently HASA’s account is at -$358. We should not be running this far negative for this long. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible. HASA depends on member and reader donations to pay hosting fees.
The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. HASA gets a lot of traffic and the hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host our content – all the features and fun visitors love – stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more.
There are three ways to donate to our PayPal account:
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support is greatly appreciated.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Nath
The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. HASA gets a lot of traffic and the hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host our content – all the features and fun visitors love – stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more.
There are three ways to donate to our PayPal account:
- One time donations.
- Monthly donations – set up a recurring monthly donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
- Annual donations – set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support is greatly appreciated.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Nath
Monday, April 18, 2011
HASA How-tos - April 2011
This month's HASA How-to tells you how to find your way in the HASA Forums.
How do I...
... use the Forums?
In this How-to you will learn how to join a forum, how post to one and how to create one.
What are the Forums?
A forum is a group of discussion threads. The threads in a forum are organized around something - an author, a story, a topic, an event, etc. Here HASA members can discuss, debate, critique, or just hang out. Some forums are also available to the general public for reading.
There are seven forums at HASA:
Some forums are started by admins, but many more belong to individual members, for example authors who want to have a place to discuss their stories.
Closed Forums
Closed forums are only accessible to people who have been authorized by the creator of the forum. A forum may be closed for several reasons: for instance, an author may use a closed forum to discuss a story she's writing with her beta(s), or it could be about an adult story or discuss mature themes.
Read-only Forums
Read-only forums allow anyone to read a topic without being able to post. For instance, most of the site announcements are posted in read-only forums; only site admins can post to these.
How to join a Forum
- Click on the forum you would like to participate in. If it is an open discussion, you will see 'You are not a participant in this discussion,' followed by a 'Sign Me Up!' link in the "Participation" box in the navigation column.
- If you click on a forum that is closed, you will see the message 'We're sorry, this is a closed discussion'. If you want to take part in the discussion, click the 'Request Forum entry' button. An email will be sent to the discussion owner who may give or deny access, and you will receive confirmation of the result by email. Be patient; it may take a while for the forum owner to get the email and respond.
- For an open forum, simply click on 'Sign Me Up.'
- You will now see 'You are a full participant in this discussion.' You can now read or post at any time.
How to post in a Forum
- For any forum you wish to participate in, either by reading or posting, you must first join the forum as described above.
- Click on the forum you want to post in. If you are not already a participant, click on 'Sign me up!'
- Find the thread that you would like to post to and click on it.
- If you find a post you would like to reply to, click the 'Reply to Post' button in the message information box.
- Type your response into the message form. Don't forget to spell check!
- Click 'Post Reply.'
- Now, look over your post. If you want to change anything, click on the 'Edit Message' button in the message information box, and edit the post as you like.
How to start a new topic in a Forum
- Go to the forum you are interested in. If you have already joined the discussion, you will see a button 'Add a New Topic Thread' in the Participation box in the navigation column.
- Click the button.
- Type in the subject for the topic. This is what will appear in the topic list when that forum is opened.
Make it clear what the topic is about. Starting a topic in Jane Doe's forum called 'About your story' might be fine now when Jane only has one story; when she has eight it will be confusing.
How to create a Forum
Anyone, whether you are a writer or a reader, can create one or more forums. Obviously, you can start a forum to discuss your stories, but there are many interesting forums here on a wide range of topics related to writing. The busiest forums tend to be in the Resources Forums because that's where people go to look for help with research and to picking each others' brains on obscure Tolkien facts.
The key to getting a forum going is post a lot in that discussion yourself. Forums that look active attract more activity. If no one posts a reply to you right away, post something new - a new chapter, a new idea, a note about something you saw and thought was interesting, etc.
Also, post in other forums - that's how other members get to know you. If you like someone's stories, that person may have similar interests and may like yours, and the conversation may interest them in your forum or your stories. If it is a general interest forum, just be sure you are posting something pertinent to the topic. If you are posting in someone's story forum, you should be there to talk about her stories, not advertise your own. It is considered poor manners to "hijack" threads to try to draw people to your own forum.
If you want feedback on a story, make it easy for those who might want to comment. You can do this by:
- Linking your story to your forum
- Asking specific questions in your forum introduction, the first message of your topic thread, or at the beginning or end of your story.
It is always easier to give a specific rather than general comment. Answering 'What did you think of it?' is much harder than 'Did Gandalf's motivations make sense?' or 'Is the Rohan scene too choppy?'
Now, how to create your forum:
- Locate an "Add Forum" link or button. These are located:
- In the main Forums navigation drop down menu
- In the top title bar on a Conference list of forums (See example in the Stories Forums . Please note, you have to be logged in.)
- On the main "My Forums" page.
- Click the link or button.
- You will see the Add a Forum form.
- Type in the forum name; short names are preferred and display better. There is a 50 character maximum for titles.
- If this forum is in the Stories Forums, you might choose to title it by your name: 'Name - Stories,' by the name of the story itself or whatever descriptive name you want to use. If it is in Members, you can also use your name 'Name's Discussion,' or choose another title that you like.
Keep in mind that if you title a story discussion by the name of one story, you may need to add another discussion or change the name of the existing one when you post other stories. It's easiest to use a general name for your discussion, and post a list of stories in the introduction (and edit that when you add a story). - Choose which conferences you want the forum to appear in. Available conferences are:
- Members
- Stories
- Challenges
- Resources
- Workshop (Note: you can only add to this conference when you are a member of a workshop)
- Write your introduction. This serves the same function that a summary does for a story; it is a way to tell members what's inside, and interest them in entering. It can be as simple as 'This is a place to discuss my stories,' or as long and detailed as you like. If it is very long, it will mean that readers have to scroll repeatedly to get to the threads, which some may find annoying.
- Choose whether you want other members to be able to link their stories to your forum, or whether only you may link to the forum.
- Decide whether you want to receive emails when there is a new post in your forum. You can always change your mind later. We recommend saying "Yes".
- Select whether your forum is for general or adult audiences. Please clearly mark forums or posts that contain mature content.
- Select who may participate in your forum. Unless you have a reason (such as discussing a story in beta, or a discussion on adult topics) to keep people out, you should choose "Open to all HASA Members, General Public may read." You can always change it later.
- Click "Add Forum".
If there is more you want to learn more about how the forums work, you can find the answer in the Forums FAQ
Have fun!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
HASA Reviewed Stories April 2011
Since the previous Bulletin, 6 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 9 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story! New submissions are of course welcome as well!
As I type this, there are 9 stories waiting to be reviewed (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. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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!
A Cold Night in June by Agape4Gondor
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: Faramir's dream has him befuddled.
Gracious Days by Vaysh
Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Early morning on his fifty-second birthday, Frodo brings Sam a mathom from the Bag End orchards.
A Light of Gold was on the sea by losselen
Rating: General
Genre: Poetry
Era: 1st Age
Summary: Olwë remembers the Trees, and laments the Kinslaying. Poem.
Beneath the Birches by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: A pensive Arwen encounters a stranger. Written for the LOTR GFIC "Hearts and Flowers" challenge. With thanks to Virtuella.
A Yule Journey by Lindariel
Rating: General
Genre: Other
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: A gentle mystery in 12 installments. Follow a hobbit's Yule gift as it wends its way from Hobbiton to its final destination and recipient. Can you guess the sender, recipient, and year the story takes place before all is revealed in the end? Familiar characters appearing include Gi ...
Least Expected by Imhiriel
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: What if Halbarad's first appearance had taken a different turn? Drabble. MEFAwards 2008: 3rd Place – Genres: Alternate Universe: Drabbles
As I type this, there are 9 stories waiting to be reviewed (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. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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!
A Cold Night in June by Agape4Gondor
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: Faramir's dream has him befuddled.
Gracious Days by Vaysh
Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Early morning on his fifty-second birthday, Frodo brings Sam a mathom from the Bag End orchards.
A Light of Gold was on the sea by losselen
Rating: General
Genre: Poetry
Era: 1st Age
Summary: Olwë remembers the Trees, and laments the Kinslaying. Poem.
Beneath the Birches by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: A pensive Arwen encounters a stranger. Written for the LOTR GFIC "Hearts and Flowers" challenge. With thanks to Virtuella.
A Yule Journey by Lindariel
Rating: General
Genre: Other
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: A gentle mystery in 12 installments. Follow a hobbit's Yule gift as it wends its way from Hobbiton to its final destination and recipient. Can you guess the sender, recipient, and year the story takes place before all is revealed in the end? Familiar characters appearing include Gi ...
Least Expected by Imhiriel
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: What if Halbarad's first appearance had taken a different turn? Drabble. MEFAwards 2008: 3rd Place – Genres: Alternate Universe: Drabbles
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Donations needed for Feb-Mar-April
What do your hosting donations do for HASA? They put us on a new server that is much faster and more secure than the old one. Pages render faster, searches work more quickly, and attacks are foiled. We're behind and the April bill will be due soon.
http://www.henneth-annun.net/
HASA depends on member & reader donations and subscriptions to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host our content, all the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more, and our new server makes this faster and more secure.
We should not be running this far negative for this long. Our balance is at -$238. Thanks to recent donations and subscriptions we're less behind than we would have been, but on average we've tended toward more negative rather than less. It would be best if we were positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
One way we can do that is subscriptions. Currently we have two monthly and two annual subscriptions, many thanks to our patrons! It would be great if we could have more. The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
http://www.henneth-annun.net/
HASA depends on member & reader donations and subscriptions to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host our content, all the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more, and our new server makes this faster and more secure.
We should not be running this far negative for this long. Our balance is at -$238. Thanks to recent donations and subscriptions we're less behind than we would have been, but on average we've tended toward more negative rather than less. It would be best if we were positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
One way we can do that is subscriptions. Currently we have two monthly and two annual subscriptions, many thanks to our patrons! It would be great if we could have more. The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
One time donations - this is what we've always had
Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
HASA news - Birthdays, stories
April birthdays and links to the stories written or updated in March.
April Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in April, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
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. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In March:
--- 6 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 35 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 4 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
April Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in April, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
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. Read the currently featured story on our front page.
Many talented writers are publishing every day. In March:
--- 6 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 35 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 4 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Site Update Status
Transition to the new server has been completed. A DNS change request was submitted to the ISP @ 2:30 PM US West Coast time, March 27th.
Anglachel
Anglachel
Thursday, March 24, 2011
HASA Server Downtime Schedule
Ang asked me to post this:
HASA is moving into its new home this coming weekend!
Starting about noon on Saturday, March 26th, HASA will be taken offline for maintenance. If all goes more or less as planned, the site will be back up on the new server about mid-day on Sunday, March 27th. Due to lags in DNS population, it may be a bit longer before users can see the new site.
So, what is being done? Many things have already been done this week. The server was patched and its security configured, a mail server was installed, the web site and application servers were started, tested and patched, preliminary tests were done on the mail server, sample databases were moved from the old server to the new one, and test sites are now running. Starting tomorrow, the following will be done:
• Thursday - Code transfer
• Friday - email account creation
• Saturday - Database backup and transfer
• Sunday -- ColdFusion application mapping, site configuration, testing and DNS switch
So, it's going to be a busy few days for me this week. Some features, like the Research Library text search, will not be operational until later next week and there will no doubt be some bugs to shake out.
Please, if you are planning story updates, forum posts or reviews, do your best to complete that before noon on Saturday.
Anglachel
HASA is moving into its new home this coming weekend!
Starting about noon on Saturday, March 26th, HASA will be taken offline for maintenance. If all goes more or less as planned, the site will be back up on the new server about mid-day on Sunday, March 27th. Due to lags in DNS population, it may be a bit longer before users can see the new site.
So, what is being done? Many things have already been done this week. The server was patched and its security configured, a mail server was installed, the web site and application servers were started, tested and patched, preliminary tests were done on the mail server, sample databases were moved from the old server to the new one, and test sites are now running. Starting tomorrow, the following will be done:
• Thursday - Code transfer
• Friday - email account creation
• Saturday - Database backup and transfer
• Sunday -- ColdFusion application mapping, site configuration, testing and DNS switch
So, it's going to be a busy few days for me this week. Some features, like the Research Library text search, will not be operational until later next week and there will no doubt be some bugs to shake out.
Please, if you are planning story updates, forum posts or reviews, do your best to complete that before noon on Saturday.
Anglachel
Looking for subscriptions!
Just a quick note:
Since HASA is about to move to a newer, more stable server, I'm hoping we can celebrate with some new subscriptions.
Julie
Since HASA is about to move to a newer, more stable server, I'm hoping we can celebrate with some new subscriptions.
Julie
Friday, March 11, 2011
HASA news - Birthdays, stories
March birthdays and links to the stories written or updated in February.
March Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in March, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
February 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 February:
--- 15 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 27 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 1 Beta Story was updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
March Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in March, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
February 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 February:
--- 15 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 27 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 1 Beta Story was updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
Friday, March 4, 2011
Please read, we're still behind
We're at -$161 which means January and February hosting fees aren't fully paid for and the March bill will soon come due. HASA depends on member & reader donations to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host our content -- all the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more.
We should not be running this far negative for this long. Thanks to recent donations we're less behind than we would have been, but on average we've tended toward more negative rather than less. It would be best if we were positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
One way we can do that is subscriptions. Currently we have two monthly and two annual subscriptions. It would be great if we could have more! I would be pestering you less. The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
• One time donations - this is what we've always had
• Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
We should not be running this far negative for this long. Thanks to recent donations we're less behind than we would have been, but on average we've tended toward more negative rather than less. It would be best if we were positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
One way we can do that is subscriptions. Currently we have two monthly and two annual subscriptions. It would be great if we could have more! I would be pestering you less. The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
• One time donations - this is what we've always had
• Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
Sunday, February 27, 2011
HASA news - Challenges
In this week’s news: current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.
Birthday Challenges
The February Birthday Challenge is still going on, and there is slightly over a day left to make a request or write a birthday drabble. Keep an eye out for the March Birthday Challenge as well!
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
February 2011 Birthday Cards - closes February 28
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
As I’m in the middle of moving house (and have half an idea ready for this Challenge) the February Nuzgûl will run for another month: Estelmo’s story.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
Birthday Challenges
The February Birthday Challenge is still going on, and there is slightly over a day left to make a request or write a birthday drabble. Keep an eye out for the March Birthday Challenge as well!
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
February 2011 Birthday Cards - closes February 28
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
As I’m in the middle of moving house (and have half an idea ready for this Challenge) the February Nuzgûl will run for another month: Estelmo’s story.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
HASA Reviewed Stories February 2011
Since the previous Bulletin, 9 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 12 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story! New submissions are of course welcome as well!
As I type this, there are 12 stories waiting to be reviewed (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. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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!
Until We Meet Again by Tanis
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 4th Age
Summary: A difficult farewell between two friends bound and parted by destiny. Mild slash relationship references.
Wings of Summer by Raksha
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: The new Lords of Gondor are bound to duty, but are they its slaves? Distractions and diversions tempt Aragorn and Faramir. An 800-word (as counted by MS Word) standalone ficlet. Not slash.
After the Sun Rises by Maethril-of-Mirkwood
Rating: General
Genre: Other
Era: Other
Summary: (Non-Slash) Millennia have passed since the War of the Ring, and alone in Valinor, an elf laments those he has lost, wondering whether immortality is truly a blessing or a curse.
Faithful Friend by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Faramir has found all his heart desires. But when he risks losingmuch of what he had gained, help arrives from an unexpected source. With grateful thanks to Virtuella and Raksha. Dedicated to Raksha on the occasion of her birthday. Teitho Contest - Finder's Keepers - First Place. ...
A Question of History by Marta
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Sam and Pippin discuss a puzzling passage from the Red Book. (Betas: annmarwalk, Dreamflower, and Linda Hoyland)
Lingering Shadows by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Faramir is worried that something is threatening his baby son and seeks Aragorn's help. With thanks to Raksha and Virtuella. Written for the LOTR GFIC "Believe it or Not" Challenge.
A Deck of Heroes by Larner
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: A collection of ficlets inspired by the cards of the major arcana from the Tarot deck.
Orcs At School by Virtuella
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: Because little orcs need to learn, too.
Above All Shadows by IgnobleBard
Rating: Adult
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: Aragorn sees Legolas stumble as they run towards Rohan, but doesn't know it is one of the first signs of the Elf’s dark secret. - Slash
As I type this, there are 12 stories waiting to be reviewed (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. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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!
Until We Meet Again by Tanis
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 4th Age
Summary: A difficult farewell between two friends bound and parted by destiny. Mild slash relationship references.
Wings of Summer by Raksha
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: The new Lords of Gondor are bound to duty, but are they its slaves? Distractions and diversions tempt Aragorn and Faramir. An 800-word (as counted by MS Word) standalone ficlet. Not slash.
After the Sun Rises by Maethril-of-Mirkwood
Rating: General
Genre: Other
Era: Other
Summary: (Non-Slash) Millennia have passed since the War of the Ring, and alone in Valinor, an elf laments those he has lost, wondering whether immortality is truly a blessing or a curse.
Faithful Friend by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Faramir has found all his heart desires. But when he risks losingmuch of what he had gained, help arrives from an unexpected source. With grateful thanks to Virtuella and Raksha. Dedicated to Raksha on the occasion of her birthday. Teitho Contest - Finder's Keepers - First Place. ...
A Question of History by Marta
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Sam and Pippin discuss a puzzling passage from the Red Book. (Betas: annmarwalk, Dreamflower, and Linda Hoyland)
Lingering Shadows by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Faramir is worried that something is threatening his baby son and seeks Aragorn's help. With thanks to Raksha and Virtuella. Written for the LOTR GFIC "Believe it or Not" Challenge.
A Deck of Heroes by Larner
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: A collection of ficlets inspired by the cards of the major arcana from the Tarot deck.
Orcs At School by Virtuella
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: Because little orcs need to learn, too.
Above All Shadows by IgnobleBard
Rating: Adult
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: Aragorn sees Legolas stumble as they run towards Rohan, but doesn't know it is one of the first signs of the Elf’s dark secret. - Slash
Thursday, February 17, 2011
On the Recent Attack Upon A HASA Member in the Forums
The offical response has been posted on the HASA web site:
http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/news_view.cfm?nwid=267
Anglachel
http://www.henneth-annun.net/about/news_view.cfm?nwid=267
Anglachel
Monday, February 14, 2011
HASA undergoing server swap
Over the last few months, HASA's server has become increasingly unstable. This is due to a combination of factors, the two most prominent being the age of the hardware and operating system (almost 7 years) and an increasing number of malicious attacks on the system. The combination leaves the server vulnerable to crashing.
I am working with the ISP this week to get a new server set up and to transfer HASA's code and data to its new home. When the new server has been prepared, HASA will be taken offline and the data will be transferred.
The specific dates for the move are not yet available. They will be posted as soon as I have them.
Thank you for your patience while this work is being done.
Anglachel
I am working with the ISP this week to get a new server set up and to transfer HASA's code and data to its new home. When the new server has been prepared, HASA will be taken offline and the data will be transferred.
The specific dates for the move are not yet available. They will be posted as soon as I have them.
Thank you for your patience while this work is being done.
Anglachel
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
HASA news - Birthdays, stories
February birthdays and links to the stories written or updated in January.
February Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in February, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
January 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 January:
--- 14 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 46 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 5 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
February Birthday Challenge
Is your birthday in February, and would you 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 stories written for previous requests.
January 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 January:
--- 14 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 46 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 5 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)
Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!
~Nath ~
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Donations needed for January and February Hosting fees
We're at -$106 which means January hosting isn't fully paid for and the February bill will soon come due.
HASA depends on member & reader donations to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host all the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more. We should not be running this far negative for this long. Thanks to recent donations we're less behind; we still need to get positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
- One time donations - this is what we've always had
- Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
- Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
HASA depends on member & reader donations to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to host all the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more. We should not be running this far negative for this long. Thanks to recent donations we're less behind; we still need to get positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.
The monthly hosting fee for HASA is $150. There are now three ways to donate to our PayPal account.
- One time donations - this is what we've always had
- Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
- Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.
If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.
Thanks for enjoying HASA!
Julie
Sunday, January 30, 2011
HASA news - Challenges
In this week’s news: current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.
Birthday Challenges
The January Birthday Challenge is still going on, and there is slightly over a day left to make a request or write a birthday drabble.
If you’re feeling inspired, you can also get an early start on the February Birthday Challenge!
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
January 2011 Birthday Cards - closes January 31
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
There is still a bit of time to write for the January Nuzgûl: Tom’s Brooch.
February’s Nuzgûl will be: Estelmo’s story.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
_~_Nath_~_
Birthday Challenges
The January Birthday Challenge is still going on, and there is slightly over a day left to make a request or write a birthday drabble.
If you’re feeling inspired, you can also get an early start on the February Birthday Challenge!
Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.
Current and closing Challenges
January 2011 Birthday Cards - closes January 31
Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?
Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?
The Nuzgûl of the Month!
There is still a bit of time to write for the January Nuzgûl: Tom’s Brooch.
February’s Nuzgûl will be: Estelmo’s story.
Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.
Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!
_~_Nath_~_
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