HASA news - Challenges

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

There are a few more days to go in the July Birthday Challenge, so there’s still time to write or request a drabble.

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, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

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, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch… Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

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!

This summer’s Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here, and will run until the end of August.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!

HASA How-tos - July 2011

This month's HASA How-to takes a closer look at the Challenges section at HASA.

How do I...

... use Challenges? (pt. 2)

In this How-to you will learn how to create and enter a Challenge.

What is a Challenge?

Challenges are ideas for fics that people have presented to the group at large. Any HASA member can create a Challenge. This prospective Challenge must get a minimum of three people who say they will try to write a story for it. These are called 'pledges.' If at least three pledges are obtained, then the idea becomes a Challenge.

How to create a Challenge

Start by registering the Challenge:

1. In the Prospective Challenges forum, create a new topic to discuss your challenge idea. Use the forum to create interest and identify those who are willing to write in response to your challenge. If you can find enough people to agree to write for your challenge, e-mail the Challenge Manager with the text of the Challenge, its duration, and request that it be posted in HASA's Challenge section.


2. Once the Challenge is accepted, the Challenges Manager will enter the Challenge into the database and keep a check on its progress. The originator of the Challenge may upon occasion be asked to clarify his or her prompt or some aspect of the prompt.
3. Challenges that fail to acquire the three-response minimum by the closing date will be moved to the Nuzgûl Hutch for others to freely use.
4. If you would like your idea to go directly to the Hutch, there is a The Hutch: Home of the HASA Nuzgûl forum in which you may put it. The Challenges Manager will enter it into the database as soon as possible.

How to enter a Challenge

1. Go to Open Challenges, and find one you would like to enter. There are a variety of Challenges available to offer the widest participation for authors of all tastes, talents, and experience level.
2. Once you have found the Challenge you are interested in, read the description and check the requirements: closing date, and in some cases, word limit. Even if the Challenge is closed, remember that you may still write for it as a Nuzgûl or Oliphaunt.
3. Just below the description of the Challenge, look for the "Enter this Challenge!" box. If you don't see it, check to see if you are logged in.
4. In the box you will see a drop-down menu with all of your stories that are eligible to be entered in the Challenge, plus a Challenge Placeholder.
5. Select the story you want to enter or else the placeholder.
6. Click "Enter".

You are now entered in a Challenge!

If you have entered a Challenge and have a Placeholder that you want to replace with a real story, this is what to do:

1. Be sure you are logged in.
2. Select "My Challenges" from the Challenges main navigation menu.
3. On the My Challenges page, locate the challenge and the placeholder.
4. Click "Edit Entry".
5. The page will refresh and you will see a drop-down menu with all of your eligible stories.
6. Select the story you want to have in the Challenge.
7. Click "Edit".
8. Your entry is updated.

A story may be entered in as many Challenges as are appropriate for it. It may only be entered once in a particular Challenge.

Challenge stories may also be entered for review. In that case all references to the Challenge should be removed before submission as reviewers are asked to judge the story on its own. Authors should bear in mind that some entries which are excellent in context of the Challenge may not strike readers as a complete story when disassociated from the Challenge.

When your Challenge story is submitted for review, it will temporarily disappear from the Challenge listing until it has received the requisite nine decisions from the reviewers. After the review is complete, you will need to reset the status on the story so it will reappear in the Challenge.

Have fun!

HASA Reviewed Stories July 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 3 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 11 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story!

As I type this, there are 11 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!

Doriath by Elwing
Rating: General
Genre: Poetry
Era: 1st Age
Summary: This is a poem about Doriath, I wrote in German and then translated into English. It may be from Nellas` view or maybe Celeborn`s, but that isn`t that important.

Through all the Changing Scenes of Life by Linda Hoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Aragorn must say goodbye to an old friend. With grateful thanks to xxx, xxx and xxx for editorial assistance and to xxx and xxx for sharing their knowledge of horses.

For This Relief Much Thanks by Azalais
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Aragorn has a nasty moment while Eldarion is insufferably cute. A triple-drabble for Altariel's birthday. MEFA 2010 Honorable Mention: Genres: Ficlet: Gondor ...

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, stories

Donations

Thank you everybody who donated recently. You are wonderful!

July Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in July, 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.

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 (including the new Oliphaunt 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!

This summer´s Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here: here, and will run until the end of August.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you´ve written a story for any of the previous months, don´t forget to add it to the Playlist!

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. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In June:

--- 3 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 67 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 1 Beta Stories was updated.

(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

 Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

HASA is 9 on July 1st! Please read

July 1 is HASA’s 9th birthday. We're at -$368 which means we have 45% of April, and all of May & June to cover, and the July bill will soon come due. HASA depends on member & reader donations to pay hosting fees, which 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 shouldn't be running this far negative for this long. It would be best if we were positive. Please consider a birthday present to support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.

Another way to support HASA is subscriptions. Currently we have four 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 and monthly or annual donations.
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 - Challenges

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

The June Birthday Challenge is still running, and it's not yet too late to put in a request!

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: Or rather the Summer Nuzgûl, which will run until September 1. Come to the forum and join in the fun.

Other news - donations

We're currently close to three months' worth in the red, so please consider donating in June or July 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!

HASA How-tos - June 2011

This month's HASA How-to will explain some of the terms used in the Challenges section at HASA.

How do I...

... use Challenges (pt. 1)?

In this How-to you will learn what some words that are used in the Challenges section mean.

First, a brief description of the Challenges section. This is where the various Challenges issued by HASA members over the years are kept, and it contains several things:

1. The text descriptions of all Challenges (Open Challenges, Closed Challenges)
2. Any stories that have been written in response to the Challenge
3. A way for authors to add more entries to an open Challenge
4. An archive of closed Challenges (those whose time limit has run out)
5. The Nuzgûl Hutch
6. The Oliphaunt Pen
7. Category and Keyword searches
8. A link to the Challenge Forums

What is a Challenge?

Challenges are ideas for fics that people have presented to the group at large. Any HASA member can create a Challenge. This prospective Challenge must get a minimum of three people who say they will try to write a story for it. These are called 'pledges.' If at least three pledges are obtained, then the idea becomes a Challenge.

Most Challenges start life as Nuzgûl.

What is a Nuzgûl?

Nuzgûl are what many fandoms call 'plot bunnies.' They are ideas for writing a fic and they look sweet and harmless until they sink their long fangs into you and refuse to let go. If three people post stories for a Nuzgûl, it becomes a Challenge.

The name 'nuzgûl' comes from The Official Fan-fiction University of Middle-earth (OFUM), written by Miss Cam, in which of Middle-earth terms produce new creatures. Among them were the Nuzgûl. HASA has been overrun with them ever since, a plague or a blessing, depending on your viewpoint. Beware the bite of the undead plotbunny.

What is the Nuzgûl Hutch?

The Hutch is where you can drop off or pick up Nuzgûl. Any Challenge that doesn't find three stories before its deadline will live in the Hutch until five stories are attached to it. When there are three stories, the Nuzgûl becomes a Challenge.

After an author writes the story inspired by the Nuzgûl, the creature is said to be "defanged." Be warned, however, they do occasionally bite twice.

What is an Oliphaunt?

I stump round and round
Never lie on the ground
Not even to die
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.

An Oliphaunt is a Challenge that is 'too big to die'. When a Challenge with at least three stories attached passes its closing date, it is honorably retired. If authors still wish to write stories for that Challenge, an Oliphaunt is created from the original Challenge. It lumbers along, picking up more stories as it goes. Not all Challenges become Oliphaunts because not all continue to attract stories.

What is the Oliphaunt Pen?

The home of the Oliphaunt, where old, successful Challenges go. Members may continue to adopt Oliphaunts and write stories for them which will be associated with the Oliphaunt but not shown with the original Challenge. The Oliphaunt is so named because after getting all those entries as a Challenge, it just keeps lumbering on. Feel free to root around in the Oliphaunt pen for some great story ideas.

What is a Placeholder?

A placeholder is an entry indicating that the author intends to write a story for a Challenge, but has not yet written the story.

To enter a placeholder, simply click "accept" on the Challenge of your choice, and use the drop-down menu to select "Challenge Placeholder," the first choice in the story drop-down list. In your "My Stuff" section, you will see a placeholder for the Challenge. You may later edit this entry from "My Stuff" when you have a story, or you may drop it if you decide not to continue in the Challenge.

What is a Prompt?

A prompt is the Challenge description, the starting point for any entry into the Challenge.

The purpose of the description is to prompt authors to enter and write a story for the Challenge. Well written prompts tell what the Challenge is for, how it came about and what the author needs to do to participate.

Have fun!
~*~*Nath*~*

HASA Reviewed Stories June 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 3 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!

Night and Fog by Azalais

Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: "They reached the west-shores of Anduin a little north of Sarn Gebir, as they had trysted; and there received horses and raiment that were secretly ferried over the River." What a lad from the Eastemnet saw one night in July 3018 on the banks of the Anduin.

Still Waters by Olorimë

Rating: Adult
Genre: Drama
Era: 1st Age
Summary: Finrod Felagund gets stranded in a storm, a mysterious elf comes to his rescue. His life will be forever changed.

A Seal upon thine Heart by Linda Hoyland

Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: Many years after their first meeting, Aragorn and Arwen are reunited in Lothlórien. Sequel to "Stranger at the Gates". Dedicated to Julia. With thanks to Virtuella.

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, stories

June birthdays, Challenges and links to the stories written or updated in May.

June Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in June, 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.

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!

This summer's Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you've written a story for any of the previous months, don't forget to add it to the Playlist!

May 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 May:

--- 4 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 55 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 2 Beta Stories were updated.

(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

*~*Nath*~*

Please read, we're still behind

We're at -$333 which means we have 22% of March, and all of April & May to cover, and the June 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. Thanks to recent donations we're $25 better than we were this time last month, but we shouldn't be running this far negative for this long. 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 and monthly or annual donations.
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 How-tos - May 2011

This month's HASA How-to tells you how to customize My Stuff and update your profile.

How do I...

... use the Forums?

In this How-to you will learn what My Stuff is and some of what you can use it for.

What is My Stuff for?

As the name says, it is where you will find your own stuff. Here you can manage your profile, add and update stories, see reviews, send alerts, and other activities.

How does this area work?

When you sign up as a member on HASA, you automatically get a My Stuff section. You have to be logged in to see your information. You use My Profile to manage the information in your profile.

There are other areas in My Stuff, such as My Stories and all of the related activities. My Stories is where you create and manage your stories. You may add as many stories as you like to the database. In the reviews section, authors who submit stories for review and members who perform reviews can see the reviews given and received.

There are the promotional tools, all gathered in the My Readers section. The links to Forums, Playlists, Workshops and Challenges all go to pages where you can take care of things in those areas.

Now, though, we will only look at how to update your profile and customize the pods in the main and righthand columns

How do I update my member profile?

1. Log in.
2. Click on "My Profile" in the main navigation drop down menu.
3. On the main My Profile page, you will see all of your profile information displayed in boxes. In the main column are member info and personal web links. On the right you find login info, author name, whether or not you’re a reviewer, and your beta reading info.
4. Click the "Edit" button on any box to update that part of your profile.

You can give as little or as much information as you’re comfortable with; for instance, while there is an option to display nationality or where you live, this isn’t obligatory.

How do I customize My Stuff?

The My Stuff home page comes with a set of pods that you can add to and arrange on your My Stuff home page.

1. Log in.
2. Go to My Stuff home.
3. Click on the "Customize Page" link in the navigation column on the right.
4. You now see a page where you can select one or more pods for the main column and the side column of the My Stuff home page. Detailed instructions for adding the pods are on the page.
5. After you add pods, you can set an order to them.
6. Return to the home page and do final adjustments for how many records to show in each pod.

Have fun!

HASA Reviewed Stories May 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 6 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 6 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 6 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!

Full Circle by Vaysh
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Five times Sam spoke to Frodo after Frodo left for Valinor. (five drabbles)

Amid the Powers and Chances of the World by Azalais
Rating: General
Genre: Romance
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: "Men..should have a virtue to shape their lives, amid the powers and chances of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is as fate to all things else" (Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 1). A mortal woman is brought to Rivendell for healing in the summer of 3018, and thus becomes entangled with ...

Light from the West by Armariel
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: In the Blessed Realm, Frodo discovers he can talk to Sam through his star-glass, and uses it to tell his friend of his life in the West.

Last Stroke by Elena Tiriel
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: 'The Corsairs of Umbar!' men shouted.... 'The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!' Drabble: What might have come to pass....

Gundabad by Lindariel
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: "Anyway by mid-winter Gandalf and Bilbo had come all the way back, along both edges of the Forest, to the doors of Beorn's house; and there for a while they both stayed." The Professor doesn't tell us much about Bilbo's return home from Erebor in the company of Gandalf and Beorn. ...

After Sunset by Adonnen Estenniel
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: After her parents' deaths, Éowyn finds it hard to adjust to her new life in Edoras. Constant nightmares plague her sleep, and with her brother too busy to spend as much time with her as he used to, the little girl must find a new source of comfort.

Consider giving a gift to HASA on your birthday - one day of stories for all visitors.

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

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 ~

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!

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:

• 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

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:

• Challenges
• Members
• Resources
• Reviews
• Stories
• Workshop
• General

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. For an open forum, simply click on 'Sign Me Up.'
4. 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

1. For any forum you wish to participate in, either by reading or posting, you must first join the forum as described above.
2. Click on the forum you want to post in. If you are not already a participant, click on 'Sign me up!'
3. Find the thread that you would like to post to and click on it.
4. If you find a post you would like to reply to, click the 'Reply to Post' button in the message information box.
5. Type your response into the message form. Don't forget to spell check!
6. Click 'Post Reply.'
7. 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

1. 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.
2. Click the button.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. Click the link or button.
3. You will see the Add a Forum form.
4. Type in the forum name; short names are preferred and display better. There is a 50 character maximum for titles.
5. 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).
6. 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)
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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".
10. Select whether your forum is for general or adult audiences. Please clearly mark forums or posts that contain mature content.
11. 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.
12. 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!

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

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.

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 ~