Looking for Subscribers and Donations

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Subscribers would be the best way to keep HASA going.
Currently, our balance remains almost 6 months behind for hosting costs. :(

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. It would be great if we could get some more donations and subscription to help get us closer to positive.
If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep current.
Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.
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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

HASA How-tos - March 2014

How do I...

...add an item to the Research Cabinet?

The quickest way to get started with the Research Cabinet is to add a few items to it. It's as easy as finding an item to add and clicking a button!

1. Log in to HASA.
2. Go to the Resources section of the site.
3. Browse for a Research Library item you would like to add to your cabinet. The items you can add are:
   a. Timeline Events
   b. Character Bios
   c. Places
   d. Things
   e. Full Text Searches (Note - you have to save a search before you can add it to your Cabinet)
4. Once you have found the Library item you want to add to you Research Cabinet, look for the right-hand menu box labeled "Research Cabinet".
5. In the Research Cabinet box, click the "Add this [item] to research cabinet".
6. The page refreshes and the item is added to your cabinet.

At this point, you can leave the item loose in the Cabinet, add it to a Notebook, and/or create a Research Note to go with it; and we will look at how to do that in the next few months. The great thing about the research cabinet is that you can organise your information so that it makes sense to you.

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

March Birthdays
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 some stories written for previous requests.

Challenges

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?

February Stories
All 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:

---28 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 and writing at HASA. Enjoy!

Looking for Subscribers and Donations

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Subscribers would be the best way to keep HASA going.

Currently, our balance is over $600 negative, which is over four months behind for hosting costs. :(

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. The February hosting will be due within the next few days; it would be great if we could get some more donations and subscription to help get us closer to positive.

If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep current.

Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

HASA How to - February 2014

How do I...

...contribute to Resources?

Obviously, the Resources area provides resources to writers, but it is also a great place to look around in for a non-author who is looking for information about characters or places.

The core of Resources is the Research Library, which contains many facts and citations from the Ardaverse. There are detailed articles on people, places, things and the events that tie them together. There is also a URL library linking to sites of interest to the JRRT fandom. There are research articles and critical essays written by our members, and a discussion forum on wide ranging topics.

How do I contribute data to Resources?

Timeline events, Character Bios, Places and Things can always use entries. If you would like to enter data, let us know in the Resources Forum.

How do I contribute a Research Article?

Be sure you are logged in to the site before you begin.

1. Double check your story - Is it spell checked? Are all the chapters set to "Published" status and do they all have chapter numbers set to something besides "0"? Is the story set to General or Reviewed status?
2. Mouse over the Resources button in the main navigation bar and select "Articles & Essays" from the drop-down menu.
3. On the main A & E page, look in the side bar for the box "Articles & Essays Search". At the bottom of that box you should see a link "Add your work to the Research Library here."
4. Click and go to the add page.
5. There will be a form with a drop-down list of your stories that have been categorized as either Research Articles or Critical Essays, and with a multi-select box of research topics.
6. Choose your story and select topics which apply to the work.
7. Click "Add".

If you have already added stories, you will also see them on that page. If you want to change topics for any of them, click the "Edit Story Topics" button.

How do I add a link to the URL Library?

1. Be sure you are logged in - only members can contribute links.
2. Go to the URL Library in Resources.
3. Find the "URL Categories" box in the navigation column.
4. In the box below the form will be a link to add a URL.
5. In the URL form, fill in:
• the URL address (be sure to add the http:// part!)
• the web page name
• the URL category for the site
• a brief summary
6. The summary must be under 250 characters long (this includes blank spaces), and any Adult content should be indicated.
7. Click on the "Add URL" button.

Your URL will be added in draft status and the Resource Manager will be notified there is a URL waiting for review.

I see an entry that is not accurate

Accuracy is crucial as authors will use the information here in their stories. Entries are spot checked, but errors can creep in, so please help us correct anything inaccurate that you see. To point out a place for correction, email the Resources managers or post in the Resources forum.

Forums

Another way to contribute to the Resources section is by taking part in the Forums

Where can I ask about specific subjects in Forums?

Some particular discussions for specific subjects:

• English Grammar Discussion - the place to check the correct way to say what you want.
• Geography and Maps - ask those place related questions here.
• HoME Reference Requests - Members who own the History of Middle-earth series will take requests to find mentions of a character, place, thing or event.
• Languages in Arda - some of our members who are familiar with Sindarin, Quenya, Adunaic or Old English keep an eye on this one and will respond to requests.
• Research Questions - the grand-daddy question thread. Any question is fair game, cooking to legal issues.
• Writer's aids - anything to do with writing.

These are some of the larger topics, but there are other threads and subjects as well.

There is no discussion for the subject I'm interested in. Should I start one?

Certainly, and starting one is extremely easy to do.

1. Go to the appropriate discussion.
2. If you don't see your subject, click 'Post New Topic' to start a topic.
3. If there is no appropriate discussion, go back up to the Resource Folder, and click 'Add Discussion.'
4. After the Discussion is created, click 'Post New Topic'.

That's all there is to it.

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

HASA news - Donations, Birthdays, Stories

Story Pledge Challenge and donations

There have been 9 entries in the Sun, Shadow and Smaug challenge. We have two pledges for $5 per story, with a maximum of $70 for one pledge and $75 for the other. With 9 entries, this gives us a pledge total of $90 for the challenge.

Challenge entries will appear on the HASA home page for the next two weeks and pledges will continue to be accepted through that time. List your pledge in the pledges thread.

As of yesterday, Sunday, February 2, HASA has received $55 in regular donations for January, and has an outstanding hosting balance of $775. This includes the cost for January 2014.

As you know, HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:

• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions.

February Birthdays
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 some stories written for previous requests.

January Stories
All 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:

---34 General Stories were published or updated.
---no Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading and writing at HASA. Enjoy!

2014 Pledge Challenge

The 2014 Pledge Challenge will run until the end of January. Join in the fun!

Readers, pledges and authors are all welcome! Write a story (or two), comment, or perhaps you've some spare change and are willing to pledge a small amount per story.

Read about the Challenge in more detail here.

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

Story Pledge Challenge
Why not take part in the January 2014 Story Pledge Challenge? Join in the fun: write a story or put up a pledge, or perhaps even both.

Following the course of the second Hobbit movie, the theme for this year is Sun, Shadow and Smaug. Bilbo journeys from the sunny slopes of the Misty Mountains into the deep shadows of Mirkwood, emerging from them to continue to the desolation of the Dragon. Gone are the certainties of the civilized Shire, evil lurks beneath the branches of the trees, and every step brings him closer to Smaug...
The Challenge: Write a story that is connected in some way with The Hobbit - the book or the movies - and that uses one or more of the three themes of the challenge - sun, shadow, Smaug - and post it on HASA. It can be anything you like as long as it ties in to something that happens or is mentioned or must have occurred given the events of the book or the movie. Of course there are some rules to the Challenge.

For authors:

• Your story must be a new story, never having appeared for the general public on any other web site
• Your story must be 500 words or more in length (combining drabbles is fine, length allowances made for poetry)
• Your story is posted exclusively to HASA in January while the Challenge runs

For those readers who want to pledge a donation:

• The pledge is per completed story posted to the Challenge - you can't specify that you'll only donate for an Elf story or one with Gollum in it, for example.
• A minimum of $1.00 per story
• No minimum on the total amount you're willing to pledge

Enter a story in the Challenge here.

The Story Pledge Challenge in the Forums: General discussion

Keep an eye out for the Entries and Pledges forums!

January Birthdays
Is your birthday in January, 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 some stories written for previous requests.

December Stories
All writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In December:

---15 General Stories were published or updated.
---no Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

Thank You & Donation Request

The new year is approaching & we'd like to say "thank you" for recent donations, they are much appreciated! Our balance is still over $500 under. New subscriptions would also be great. Watch this space for a January challenge announcement.

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Subscribers would be the best way to keep HASA going.

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. Our server isn't free, however, so HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. Our balance now is still negative, and the December hosting will be due within the next few days, which means we need donations to catch up.

If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep ahead.

Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story for our upcoming challenge.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

HASA How-to - Resources pt. I

This week we take a look at HASA’s Resources section.

How do I...

...find my way in Resources?

Obviously, the Resources area provides resources to writers, but it is also a great place to look around in for a non-author who is looking for information about characters or places.

The core of Resources is the Research Library, which contains many facts and citations from the Ardaverse. There are detailed articles on people, places, things and the events that tie them together. There is also a URL library linking to sites of interest to the JRRT fandom. There are research articles and critical essays written by our members, and a discussion forum on wide ranging topics.

The Reference Library

The Reference Library is designed to gather the facts about various subjects in one easily searchable area. It currently consists of Character Biographies, Events, Places, and Things. Each entry is referenced to a quote in Tolkien, so the member may refer to the original source. Members who are authors can link their stories to any of the Research Library entries.

Character Biographies

All the listed characters have simple fact sheets, containing very basic information such as date of birth and death when known, close relatives, and physical description.

For some characters the fact sheets are a starting point, in contrast to some of the minor characters where the fact sheets contain everything that is known. A number of fact sheets are associated with essays that are more detailed, and which may contain speculation supported by references.

Timeline Events

You can look up Timeline events alphabetically, by event type, by era and by date range. They are presented in chronological order, and are cross-referenced to other research library entries.

If you want to know exactly who did what, when, where and how, timeline events can probably provide the answer.

Places

Places contains information on locations mentioned by Tolkien, whether in the text or on the maps he drew. Our goal is detailed information on the complete list of places, with accompanying references.

Things

The Things section contains detailed information on various objects, from the physical such as ships or weapons, to songs, to constructs such as the White Council.  

The URL Library

The URL Library is a collection of web page links, organized by general categories, covering both Tolkien's works and other topics of general interest to HASA members. Members are encouraged to submit interesting links.

Research Articles and Critical Essays

These are non-fiction works about a particular subject useful to fanfic writers or to anyone who wants to know more about a subject. Current articles and essays range from personality traits of horses to in-depth character studies to geopolitics. Any subject involving Tolkien's writing, fanfic, or life in Middle-earth or the West is fair game.

Who writes Research Articles and Critical Essays?

HASA members write them. Many authors have done research in preparation for a story and then contribute their knowledge in the form of an article or Reference Library entry. There are several articles posted and HASA is always eager to expand the section. If you write a research article or a critical essay, please link it into Resources by going to the Articles & Essays pages.

What kind of searches can I do?

A-Z Index - This part of the site provides alphabetical lists of all the Research Library entries. Each kind of research item (People, Places, Things, Events) also has alphabetical listings.

Full text search - This takes a little more practice. This search can do complex Boolean free text search of the contents of all the research library entries.

Each library entry type has a search available to sort, slice and dice on its main categories for quick filtering of entries.

What is the Resources Forum?

This is the gathering place for the Resources geeks and anyone who wants to pick their brains.

You can discuss just about anything to do with Tolkien's works, what life might have been like in Middle-earth, or the intricacies of writing about it. Geography, character speculation, daily life, grammar, economics... You think it up, someone will probably want to discuss it.

Many discussions start as research questions. This is the place to ask questions, and bring your expertise to answer others. This is also a place to discuss the nuts and bolts of writing, beta reading, and associated issues.

HASA News - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

December Birthdays

Is your birthday in December, 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 some previous ones.

Challenges

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?

November Stories

All writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In November:

--- 26 General Stories were published or updated.

--- no Beta Stories were updated. (Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

HASA How-to

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.

Have fun!

HASA news - birthdays, challenges, stories

November Birthdays

Is your birthday in November, 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 some previous ones.

Challenges

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!

The all-new November Nuzgûl, from Aruthir, celebrating life – October was the month one commemorated the dead, so let November be a month that celebrates life. Mothers, wives, sisters, sons, husbands, brothers... is it not written that a single spark brings an end to a millennium of darkness, after all?

If you have ideas for later Nuzgûlim of the Month, please post to the discussion thread as well. Ideas are always welcome!

October Stories

All 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 October:

--- 10 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!

Looking for Subscribers and Donations

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Subscribers would be the best way to keep HASA going.

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. Our server isn't free, however, so HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. Our balance now is still negative, which means we need donations to cover fall and the last of summer. The October hosting will be due within the next few days; it would be great if we could get some more donations to help with that.

If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep ahead.

Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

HASA How-to

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!

HASA News - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

October Birthdays

Is your birthday in October, 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 some previous ones.

Challenges

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?

September Stories

All 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 September:

--- 32 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!

Donation & Subscription Request

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Have you considered being a subscriber?

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. Our server isn't free, however, so HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. Our balance now is still negative, which means we need donations to cover most of the summer. The September hosting will be due within the next few days; it would be great if we could get some more donations to help with that.

If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep ahead.

Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

HASA How-to September 2013

How do I...

... update My Stuff?

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 news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

September Birthdays

Is your birthday in September, 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 some previous ones.

Challenges

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!

The all-new September Nuzgûl, from Nath: Hope on the horizon – Seemingly hopeless situations may not be as bleak as all that, or perhaps someone has false hope; hopes may be dashed, or come true...

If you have ideas for later Nuzgûlim of the Month, please post to the discussion thread as well. Ideas are always welcome!

August Stories

All writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In August:

--- 23 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!

Donation Request

For over ten years HASA has been providing JRRT fanfiction for all genres, characters, ratings & story lengths. We get hundreds of readers a day, making HASA a great place for readers and writers. Have you considered being a subscriber?

HASA is ad-free and fee-free, and we do not sell your contact information to marketers. Our server isn't free, however, so HASA depends on donations from members and readers, both one-time gifts and subscriptions. Our balance now is still negative, which means we need donations to cover most of the summer. The August hosting will be due in the next few days; it would be great if we could get some more donations to help with that.

If only a small percentage of our members and readers donated every year or got a monthly subscription we would be in better shape. If we had more subscribers it would be easier to keep ahead.

Our PayPal account has three ways to donate:
• Monthly subscriptions - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
• Yearly subscriptions - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.
• One-off donations of any amount.

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 love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, research that needs doing and forums begging for discussions. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!