Sunday, January 30, 2011

HASA news - Challenges

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

Birthday Challenges
The January Birthday Challenge is still going on, and there is slightly over a day left to make a request or write a birthday drabble.

If you’re feeling inspired, you can also get an early start on the February Birthday Challenge!

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.

Current and closing Challenges
January 2011 Birthday Cards - closes January 31

Prospective Challenges
Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?

Nuzgûl of the Month
Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!
There is still a bit of time to write for the January Nuzgûl: Tom’s Brooch.

February’s Nuzgûl will be: Estelmo’s story.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!

_~_Nath_~_

Sunday, January 23, 2011

HASA Reviewed Stories January 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 6 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 10 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 10 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 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!

Where Fate Leads by Maethril-of-Mirkwood
Rating: General
Genre: Action
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: As she stands upon the battlefield, facing the greatest challenge of her life, Eowyn reflects upon who she is and what she fights for.

Memories of Trees by Vaysh
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: After the quest the hobbits rest in Minas Tirith, passing the time with story-telling. One afternoon when Merry talks about Fangorn, he remembers a walk with his grandfather in the Old Forest.

The Healer's Journey by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: Multi-Age
Summary: Is a great healer like Aragorn born or made?

Impossibly Blue by Virtuella
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Aragorn planted the White Tree of Gondor. Five hundred years later, it receives a very unexpected visitor.

The Promise - A Quintdrabble by Agape4Gondor
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: A tribute to soldiers on this US Veteran's Day.

In the Depths of Winter by Marta
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Aragorn, as the new king of Gondor and Arnor Reunited, ushered in a new age of peace - and, Gondor quite naturally hoped, the beginnings of a new dynasty. But just because something is expected does not mean it will come easily. (Arwen-centric.)

Monday, January 17, 2011

HASA How-tos - January 2011

This month's HASA How-to tells you how to share a link by adding it to the HASA URL Library.

How do I...
... add a link to the URL Library?

What is 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. All members are invited to share interesting links.

These may include Tolkien-related sites, but also sites that you have found useful in researching a topic for a story; for instance, sites on pre-modern weaponry, architecture, navigation, astronomy, farming, ...

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 of under 250 characters, including spaces (please include warnings for any Adult content).
  6. 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.

Have fun!

~*Nath*~

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Donations needed for December and January

HASA is a fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. HASA depends on member & reader donations to pay hosting fees. The hosting fee pays for the dedicated server we need to provide the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more. Currently our account is at -$256, which means we're behind for 2/3 of December and all of January. We should not be running this far negative for this long. Thanks to recent donations we're less behind; we still need to get positive. Please support HASA so our great stories can remain online and accessible.

Our PayPal account has been updated and there are now three ways to donate. HASA now accepts subscriptions:

* One time donations - this is what we've always had
* Monthly donations - set up a monthly recurring donation in amounts from $5 to $25 dollars.
* Annual donations - set up a recurring annual donation in amounts from $15 to $50 dollars.

Donation buttons are on the home page (one-time donation only), all story list pages and on the Donations page. If you haven't donated yet to help support HASA, please consider doing so; any support will be timely and greatly appreciated. HASA gets a lot of traffic and offers many great stories and features.

If you're a little short on spare change at the moment, donations of time are always appreciated. There's an archive full of stories just waiting for comments, authors who would dearly love an email complimenting them on their work, challenges that need entries, playlists that need to be created, and forums begging for discussions. If you are a reviewer, check out a story today. If you aren't a reviewer, no better time than now to sign up. If you are an author, please consider donating a new story.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Julie

Sunday, January 2, 2011

HASA news – Challenges, Birthdays, Stories

In this week’s news: Happy New Year! prospective Challenges, the Nuzgûl of the Month and the stories written in December.

First, a pleasant, prosperous, productive New Year to all our readers. May your muses never be silent and your inspiration never run dry.


Birthday Challenges
The December 2010 Birthday Challenge has just closed (but I’m sure the birthday babes won’t mind a late drabble... Keep an eye out for the January 2011 Birthday Challenge to appear.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written in 2010.


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!
December’s Nuzgûl was: The Passing of Narsil, and applause for Aruthir’s entry. Remember: late entries are also welcome!

January’s Nuzgûl will be: Tom’s Brooch
http://henneth-annun.net/challenge/challenge.cfm?ngid=180

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop.


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

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

Many talented writers are publishing stories every day. In December:

--- 5 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 43 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 5 Beta Stories were updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

~Nath ~