TSS - Update Archives

Update Archives

Welcome to the update archives, where you can find every update made since Version 2.0 came out. Versions 0.5 and 1.0 had all their content removed, so those updates are pointless, and therefore not here.

Webmaster's Journal 3: FORUM!!!

That's right! I've been working on it for a while now, and the forum is finally rebuilt and ready to go!

Some of you may have been members of the old version, so here are the changes I've made:

- The forum has been wiped of all old topics and posts. All user accounts are still intact.

- Some old sections have been removed, some new ones have been added.

- I made a set of custom icons, which isn't 100% finished yet, but most of the important ones are in place.

- A new colourscheme to match the site

- A revised set of rules

- A new banner at the top. Did I cheat? You decide :P

Well, those are the changes. Head over and join the forum today!!!

I also have a new article concept I need to get around to writing, so look out for that.

Webmaster's Journal 2: New Articles, New Staff Member

Whew, back again! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year - I know I did!

On to the update. We now welcome a new staff member to TSS - Claire Kerry! (A.k.a TheHalf-BloodPrincess). She's an old friend of mine, and has been producing anthropomorphic artwork for years, along with (obviously) stories to go with it. You can read her bio over at the About Us section, and a summary of her current/recent works in the Books section.

Since she illustrates a lot more heavily than I do, she decided for her first article to write about illustrations in books, and how they can make or break a story. Read it over at the articles section. Hugh has also written us a new article, about critics and how they help your work - again, head over to the articles section to read. What's more, I wrote a new article about the hardest part of writing. If you haven't figured out where to head over to by now, it's the Articles section :P

Before I forget, there's now a much improved summary of Hugh's The Trail of Sorrow (the typo is fixed), and Hugh has a bio now. I've also improved Liquid Gold's description, and I made a banner for Liquid Gold (banners for other books coming soon.)

I think that's everything. Enjoy the new content!

--Benjamin Hall, Webmaster

Webmaster's Journal 1: I Have Some Explaining To Do...

The title says it all - I do indeed have some explaining to do. Some of you will have come here and gone "HUH?!", some will have come here for the first time. Either way, I need to explain precisely what's going on.

First off, we have a brand new layout (as you can see :P) created by yours truly in one tiring afternoon. I decided it was time for a change, because the old look was growing very dated I went into photoshop, spent some time working magic with my graphics tablet... and it was done. I've cut out the image background because the general consensus was that it wasn't that great and made text hard to read. I've also dropped the old red canvas style and gone with this gold-and-white metallic look in order to keep the site looking up to date.

Next on the list of things I need to say - the site's focus itself is changing dramatically. It will no longer be a dedicated site to the old pet project of Orion. If you look in the articles section you will find an article on why the whole story is changing - it is being re-written entirely with a different storyline, different protagonist, better pacing, better characterisation, a less confusing chain of events... in other words, the old version was bad. And this one will be good.

On top of this, the old project is what you'd call "on a break". We're both taking time out to write our own things: I'm writing a book called "Liquid Gold" (if you've come here from Dog-Eared, DeviantART, Exploding Deku Nut or you know me IRL, you'll also know I participated in NaNoWriMo with this project and got the 50000 words. It's not yet finished though), and Hugh is writing a project entitled "The Trials of Sorrow". Both are everything Orion wasn't, and you can read all about them with some extracts (soon) in the Books section.

So, back to the point I was making - we are now a writing site. We aren't trying to seem like we're professionals or show off in any way by our advice. We're just two improving amateur writers, improving our skills and sharing what we learn. I hope you'll find our articles and viewpoints useful.

Hopefully I've said enough to explain the changes which have undergone. The site is still undergoing major changes, but I hope you'll enjoy what we have going on at the moment!

--Benjamin Hall, Webmaster