Time is running out for Washington, D.C., metropolitan area high school students to enter the Gaithersburg Book Festival’s first annual Short Story Contest. The deadline is Jan. 31 at 5 p.m.
If you plan to participate, your story must be no longer than 1,000 words and start with one of the following lines:
In my entire life, I’ve fibbed dozens of times — usually to be polite or to get out of attending some mind-numbing social event — but I’ve only told one really big lie.
“Don’t open the box,” my father always told me.
When I left my parents’ house for good, I took five things with me.
Stories must be submitted electronically as Word documents to writing
contest@gaithersburgbookfestival.org. Submissions must include author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, school and English or writing teacher’s name.
In order to qualify, an author must be a high school student and author must live in Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Only one submission per author is allowed.
Up to 10 stories will be selected as finalists. The top stories will be posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival blog prior to the May 21 Book Festival, and the finalists will have the opportunity to read their stories at the Gaithersburg Book Festival Coffee House.
The winning story will be announced after the readings, and a $100 Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate will be awarded to the author.
“The Opposite of Me” author Sarah Pekkanen provided the opening lines for the contest. Her next book, “Skipping a Beat,” will be published next month.