Yep, here's another chance for all you writers to shine as the Texas Book Festival and the University Interscholastic League present the annual Fiction Writing Contest, open to all Texas middle and high school students.

Texas students in grades 7-12 are invited to submit a piece of original fiction, no more than 2,000 words in length on the 2010 theme “Goodbye to All That.” Cash prizes will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in each division. First place winners will be honored at the 2010 Texas Book Festival, where they will read their compositions in a public Festival session at the Texas State Capitol. The winning entries will also be published on the Texas Book Festival web site.

For more information and an entry form, contact Blair Newberry: blair@texasbookfestival.org.

Last year's theme was “In My Own Backyard" as students were invited to submit a piece of original fiction, no more than 2,000 words in length on this topic. Judges reviewed the entries based on excellence in use of dialogue, imagery, character development, setting, plot, conflict and resolution.

Prizes, including a cash award, were awarded in three categories, and first-place winners will be reading their stories at the Texas Capitol, Room E1.012, on Saturday, October 31 at 3 p.m. All winners are invited to attend, and the session is open to the public. Please support these young writers by attending the session.