My fabulous agent, Deidre Knight, is judging a very cool new contest run by a young writer with Tourette's Syndrome. Jonathan Friesen debuts in hardcover this September with Jerk, California, the story of a kid with Tourette's who takes off on a road trip, accompanied by the girl he's had a hopelessly unrequited crush on, to find out who he is. It sounds fabulous--for intriguing details and cool stuff like a blog by the main character, check out Jonathan's website.

The 2008 Reclaim the Name contest he's sponsoring is tres cool, and of interest to anyone who knows a kid with a great imagination, who loves to read and dreams of being a writer someday. Well, why wait? Encourage that kid to get started now. See below for contest details:

Wanted: Your original stories. Write a short story about a character who discovers, through a personal journey, who he/she truly is.

Eligibility: The contest is open to young writers of all genres. Entrants will compete in one of two age categories.

• Category A - Ages fifteen and younger
• Category B - Ages sixteen to twenty

Prizes - Category A (Age 15 and Under):

First Prize:

• $1,000 Cash
• 4 months of personal writing coaching from author Jonathan Friesen or a video book trailer made for your story
• Your story will be published on this web site
• You'll have the opportunity to record your story at a professional recording studio and will receive the audio file for promotion on MySpace or anywhere else you choose

Second Prize: $200 Cash Award

Third Prize: $100 Cash Award

Prizes - Category B (Age 16-20):

First Prize:

• $1,000 Cash
• 4 months of personal writing coaching from author Jonathan Friesen or a video book trailer made for your story
• Your story will be published on this web site
• Your story will be read and critiqued by a talented literary agent from the Knight Literary agency
• You'll have the opportunity to record your story at a professional recording studio and will receive the audio file for promotion on MySpace or anywhere else you choose

Second Prize: $200 Cash Award

Third Prize: $100 Cash Award

More prizes are being added all the time, so keep checking Jonathan's site for updates. The submission guidelines are there, as well.

Have fun!

Posted by Louisa Edwards at 12:02 PM