Congratulations, Young Authors!

From mermaids to mad scientists, young writers channeled their creativity and talent to compose works for the first annual Gulfport Youth Book Writing Contest, "In Our Own Words."

Local publisher Trace Taylor teamed up with the Gulfport Public Library to invite young writers to a series of workshops for free and then enter their manuscripts in the contest.

The best part . . . the winners get published by Trace Taylor Publishing!

A round of applause for nine local writers who put pen to paper, so to speak, and wrote about good vs. evil, murder, romance, fantasy, adventure and more!

Three winners were chosen during the awards ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Gulfport Public Library.

Congratulations to:

• Isabella Kontrick, 9, for "The Barracuda's Curse."
• Victoria Lezcano, 11, for "Creek of Hope."
• Emerald Mancini, 14, for "Tata and Me."

All three entries will be published, and their books will be available at the Gulfport Public Library, at 5501 27th Ave S., and the Small Adventures Book Shop, at 3107 Beach Boulevard S.

They will also be available to download online. Also, the authors will retain all ownership and copyrights to their books.

Two other writers were recognized:

• Elizabeth Delp received "Most Original Story" for "The Princess of Music Mountain."
• Anthony Munnelly received "Best in Illustration" for "Tireno Rise of the Nijitsu."

The contest was open to all students in Pinellas County. Trace Taylor hopes to see more entries next year!

"I saw great promise in all of the writers," Taylor said.

Gulfport Council Member Jennifer Salmon, a judge in the contest, said all of the entries were great. "It was impressive. They all had great beginning and had great ideas."

Moving forward, Taylor and the Gulfport Public Library received great feedback in reference to the weekly workshops during the contest. Organizers held several workshops at the library every Saturday leading up to the entry date. Now, they're working on opening up workshops to all ages and all writers for free. The workshops will be twice a month on Saturdays in Gulfport.

For more information on how you can get involved contact Trace Taylor at tracetaylorpublishing@gmail.com.

We'll keep you posted about the workshops as more information becomes available.