Prizes are gift certificates to the nearest independent bookseller in your area.  If you are under 18, the gift certificate will be sent to a legal guardian or caregiver.  First place wins a $100 gift certificate; second place wins a $75 gift certificate; and third place wins a $50 gift certificate. 

There's also a bonus: I will donate the equivalent of fifty percent of your prize money to a non-profit organization of your choice.  That means if you win first prize, $50 goes to an organization that does something to make this world a more just, peaceful, and better place. 

Here are a few of the organizations I've contributed to in the past: KIVA, Heifer International, Carolina for Kibera, Doctors Without Borders, and War Child.  You can Google them online to see if they fit what you're passionate about; otherwise, let me know what fires you up.  Easy-peasy.  Not bad for telling me a little about yourself, right?

Contest Numero Dos could win you a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com.  This contest is now open!

Details

Contest Numero Uno.  As I said, this one is all about you.  You know plenty about me, so now I'd like to know a bit about you.  And, because I'm a writer, and this site is about writing and books and life and stuff, this first contest will require some writing on your part.  Email me your best ten or so, double-spaced pages in a Microsoft Word attachment on one of the following themes...

~  Theme # 1, Who Am I?
For this theme, you have to do some research into your background, history, culture, family, whatever, just as Samar did in SHINE, COCONUT MOON.  Remember, "research" could include asking elders in your family for an oral history.  I don't need ten pages of footnotes and citations.  The point is for you to look more deeply into what makes you who you are.  It's about learning something you never knew before, discovering something new that shifts your understanding of the world and your place in it, or making your world even larger.  Be creative, and have fun.

~  Theme # 2, Spirituality, Religion...and Science?
In SHINE, COCONUT MOON, Samar goes to a gurdwara, a Sikh temple, for the first time and awakens to her own sense of spirituality.  Religion has not been a big part of her life up until that point because her mother, an avowed atheist, is spiritual in other non-religious ways.
    What do you think?  Are spirituality and religion the same thing?  Do they have points of connection?  Or, do they have nothing to do with one another?  Do science and religion intersect?  Science and spirituality?  How do you practice your spirituality, and what does being spiritual mean to you?

Rules for this contest
1.  Email your entries between the dates posted (if no dates are posted, check back frequently for next deadline) to WritingChallenge [at] neeshameminger [dot] com.  Please do not send me any entries before or after those dates!  They will NOT get read.

2.  Length of entries is up to you (but please keep them in the under-ten-pages range!), and all pages must be double spaced.

3.  Include a brief bio with your entree.  A bio is a short paragraph or two telling me a little about yourself.

Winning entries will be published on this site, with the rights reverting back to the author upon publication.

Contest Numero Dos.  Be a part of my Street Team!  This contest is now open!

Tell me what you could do to help get my book into the most hands.  I need people who have a few thousand friends on Facebook, know everyone in school, or want to make giant posters of my book and plaster them all over their city.  If this sounds like you, send me an email at Street [at] neeshameminger [dot] com and tell me what you can do to get the word out about SHINE, COCONUT MOON.  You could win a $50 gift certificate to your nearest independent bookseller!

If you have any questions or need more info about any of the contests, send an email to Contests [at] neeshameminger [dot] com.  I look forward to getting your work.  Good luck!