Apex, NC - August 24, 2010 - Peak City Publishing (PCP) announces the publication of its latest book, a collection of short stories from the winners of “The First Line” writing contest for local high school students sponsored by PCP and the AllBookedUp bookstore in Apex. This contest, run February through April of 2010, challenged the young writers to come up with stories all using the first line, “It was not supposed to end this way…”

“We wanted to do something very special to encourage the young authors in our community,” said Shiloh Burnam, President of Peak City Publishing. “Giving them the opportunity to have their work published provides confirmation of their talent in a very tangible manner.”

A team of professional authors, editors, and members of the PCP staff sorted through the entries to determine the top stories. The winner of the contest, as announced at a special event in June, was Danny Gallagher of Apex for his story "At Least There's That" now the lead story in the publication. Other stories published in the book include:

The Betrayer – by Grace Guyer

Daisies –by Monica Doebet

The Dreadful Life of a Fake, Neon-Colored Daisy – by Katie Hockaday

A number of these stories are included in the collection being published in the book, showcasing the level of talent in our local teens.

“This is the sort of thing we want to do for our community,” said Janice Monaco, one of the owners of AllBookedUp. “We firmly believe we have a great deal of talent in this area, and want to find ways to show that off. We will be running more contests like this.”

The book will be available at the AllBookedUp bookstore in Apex and other outlets as from August 31, 2010.