The 21th annual Bristol Herald Courier Christmas Story Contest offers a way for readers to share tales of Christmas cheer, charity and other holiday thoughts.

The contest is open to children and adults in three categories: children ages 12 and younger; children from 13-18; and adults ages 19 and up. The winner in each category will receive $100.

Winners’ stories will be published on Sunday, Dec. 25. Deadline for stories and artwork is 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, and will not be accepted after that time.

The stories must be in keeping with the Christmas spirit and must be original. Stories may be fictional or accounts of real-life situations, but must be written in story form, not as letters, poems or notes.

Artwork may accompany stories but is not required, and will not be part of the judges’ decisions.

Any work submitted by adults or children must be the complete work of the writer. No changes shall be made by anyone but the writer, except for grammar and spelling. One entry per person.

Judges in each category will select winners and their decisions are final.

Pictures, drawings or stories cannot be returned, due to the popularity of the contest and the volume of stories received.

Stories should not be longer than 750 words; however, judges make the final decisions on merit of the story, if it is longer than 750 words.

Relatives of Bristol Herald Courier, Richlands News-Press, Smyth County News & Messenger, Southwest Virginia Enterprise and Washington County News, News Channel 11 and TriCities.com employees are not eligible to enter.

Winners within the past five years are also not eligible, but may contact the Bristol Herald Courier to be considered as one of the judges.

Entries must include the writer’s name, address, telephone number, the age and best times to contact the writer. Age of the writer is extremely important.

You may submit your story online OR mail entries to: Christmas Story Contest, Bristol Herald Courier, P.O. Box 609, Bristol, VA 24203. Stories may also be hand-delivered to the newspaper offices, emailed to Jan Patrick at jpatrick@bristolnews.com or faxed to (276) 669-3696. Call Patrick at (276) 645-2515 to confirm receipt or for more information.

The winner in each category will be notified by telephone. A daytime contact number is critical. If faxing a story, be sure to allow plenty of time before the deadline and call to confirm receipt.

There will be an extra category this year - Online Honorable Mention, to be chosen from online entries only and by way of popular vote. There will be no cash prize for the Online Honorable Mention.