DAHLONEGA, Ga. - Cati Aevaliotis, a junior majoring in English at the University of North Georgia, has dreams of working at a publishing house. However, the 22-year-old from Covington, never thought about entering in UNG Press' Winter Short Story Contest until an associate professor in English made it part of his class.

Aevaliotis was taking an introduction to rhetorical theory with Dr. Michael Rifenburg when he gave his students a choice. They could write a paper or they could write a short story to enter in the contest.

"Writing the short story was way more fun," she said.

It proved successful. Her fun story titled "A Recipe for a Misfit Christmas" won the contest.

She said the story, which is penned like an actual recipe, is based partly on her life and the concepts of "found families."

"I have a woman who I call my aunt, but we are not related," Aevaliotis said, explaining the woman is part of her "found family." "I've known her all of my life. So she is my aunt."

Her prize for winning was selecting two books printed by UNG Press.

To read her story, visit http://blog.ung.edu/press/winter-contest-winner/.