2 contestants win book deals

Two agentless authors will have novels out this fall after winning a contest sponsored by Simon & Schuster, Borders Group Inc. and the social media website Gather.com.

Terry Shaw, 44, came in first for “The Way Life Should Be,” a mystery set in coastal Maine. Only one winner was planned, but judges decided to award a publishing deal to the second-place book, 30-year-old Geoffrey Edwards’ “Fire Bell in the Night,” a thriller set in the antebellum South.

The “First Chapters” writing contest allowed contestants -- at no charge -- to submit manuscripts to Gather.com.