Meet Leigh Vann (@LVann26). Thirty with the heart of twenty she juggles an animated life with two young kids, a third on the way, two cats, and a hardworking husband. Yet, amidst the chaos, her heart remains abundantly full.

Her novel 'The Love I Found' won the grand winner prize in The 2023 NanoWatt Awards, in the New Adult Category and follows the tumultuous yet touching love story of Emilia Gillen and Cal Jones.

"𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞."

Emilia Gillen longs to feel a sense of permanence after a lifetime of moving from one foster home to the next. She prefers to keep her head down and blend in, but when the brooding eyes of her new, mysterious foster brother keep looking her way, she doesn't mind the attention. But Cal Jones isn't the only one who notices her... The leering eyes of their perverse foster father make Emilia's skin crawl. To ensure her safety, Cal convinces her that they need to make a run for it.

But soon the teenagers find themselves out of options, causing them to accept help from a nefarious group in exchange for Cal's cooperation. While Cal falls deeper into the dangerous lifestyle of crime and the alluring world of drugs, Emilia realizes that the one she has deemed as her hero may be the one who needs saving.

Will the love she found be enough to reach through the prison of self-loathing that Cal has caged himself in, or will it be what ruins her?

'•'•'•

How does it feel to be a grand winner of the 2023 Nano Watt Awards? Were you confident that you would make it this far in the competition?

It feels pretty great! Generally, when I enter awards I do it for feedback purposes, and there's always the hope that I will hook the judge and gain another reader. I knew The Nano Watt did not plan to give feedback in the form of a rubric but knowing it was a round based award that would go over a good portion of my book made me excited about it. While other awards give feedback on the first 5-10 chapters, I feel The Nano Watt reflected the judge(s) opinion on my plot in its entirety (or close to it) which made being the New Adult Grand Winner feel like an extra special accomplishment. As for my confidence in making it this far, I was cautiously optimistic once my book was added to The Longlist Highlights reading list. But I knew I was up against some stiff competition so I was still humbly surprised when The Love I Found was announced as the Grand Winner.

In your own words what is your winning entry about?

The Love I Found is the story of two foster teens that break away from a scary situation to set out on their own... only to find that becoming responsible for each other isn't necessarily the easiest or safest choice.

Could you share with us the inspiration behind your story?

There was never really a single inspiration behind The Love I Found. Rather, the idea formed over years of starting stories as a teenager that I would never complete. Some of those stories lived on in my mind, and I would think of them from time to time although I didn't write anything for five years or so. Somewhere in my early twenties, I decided "I want to write a book". So I began to write The Love I Found on my old laptop. I was really into it! ...For a couple of weeks. Then, life got busy and I lost interest, and I didn't write for a few more years. In the meantime, I had two kids. Occasionally, I would find myself thinking about the book I had started and where I would have taken it. My second kid wasn't a great sleeper. I spent a lot of nights snuggling him when he was a baby and mindlessly scrolling instagram or watching Netflix, wishing I had something more rewarding to do with my time (though snuggling a baby is a special reward of its own kind). I watched the movie After and Through My Window and found out that they were both based on books written on a place called Wattpad. They both had that bad boy and innocent girl aspect to them that reminded me of my own book that was sitting on my laptop, very far from being completed even though I had all these ideas for the book and its sequel... Fast forward to a year and a few months later, and here we are!

And, in short, what was the process like in taking this book from novel idea to finished product? Were there any challenges or pleasant surprises along the way?

I covered some of this in the question above, but there were definitely some challenges. Along with it taking a number of years for me to sit down and actually get my thoughts into written words, I had to refresh myself on a lot of grammar rules (something I'm still continuously doing) and work through a lot of self doubt and writer's block.

Having completed a full novel what encouragement would you give to writers struggling with self doubt and creative blocks?

Dealing with writer's block is a balancing act, and I think the way that people balance is different for everyone, so it's a matter of figuring out what works for you personally. At times, you need to just push through it. Write the chapter. Force it out. You can come back and edit later. You can scrap the whole thing or save it to a different document for future use. Even if that ends up being the case, it wasn't a waste of time because I guarantee you learned something along the way (Even if that something was "this was not necessary at all for my book"). Or, if you're really dreading writing that next chapter, skip it for now. Write something that you're excited about that will happen later in the book. Let your creative juices flow and fall in love with your story all over again. Sometimes, that's all you need to get through the block and complete the chapter that's been stumping you. And on the other side of the balancing act is knowing when you need a break. Go for a walk. Watch a movie. Read. Go to bed at seven o'clock because as a writer, you've probably stayed up late way too many nights in a row already and your brain needs the sleep! Your story isn't going anywhere, and you can try again later. Remember that writing is supposed to be fun! Write for yourself and the fun of it, and then you don't have to worry about doubt!

In terms of its genre, How would you say your book defy or compliment the expectations/tropes?

The Love I Found starts with characters who are 16 and 17 so in that aspect it doesn't seem very "New Adult" initially. However, it's not about high school, and the subjects and themes of the story are not appropriate for a young adult audience. Emilia and Cal take on adult roles (albeit very dysfunctional, damaged ones) at a young age, and the book/series follows them into adulthood and their journey of finding their place in the world after a lifetime of trauma.

If there was one character that potential readers had to read your book just to meet, who would it be and why?

Cal Jones. Love him or hate him, you'll have a very difficult time figuring out which it is or if it's either. As the writer of this story, I haven't even quite figured it out myself. (Though he's also my precious baby who will forever hold a special place in my heart as my first male MC)

In terms of your writing style and storytelling what authors and/or creative media have influenced you throughout the years?

I'm never a fan of this type of question because I never know how to answer it. In a way, I think everything I've ever read has influenced me, but I've also never been able to pinpoint a specific author. I write from my heart, and I write in a very emotional kind of way from a first person POV. I don't really aim to write with a certain angle or flow or style... or whatever you want to call it. I just sort of go with it and see if it feels right. I don't know if any of that makes sense but that's my answer! Though I did mention After and Through My Window in a previous question, so I guess Anna Todd and Ariana Godoy influenced my writing in the sense that through their work I discovered there was an audience for some of the tropes in my story, and I also discovered Wattpad.

If you could have a crossover between your book and one of the books of a favourite published/ Wattpad author, who would it be and why?

This question is a little amusing to me because I've talked about a crossover with a couple of my Wattpad friends! HeidiCarroll and I joked about a crossover with my Cal Jones and her Luca (from the book A Dying Man's Wish) and LNRoberts1 and I discussed the things that Cal and Gio (from her books The Fate Of Our Hearts and Fate Interrupted) would get along about or call each other out on. I can't recommend these two Wattpad authors enough! You can find them under my "Previously Read" reading list. And while you're at it, you should also check out some of the other books on that list and my current/ongoing/TBR reads because there are a ton of great authors to choose from!

What other works or stories in the works can readers look forward to from you?

I'm currently writing the sequel to The Love I Found, called The Love I Need, which takes place five years later. I have also been toying with the idea of writing the same story but from Cal's perspective instead of Emilia's. I haven't worked out whether it would be one book that covers both The Love I Found and The Love I Need or if it will be two books, but this will be a ways down the road. I'm also working on a book called Puck'd which is a young adult hockey romance with a fake dating trope. Puck'd is sort of my side project that's a little more tame and happy-feeling. I enjoy writing it a lot but The Love I Found series will always be my first and foremost priority.

Now that the award season has ended, what can you say on your Nano Watt 2023 experience? Can we expect to see you in 2024? 😄

The Nano Watt experience was a great one! I covered some of this in question one but I would like to add that I really appreciated the work of the judges and team in keeping things smooth and professional and for sticking to the timeline that they laid out. I hope to participate in the 2024 awards but that will depend on how much writing I complete before then. I have a long way to go before completing Puck'd and The Love I Need is a sequel so I'm not sure if it would be eligible. I'll have to check the rules on that next year. ;)

And before you go we must know....ketchup on your fries or ketchup to the side?🍅🍟

Ketchup to the side! You gotta dip! You can't just drizzle that stuff all over! And really, depending on the fry, it's not even needed at all half of the time.

'•'•'•

Thanks again Leigh for chatting with us and congrats on your win!

You may find her winning entry The Love I Found in our TNW GRANDWINNERS 2023 reading list or visit her profile at LVann26