First Place: Leaf Peepers by Maggie Kavanaugh
Maggie Kavanaugh (@maggiekavanaughwrites), part-time writer and full-time over-thinker, pens the modern rom-coms she wants to read. She works in finance by day, which is a strange outcome for someone who regularly cried over her algebra homework. Maggie writes from her home in Arkansas where she lives with her husband, who has read and loved every word she has ever written, even truly terrible ones. You can find her on Substack too @maggiekavanaughwrites.
What the Judges said:
"I adored how my emotions were manipulated in this delightful opening of your contemporary romance. The setup of the characters, setting (the hotel!), and the stakes were all well crafted, and your witty writing was the cherry on top."
"This chapter is genuinely funny and arguably the most polished entry I personally read. I love how crisp your prose is throughout, never feeling overwritten while still presenting vivid details. The stakes are clear, Anna Claire’s deadpan creates a great dynamic, and that midpoint gut punch—finishing the world's longest to-do then getting a nightmare phone call—is fantastic whiplash. Amazing job!"
"This was hands down the best entry we read. Your characterization, use of space inside the setting, palpable tension, incredible friendship banter, immediate stakes, sharp prose…LEAF PEEPERS is the whole package. Thank you so much for sharing it with us (and I hope it’s finished because I’d love to read more!)"
"Thank you for sharing this fantastic first chapter! I got such a strong sense of Tillie as a character—her quirks, her enthusiasm, her longing for this hotel business to really work out—and I found myself rooting for her right away. There’s a great balance of humor, heart, and potential heartbreak in these pages, and I felt so compelled to keep reading!"
Tell us a little about your writing background. How long have you been writing? What inspired you to start?
My first series was written in middle school and starred a girl detective with a strong, perhaps legally actionable, resemblance to Harriet the Spy. I got serious about writing in high school after taking a creative writing course, and then I promptly became unserious about it when my school's guidance counselor/gym teacher told me a career in the arts was the worst possible choice I could make. That is how I ended up with two finance degrees and a lifelong writing habit I treated as a hobby. I'm now back to serious again after saying goodbye to a close family member and realizing life is too short to wait for "maybe one day" to get here.
Where did the idea for this novel (and the chapter from it!) come from?
The inspiration for this novel came partly from growing up in a tourist town and partly from my college job working the front desk of a little mountain lodge that attracted visitors from around the world. Those guests gave me plenty of scandalous stories to tell over happy hour, and enough material to fill five novels. Beyond that, I love the idea of spotlighting women who are defying expectations and taking big swings to build the life they want for themselves.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Feel free to share social media links, blogs, etc.)
You can find more of me on Instagram and Substack, both @maggiekavanaughwrites. I am always looking for new friends to share and grow with, so please say hi!
What advice would you give writers on writing a great first chapter?
Give yourself permission to write the bad draft! Get the words out and then edit, edit, edit. I really love the book Seven Drafts by Allison K. Williams. It is great for people like me, who appreciate explicit, actionable guidance. Once you have a chapter that doesn't make you cringe to read, hand it over to beta readers. Editing is like saying a word over and over again until it doesn't make sense, so after a certain point you can only see your work clearly by seeing your work through other people's eyes.
A Chat with the Author:
