OUABC Advent Calendar

It’s finally time!

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the delivery of these boxes since August, and to have them be delayed by a month was excruciating. However, now that it’s here, I’m glad it came in January instead of December, because I never have anything to look forward to during this month. Now, I have something spectacular!

For those who are unfamiliar with OUABC, it stands for “Once Upon a Book Club” and is a company that created subscription boxes that include a new book and 3-5 gifts that go along with it. For the past few years they have also had a specialty advent box in December. It has a novella with twelve stories that are each written by a different author and that correspond to one of twelve gifts inside the box.

This past August I was chosen to be one of those authors! I was beyond excited and immensely honored. I’ve loved OUABC for several years now, so getting to work with them and have them like my writing felt like a dream.

If you are here today because of the advent box, welcome! I thought it’d be fun to share some special tidbits for and about my story (Day Seven). If you have not read Day Seven or opened the gift, STOP NOW. Spoilers will follow. Go read it first and then come back 🙂

To start, click here for a little Pinterest board I created that goes along with the story. 

Now let’s travel back in time to August 2021, when I learned that my gift for day seven would be a book, and I needed to come up with a story that incorporated that idea somewhat seamlessly (fingers crossed that I was successful). I knew right off the bat that I wanted to write what might be described as a love letter to my fellow book-clubbers. Being a complete and total book nerd myself, I know how much I enjoy references to the things I’ve read and what it means to me being a part of a group of likeminded people that I can relate to.

I also wanted to incorporate some of the things I’ve missed during the pandemic, one of which includes large gatherings. Thus, Bookishpalooza and my two book-obsessed main characters were born.

I wrote about Felicity being an English teacher because I’ve had several influential English teachers throughout my life. At the time I wrote the story, I was working as an ESL teacher for children in China. Funnily enough, since November 2021, I started a new job as a Language Arts teacher and I love it. I certainly never would have predicted that, but life has a funny way of bringing about the unexpected.

Of course, because I lived in Orlando for a spell and have my own mild obsession with Disney World, I couldn’t help but place the conference there. It allowed for me to share the fun fact about “It’s a Small World” that I genuinely think is so cool but that most people don’t care about at all. I’m hoping to find some kindred spirits with this audience who not only care but have a similar enthusiasm.

Extra Bonus: This blury picture I took with Don Quixote on It’s a Small World during my most recent Disney trip in October. 

I’m curious, for anyone who did read my story, did you catch all the references? Did you have a favorite? I tried to include a wide variety in the hopes that everyone could discover something that would spark a “Hey, I know that!”

Even if it didn’t, I truly hope that everyone who read it got some enjoyment from it. That is, after all, the whole point. 

One final note, I wrote a short story as an example of my writing style that I submitted to OUABC. It ended up getting me this opportunity. I published that story (albeit a shorter version of it) on Vocal. You can find it here. 

Thank you for reading! If you’re a book-clubber, I cannot express how thankful I am that you took the time to check out my website, and I hope you enjoy all the rest of the incredible gifts and beautiful stories in the advent box!

Who knows, maybe we’ll even find some towels in there too.