By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
In a world often dominated by uncertainty and heavy headlines, author Anna McCallie is offering readers something refreshingly different: joy, romance, and a touch of soccer-fueled escapism, appropriately scheduled for release this summer during the World Cup.
Her debut novel, “Abby Offsides,” put McCallie on the literary stage with a story that is heartfelt and entertaining—and one shaped loosely by her own winding journey across continents, careers and creative ambitions.
McCallie’s path to becoming a published author was anything but conventional. Born in Boston and raised in Kansas, with family roots in Bowling Green, Ohio, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, she describes herself as an “American mutt.”
She never lived in Bowling Green, but was a frequent visitor. Her mother, Nancy Bockbrader McCallie grew up in Bowling Green and graduated from Bowling Green High School, so family trips were often to visit Nancy’s parents, Donald and Frances Bockbrader, and sister and brother, Nicki Bockbrader Kale and K. Nathan Bockbrader, and cousins.
When they weren’t traveling to Ohio, their family trips were to Chattanooga to visit her father’s family. Though her mother died in 1996 when Anna was eight years old, her family continued making those trips to stay connected to family.
That geographically scattered upbringing instilled both independence and adaptability—qualities that would later propel her across the Atlantic to London, where she now lives as a dual US/UK citizen.
Before turning to fiction, McCallie pursued a markedly different trajectory. Influenced by the post-9/11 political climate, she studied policy and Arabic at Harvard, initially envisioning a career in government. Instead, she found herself working in the tech industry for several years—a role that ultimately took her to the UK.
As an avid reader her whole life, McCallie dabbled off and on in writing, but admitted that writing wasn’t her strong suit, or so she thought.
In 2011, while she was working at a nonprofit in Boston, she had a dream about a dystopian world, fueled by the popularity of “Hunger Games” and “Divergent.
“I thought that it could be really interesting,” she recalled. A colleague at the nonprofit had just finished writing a manuscript. Through her friend’s efforts, McCallie learned about the book-writing process.
“It was like this thing clicked for me that you didn’t have to be from this class of writers. This wasn’t some exclusive world. It was something a regular person could do. I could maybe do this,” she said.
The dystopian story was her first attempt at a published novel. She had taken a few years to finish it, after completing a master’s degree. She shopped the book to various agents, but soon found out the dystopian market was flooded. Publishers weren’t interested.
While her dystopian story didn’t sell, she realized she could finish a book. “A lot of people write a few chapters, and then they get stuck,” she said. “It was a real boost of confidence to know that I could finish it.”
Her second book—a “Pride and Prejudice” retelling—was written during the pandemic, “because what else was I going to do?” she said. “I loved that one even more.”
That genre was also overdone, but with improved contacts, McCallie earned a lot of positive feedback about her writing.
“I don’t want to sell this book, because that market is too crowded, but can you please send me whatever you write next?” one of the agents told her.
Sometime in 2022, the idea of “Abby Offsides” took hold. She spent most of 2023 and 2024 writing it in her spare time.
The novel, a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of Premier League soccer, does draw from some of McCallie’s own life. Like her protagonist, she moved to the UK knowing few people and gradually fell in love with the sport. What begins as an unfamiliar world transforms into a passion—mirroring both the character’s journey and McCallie’s own.
She is still waiting for the star soccer/football athlete to fall in love, she joked.
Yet, while the setting may be personal, her writing process is anything but formulaic. McCallie described herself as an intuitive, character-driven writer who avoids rigid outlines. Instead, she builds stories through imagined dialogue, long walks, and even music playlists that shape the emotional tone of scenes. “If you know your characters well enough,” she said, “you can trust them to guide the story.”
That trust paid off. After connecting with a new literary agent through a mutual acquaintance, McCallie’s manuscript quickly gained traction. In a stroke of timing and opportunity, it was picked up by Jenna Bush Hager’s Thousand Voices, the new media company and global community driven by the power of story and connection. Part of Random House Publishing Group, Thousand Voices calls itself, “A vibrant home for debut and emerging authors to be seen and celebrated.”
McCallie said the experience was both surreal and transformative.
Still, she’s quick to credit not just luck, but preparation. Inspired by the mantra “be ready when the luck happens,” McCallie had a polished manuscript aligned with a timely hook: the global excitement surrounding the upcoming World Cup. The result is a novel poised to capture readers looking for both romance and a connection to the world’s most popular sport.
At its core, “Abby Offsides” is more than a love story—it’s a celebration of taking risks, embracing change, and finding joy in unexpected places. McCallie hopes the book offers readers a welcome escape. “There’s a lot going on in the world,” she said. “Sometimes you just want something light, something fun.”
Jenna Bush Hager’s Instagram review stated “Abby Offsides” is “a witty rom-com about a woman’s impulsive move to the UK after a broken engagement, where a new job at a football club—and a charming Scottish soccer star—lead to love, self-discovery, and all the best tropes: friends to lovers, slow burn, workplace romance, and witty banter; perfect for fans of Ted Lasso, Emily Henry, and Abby Jimenez! What more could you want in a summer read?!”
McCallie’s debut novel will be released June 23, as World Cup games are being played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The book is available to preorder on the Penguin Random House website at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/799859/abby-offsides-by-anna-mccallie/. More information about McCallie is available on her website at annamccallie.com or follow her on Instagram at annamccallieauthor.
