Month: April 2016

The ADORKABLE Challenge

Gryffindor jersey

Yes, that’s me in my Gryffindor jersey and Lily & Snape earrings <3.  The Adorkable Book Blitz is this week, and with the posts, you’ll notice a special giveaway!!!  The ADORKABLE Challenge is a go, and I hope you all enter for a chance to win!

I wanted to do something special and fun to celebrate the release of my debut novel ADORKABLE.  Since the book is all about the dorky, the awkward, and embracing your inner-nerd, I came up with the ADORKABLE Challenge!

Here’s how it works:

1) Take a picture of yourself being adorkable.

2) Post that picture on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram etc.) with the hashtag #AdorkableChallenge.

3) Enter the link to your picture in the Rafflecopter and earn as many extra entries as you can.

4) Sit back and relax while 4 adorably dorky winners are randomly chosen :).

3 winning runners up will each receive: $10 Amazon gift card.

The ADORKABLE Challenge Champion will receive: $50 Amazon gift card.

And that’s it!  If you’re adorkable and you know it, this is your time to shine.  I can’t wait to check out all of your pictures.  Now, show me your ADORKABLE!

Cookie O’Gorman

Lemons & Lemonade

Confession: I am a lemons kind of person.  This is according to my family who claims that I tend to focus on the negative versus the positive.  The opposite, of course, and what they say I should do is make “lemonade.”  Be happy; look on the bright side.  Lemonade, lemonade, lemonade.

The last post was about all the sparkly (aka the nice things people had to say about ADORKABLE), and I kind of glossed over the not-so-great things.  Well, to be honest, I pay attention to the bad reviews.  I pay A LOT of attention. I’d previously read several articles from other authors that said: Whatever you do, DO NOT read your reviews!  It will only cause you heartache.  And it’s true.

These past couple weeks have been like a rollercoaster of ups and downs, flying and falling within literally minutes, and yes…lemons and lemonade.

Everyone is free to have their own opinions.  There are people who hate some of the books that I absolutely love.  There are people who love the books that I don’t enjoy.  And that is okay.  No one is right or wrong.  If a book sounds good to someone, she or he must decide to read or not and then make up her or his own mind about it.

So here is what I’ve learned: I need to stop obsessively reading the reviews and checking Amazon and Goodreads every five minutes.  I shouldn’t focus on the negative reviews more than the positive–or doubt the positive by saying “Maybe they were just being nice…”  I should realize that it is okay to believe the good.  I love reading.  I love writing.  And, despite any positive or negative reviews, I really do still love my book.

See that family who I know are going to read this post?  There is your lemonade :).

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Be on the lookout next week for a very fun challenge and giveaway!

Thank you!

Publishing a book for the first time was scary, nerve-wracking, awesome…and did I say scary?

In the days leading up to publication, I was a mess.  Constantly nervous, swinging between happiness that my work would finally be out there–and the crushing fear that I wasn’t ready, the book wasn’t ready, no one was going to read it let alone like it.

Then the ADORKABLE Blog Tour happened.  I read, re-read and sometimes triple-read every review.  I already had a thousand doubts, so I was prepared (I was so not prepared) for the worst.  Not going to lie, it hurt to hear what some readers thought were the flaws in my story.  But that’s also when I realized how much impact one kind word, a few encouraging, sparkling sentences can have.

So today, I’m focusing on the sparkly.  Here are some things reviewers had to say about ADORKABLE:

“From the first touch to the kiss, the chemistry between Becks and Sally was off the charts.”–Rê at U.S. – Brazil Book Review

Adorkable was simply adorable. The main characters were perfect together and the story was fun and interesting. Very recommended.”–Jennifer at Bad Bird Reads

“I absolutely love this kind of storyline and it was perfectly executed here.”  Poulami at Daydreaming Books

“This book was so fun and easy to read, I suffered from a bad case of ‘just one more chapter’ syndrome, finishing at 5am because I couldn’t stop.”–Dani at Dani Reviews Things

“If you’re an adult who enjoys an occasional sweet, simple true YA romance then I think you’ll enjoy this book. I definitely did and I will be purchasing this to share with my daughter upon release.”–Jaime at Fiction Fangirls

“Cookie O’Gorman was born to be a writer, and I hope to see her name on many more books to come.  Adorkable had a life of its own, and I very much enjoyed living in it for a little while.”–Jaime Lynn at The Best Books Ever

“Sal and Becks will capture your heart, be it older or younger and will hold it long after you finished their book.”–Nicole at Books and Starlight

“Adorkable is a fun page-turning teen romance with amazing characters, plenty of angst, and just the right combination of sweet vs. heat.”–T.H. Hernandez at Adventures in Writing

“I felt like there was a great balance between the romance, the character development and the coming of age. In that respect, its story kinda reminded me of The DUFF; only replace the cynical Bianca with a nerdy and more upbeat Sally. It has its funny moments and its charming moments but it also has its real moments and I think readers will connect really well with that.”–Lauren at SERIESous Book Reviews

“If you are looking for a contemporary read that will make you have a great time, introduce you to a new book boyfriend worthy of your swoons, and lots of dorkiness, then you will surely enjoy Adorkable!”–Melissa at The Reader and The Chef

I cried.  Literally, I happy cried, silently sobbing by myself as I read.  People, real people, felt this way about this little book that I love.  It was crazy…and amazing.  This is just a sample of the nice things people have said, and I only have one thing to say to them: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

When releasing ADORKABLE, my goal was not to have it become an Amazon Bestseller–though I’m over-the-moon that it happened (for about 10+ hours :)).  My #1 goal: Put the book out there for people to read.  For it to find readers.

So far, it has, and I am so very thankful.

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman