Category: Adorkable

5 Things: I’m Working On

I can’t believe it’s already July! 0_0

When did that happen lol? But seriously, I feel like this year–especially these past couple of months–are just flying by.

Full disclosure: Last week, I wanted to do a blog post, but I stopped myself, felt like I had so much to say but nothing anyone would care about etc.

Luckily, this week I’m over it :).

There’s been a lot going on (some good, some not-so-good), and I’m excited to share with you guys!

Here are the 5 Things: I’m Working On.

  1. My newsletter. ICYMI, I have a newsletter now! I spent a ton of hours trying to get it just right. And do you know what? Even with all that time, I managed to misspell the word “newsletter” in the very first sentence! *headslap* Did anyone notice this? Are you just being kind and overlooking it? Anyway, I’m sorry for the typo but excited for future editions of The Cookie Jar Newsletter (see, I spelled it right here lol!).
  2. Being less of an introvert. So, I joined a writers group. Shocking, right? Introverted, awkward me trying to join other writer-ly peeps…sounds terrifying, which is probably why I’ve never done it ha! But they were so nice/welcoming. A lot of good vibes, knowledge and willingness to share in that group. And here’s a shocker: Some of the awesome writers even knew my books!!! That part left me dumbfounded but incredibly humbled/thankful. Am hoping my introverted tendencies don’t overwhelm, and I can actually be an active member of the group.
  3. Cross-promoting. This is still very new to me. I have a few things coming up with other authors–including a wonderful KU reading promo as well as my first author newsletter swap coming next week, woop!–and I’m looking forward to doing more!
  4. ADORKABLE woes. Okay, how to explain? I’ve taken ADORKABLE out of KU, and the rank is sinking on Amazon. Since book baby #1 released, it has been in KU, riding high–which is kind of amazing since it’s been out 3 years! Sales are still good. People are still loving the book (though I did get a couple not-so-nice reviews recently. *sigh* I also got a few nice ones which is what I should be focusing on). Anyway, it won’t be forever, but I just hate seeing it drop. I also took the paperback down in February (which gutted me), and it may have impacted the rank as well. I’ve been working on feeling okay with this since I know great things are coming for Sally & Becks. Whenever I get sad, I try to remind myself: There is good coming (which I will share with you soon!).
  5. Writing more. I’m trying to be more productive. My current WIP is a book that I started a long time ago, and I love it. Tonight, I wrote 1,036 words. I’m at about 5,000+ total. My goal is to finish this book and write more. Crossing my fingers!

And there you have it, my first “5 Things” post in a while :).

I hope it wasn’t too boring, and I hope you’re all having a great summer so far!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Good News & A Giveaway

It’s been a while, but I’m back with good news and a giveaway. Yay!!!

Also, I want to say thank you SO much to everyone who helped me spread the word about the ADORKABLE Kindle Countdown Deal two weeks ago! Despite having no time to get the deal into newsletters on other sites, it was very successful, and I have you to thank for that, so again: Thank you!!!

First time I’ve ever made a creative (apparently ads are called that lol), and I love it :). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t feel bad. I just made a little flyer/ad for the deal, and it turned out pretty…well, adorkable ha :).

Okay, now for the good news! It’s actually freaking amazing news imo, but…

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was #1 in three of its categories!!!!!

Holy wow, right?!? I couldn’t believe it either, almost passed out from joy when I first saw–but at least I remembered to get a few pics!

*Sigh* Thank you so much, you guys! <3 Sadie and Colton’s story is one that I love very much, and I’m so glad that readers are reading and enjoying it! Right now, it has 28 awesome reviews, and I’m so thankful.

So of course, it’s time for a giveaway! 🙂

I’m giving away 4 copies of the NINJA GIRL audiobook!!! Ash and Snow’s story, woop! Audiobooks are still new to me, but I really love how this one and ADORKABLE turned out (not that I’m biased or anything ;)).

***Enter to win using the rafflecopter here!***

Good luck, and please look out for The Cookie Jar Newsletter I’ll be sending later this week! There will be 2 other giveaways open only to subscribers this month since I missed last month :).

I have ideas for more posts, and I have so much more to share with you guys. Hope you’re still with me, reading wonderful books and having an awesome week!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Again: OMG, I still can’t believe The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was #1 in three of its categories! *__* Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Most ADORKABLE Deal Ever!

That’s right, you guys :).

ADORKABLE, my debut YA romance, is now available for just $0.99!!!

This is a limited time deal, bookworms, that will run from May 23 at 8:00 am PDT until May 28 at 8:00 am PDT on Amazon (May 24 until May 28 on Amazon UK).

If you love YA romance, fake boyfriends, best friends and geeking out, ADORKABLE is the book for you! What are you waiting for? Treat yourself, and take advantage of this awesome deal!

Sally & Becks’s story is still so special to me, and I hope you enjoy it! <3

If you’ve already read, please help me spread the word and share this with your bookish friends! I’d truly appreciate it!

I love finding new readers. It’s one of my favorite things about running Kindle Countdown Deals–and this will be the last one for this particular book for a while.

Speaking of which, I have an announcement coming up about ADORKABLE, so please be on the lookout for that. I’ve been holding onto it for a while, not posting, and though I’m still scared that I’ll somehow jinx it, I’d like to share the good news with you. (If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already heard :))

In other bookish news: I’m thrilled with how The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad has been doing! <3 Sadie & Colton are out there, dancing into readers’ hearts, and I couldn’t be more grateful! More posts about them coming soon! I have a giveaway coming up for NINJA GIRL that I hope you’ll love! And The Unbeliveable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder was in the top 100 Teen & Young Adult Romantic Mystery ebooks last week! Yayyy!

I hope you’re all doing well and reading awesome books!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Just 9 More Days!!!

Just 9 more days until the release of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad!!!

*Cue me freaking out*

You guys, I can’t believe the book is coming out next Thursday! Not going to lie, I thought I had another week LOL. But this is awesome because it feels like I’ve been waiting forever to share Sadie & Colton and all of the other characters I love with you :).

A few reasons I think/hope you’ll love The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad:

  1. Sadie. She’s hilarious, brave and wonderfully herself! She loves movies (especially Pride and Prejudice), dancing (especially ballroom), her parents and her friends. Sadie is also a dreamer, a hopeless romantic and slightly kiss-obsessed (though she’s never actually been kissed ;)).
  2. Colton Bishop. Gah, where do I start? Colton is so swoonworthy; it’s not even funny. He’s hot, yes, but it’s more than that. Pierced, cocky/confident, born without a filter, he likes cars, gets into fights and takes way-too-much pleasure in teasing Sadie. But he’s also loyal to his brother, reads romance and agrees to help our MC. Oh, and the boy delivers a devastating first kiss <3.
  3. The List. I love lists. Sadie does, too, and her list is filled with items she wants to complete before the end of senior year. Sadly, none have been checked off…yet.
  4. The Romance. I know I’ve said it before, but I love writing first (second & third) kisses lol. And the ones in this book are sure to curl your toes. I think they are some of the best I’ve ever written, and the chemistry between Sadie & Colton is off-the-charts. I hope they make you feel all the feels!
  5. The Friendships. Kyle Bishop (Colton’s twin brother) is Sadie’s best friend and long-time crush. Betty is her oldest friend, and at 79-years-old, she’s as fierce and fabulous as ever. Sadie and her mom have a great relationship as well which I loved writing. I just love all of the relationships in this one, and I hope you will, too!

Okay, I’m stopping now lol. I just really love this book!

It’s a YA romance, very similar in my mind to ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL. My fear as always is that it won’t find its audience, the readers that will truly love it like I do.

This time I had 13 wonderful advanced readers. Lucky #13, I hope! I’m so nervous to find out what they thought and so thankful they agreed to read. A few have posted reviews on Goodreads, and one totally made me cry (in a good way!). I’ve asked that everyone post next week, and I hope they loved the book. I hope it’s enough and that other readers will discover, read and share their opinions!

Sadie & Colton’s story is so special to me. So much love was poured into this one <3.

If you enjoy YA romance, lists, enemies-to-more, twin brothers & bets, then The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad is the book for you!

9 more days, you guys! I hope you’re having an awesome week so far!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad releases on April 25, 2019!!! <3

Blitz, Book Birthday Week & My First Newsletter!

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered the NINJA GIRL 100th Review Giveaway!!! This is a milestone for Snow, Ash and me, and I was so glad to see so many entries :).

I’m also very glad to announce the randomly chosen winner…

Irma!!!

Congrats, Irma! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway, and I hope you enjoy your $10 Amazon gift card! It should be in your inbox now :).

Second, I wanted to tell you about the Book Blitz for my upcoming release, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad! <3

It’s being organized by Xpresso Book Tours (who made that beautiful banner *_*), and I’m very excited. There was a wonderful response to the cover which was so great to see!

Bloggers, if you want to help spread the word about The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, I’d be so thankful!

Third, I didn’t realize but…it’s Book Birthday Week!!!

ADORKABLE, my debut, was published on March 31, 2016. NINJA GIRL came out March 30, 2017. And last year, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder came out April 5, 2018. You guys, all of my book babies have birthdays this week!

(Sidenote: It’s a hard time of the year for my family and me. Back when I released ADORKABLE, I was trying to make it better. Not sure it worked–but my books are something positive, and I hope they make people happy.)

If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll see all the Book Birthday pics I’ve posted–and I’ll be doing another Friday to celebrate Ethan! 🙂

And last, I sent my first newsletter! It took 7+ hours on Sunday (more before that), and I know there’s room for improvement lol. But it was sent–and according to MailChimp, actual people opened it, so yayyy!

The Cookie Jar Newsletter and this blog are really for my readers, to keep in touch with the people who love my books and want to know more <3.

There’s so much I want to share with you guys! I’ll be doing monthly giveaways only open to newsletter subscribers, offering fun free content and the latest news on my books :). If that sounds good to you, please subscribe here!

I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far, bookworms!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Happy (late) St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Okay, so I know this is a little late, but one of my favorite people was born on this holiday, and I hope you all had an awesome one :). Did you wear green, find four-leaf clovers, and celebrate in wonderful ways? Were there books involved?

I spent mine at a dance competition with my awesome mom. Sadly, there were no books–but there was dancing, and I got to watch some of the kids I teach do amazing!

I wasn’t sure what to post to be honest, but here is an update on all things bookish:

NINJA GIRL reached 100 reviews on Amazon! <333 Yay!!! Plus, review 100 was very nice (thank you so much, Hollie!), and I’m so grateful!

–I took 3 more pictures of my books with the glasses my Aunt Colleen made which turned out pretty cool imo :).

–In 6 days, the cover for The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad will be revealed!!!! That’s next Monday (March 25th), eep! So excited to share it with you guys, and I hope you love it as much as I do!

–2 awesome readers sent me wonderful messages about my books <3. Thank you so much, Bobi and Mai! Your kind words really lifted my spirits, and I’m so glad you sent them!

–AND later in the week I’m going to have a giveaway to celebrate NINJA GIRL‘s 100th Amazon review! You’ve got to celebrate the good, right? And I may even try to do another post bc I missed last week and have more to share with you guys :).

Anyway, I hope you’re all well and that your week is off to a great start! May the luck of the Irish be with you!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Finding the Good

My awesome Aunt Colleen made me these glasses (one for each of my books!), and I wanted to share them with you guys <3.

It’s such a thoughtful gift, and I absolutely love them!

Since I don’t drink, though, I told her I’d just use them for water or Ginger Ale lol :).

Some not-so-wonderful things have happened in the past weeks, and my mind has been on some tough decisions. But these glasses really brighten my days. My mom and my Aunt Colleen really brighten my days.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them, how all the big and little things really matter.

My books (ADORKABLE, NINJA GIRL, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder and my upcoming release The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad) are meant to be pick-me-ups. I hope they make people’s days better. I hope I can give that bit of happiness to someone through my writing.

The first ARC copies of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad have gone out. Eep! I can’t tell you how much I hope readers enjoy Sadie’s book. Not even going to lie: I really love this one. It’s a bit scary, putting something you care about into the hands of others, hoping it will bring them joy, laughter, love and all the feels–hoping, hoping, hoping… Ahh, can you tell I’m nervous lol?

Anyway, I’m sure this post rambled a bit. To ramble further and get even more off topic, at least two of my students cried in class the other day. Not because of me, thank goodness, but in one case because she was stressed, and I felt SO much empathy for her, totally could relate.

So, I just wanted to say: I hope you have a wonderful weekend, readers. No matter how small it may be, I hope you can find the good. Focus on the positive, and don’t let the negative drag you down. Don’t let stress bring you down either. I hope you find that bright spot and bask in it–hopefully with a great book in hand :).

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Good Girls & Goodreads!

Hi everyone!

So, I can’t hold it in anymore lol! It’s time to put my new book out there, and I’m so freaking excited to share it with you!!! The title and summary are now up, and you can add it to your Goodreads TBR pile here :).

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was soooo much fun to write, and I hope it will be just as much fun to read <3. It features Sadie, who was introduced in NINJA GIRL, and she is hilarious, loves dance/movies/kissing scenes and is a girl after my own heart. Oh, I really do love her! And OMG I cannot wait for you to meet the other characters in the book! Twin brothers, Kyle and Colton Bishop (sigh*fans self*get ready ladies, these boys will make you swoon till you can’t swoon anymore LOL!), and vivacious Betty! Ugh, the laughs, the romance, the kissing scenes! I hardly ever feel comfortable saying this, but:

I really think you’ll love this one! This is like my love letter to all of my readers who enjoyed my previous books <3.

If you have a blog and want to be part of the Cover Reveal, the Xpresso Book Tour sign-up is here! (Sidenote: It is gorgeous, you guys *__*)

If you’re a fan of amazing first kisses, smokin’ hot twin brothers, making lists and laughing out loud while you swoon, I’d be so thankful if you’d add The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad to your TBR!

I hope you’re all well and that you have an awesome weekend!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I’ll post next week about something else I’m trying to put together with regards to TGGGTBB, so be on the lookout! 🙂

5 Things: That are awesome!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post like this, but I’m bringing it back because: Lists rock, and I found some things I think are wonderful and wanted to share them with you :).

Without further ado, here are 5 Things: That are awesome!

  1. Blooming Books. My mom got me these lovely bookish flowers made out of my debut novel, and I just had to share <3. Isn’t that the most ADORKABLE bouquet you’ve ever seen? 🙂 I got one for my aunt made out of the Dr. Seuss books, and they turned out beautiful as well!
  2. Silver Linings Playbook. So yes, I’m late to the party, but I so enjoyed this movie! It took me by surprise, made me laugh and was just really well done. Thanks again, Netflix!
  3. Kindle Unlimited. I’ve been enjoying KU, wishing I read faster lol! I also remembered this cool article: 11 Titles Worth Checking Out on Kindle Unlimited. They mentioned ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL, you guys! Yay, and thank you, Sarah!
  4. The Wicked King. You guys!!! Remember how my favorite book from 2018 was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black? Well, the second book, The Wicked King, came out in January, and I have it in my possession, exuding wonderful wickedness, just waiting to be read! Cannot. Wait.
  5. Instagram. Okay, so I still haven’t started an author/bookish instagram…but posts like this one about The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder definitely make me want to ;). I think I already said it, but thank you so much again, Jen!

So much awesome! Also, I got a wonderful comment on my last post from a reader that really made my day. Thank you so much again, Karen! You rock! I’ve been re-thinking my goals for 2019, wondering if I really need a newsletter if I have a blog? I’ve also been working on my next book. Gah, you guys, I love, love, love it! The cover is in the process of being made, woot! It’s all moving right along, and I’m so excited <3.

Sending positive vibes your way, readers, and hoping your weekend is full of awesome!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Also, starting Monday, next week NINJA GIRL will be available for a limited time for just $0.99!!! I’ll do another post, but if you know anyone you think would enjoy Ash and Snow, please let them know! 🙂

Bookishly Speaking

There’s been a lot going on bookishly speaking, so here we go. I’m currently editing the book I hope to release this year. About half-way through now, and I’m loving every moment! <3 <3 <3

There are some cool things coming soon, including the fact that NINJA GIRL will be released in the spring as an audio book!!! Yayyy, woohoo, hi-yah! I can’t wait because the narrators Tantor Media has signed on for Snow and Ash are absolutely freaking fantastic! Ah!

Awesome things are coming for ADORKABLE as well (I hope), but these are ongoing, and I always feel like when things seem too good it’s best to wait and see what happens. Whether it’s a happy ending or not, you, my lovely readers, will be the first to know how it all works out :).

The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder continues to be my sleeper hit lol, but I hope even more readers will discover the book and fall in love with Delilah & Ethan’s story. I really do love it–and all of my books!

I saw a review on Amazon for ADORKABLE that really warmed my heart. It was so wonderful, and I’ve included a screenshot below.

I don’t know who “bookreadermom” is, but I greatly appreciated this review. It made me feel so good to hear that she loved the book and hoped that her children would take on some of Sally and Becks’s best traits. It reminded me of why I do this, what it is I love so much about books/writing.

Everyone needs more happily-ever-afters in their lives, more true friendships, more love and laughter, and I hope my books provide these things. When times are hard and the world seems like such a dark place, I think it’s important to remember the good. To love yourself and others, to laugh, and to have hope.

Reviews like this remind me of the good. They brighten my days, and I’m so thankful for all of the people who read and support my books <3. I hope you are all doing well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman