Category: doing what you love


Jan
2018

Hello Again

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, Ninja Girl, promotion, YA

Hello again, readers!  It’s been a while since I last posted, but I wanted to let you what’s been going on.  Basically, I ran into some back luck in the new year.  My site (yes, my little author site that only like 5 people read) was hacked.

Yes, hacked.

Ugggghhh :/.

I can’t tell you how disheartening/upsetting/alarming that was–but thankfully, I found help in the form of a WordPress tech wizard named Wesley.  He and his company came in and worked their magic.  They got rid of all the bad stuff.  I’m so thankful for his help, expertise and professionalism.  It eased my mind to know that he was on the case.  And seriously, he helped me get my site back up and running, so yayyyyy, hip-hip-hooray for Wesley the tech wizard!!! 🙂

In bookish news, this week I’m trying something new!  BookBub is a site that helps readers find new books and that allows authors to promote their work.   Like I said in my Goals post, I want to do better at promoting, so this seemed like a great opportunity.  Nerves got to me; the BookBub process was said to be very selective.  I’d read several blog posts about this and was worried that my book wouldn’t be selected.  However, I decided to go for it anyway because what did I have to lose?

And guess what?  They selected ADORKABLE for a Featured Deal!!!  Huzzah!

I was elated.  Part of me had trouble believing it, and I gotta say I’m so excited about this promotion!

ADORKABLE will be available for just $0.99 from January 29 until February 2, 2018.  That’s Monday through Friday, you guys!  If you’d help me spread the word, I’d be ever so grateful <3.

I’m also working on a giveaway!  Not sure yet if it will be a Goodreads, Rafflecopter or Facebook giveaway, but I’m looking forward to it.  Hint, hint: There will be signed copies of NINJA GIRL and ADORKABLE involved :).

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I sent my next book to the formatter today, eep!  And I’ve been working with my designer on a cover that makes me go starry-eyed sigh *__*.  I hope you all have a great week!

 


Jan
2018

Goals for 2018

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, Happy Holidays, Kamuzasok Kavarasok, Ninja Girl, Romance, self-publishing, writing, YA

First post of the new year, whoop!

It’s a time for new beginnings, new hopes and a fresh start.  It’s also the time for resolutions, but to be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of those.  They are so easy to break.  And it’s so easy to feel like a failure when that happens.  Ugh.

So instead, I set goals.

Some are writing-oriented like: Publish a book.  Finish writing my current WIP.  Try new things with marketing/promotion.  Keep being thankful and doing giveaways because readers rock!  Write more, write better, write something I would love to read.

Others are more personal like: Be a better person.  Make someone’s life easier.  Restore and strengthen my faith.  Exercise more, worry less, keep heart and stay positive.

I ended 2017 surrounded by the people and the books that I love <3.  I’m hard at work on my next books, and I hope that readers will want to read them.  A goal that I’ve always had (and continue to have in 2018) is to write the best book possible for my readers and myself.

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So, how is 2018 treating you so far?  Any resolutions or goals for the new year?  Any new books? 😉

I hope you’re all doing well and that you’re having a wonderful week!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Another goal for 2018: Figure out why the pics in my posts end up sideways on computer but right on mobile devices lol!


Dec
2017

We have a winner!

categories: Adorkable, Amazon, doing what you love, giveaway, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Ninja Girl, Ninja Girl Christmas Giveaway, Romance, self-publishing, YA

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

My day was spent with the people I love, and it was wonderful to finally give them their presents.  Although I’m not the biggest fan of shopping (understatement of the century–and bookstores don’t count.  I could stay in the bookstore forever), I absolutely LOVE giving.

It rocks.  It makes them feel good, makes you feel good.  Speaking of which…

We have a winner!  The winner of the NINJA GIRL Christmas Giveaway is:

Janet!!!

Congratulations, Janet!  Your $25 Amazon gift card is on its way, and I hope you love it!  Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway and who has supported both NINJA GIRL and ADORKABLE.  I appreciate your support so very much.  I’ll have to do another giveaway soon because it feels so awesome to give :).

May the odds be ever in your favor, may the Force be with you, and may your holiday be filled with awesome!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Dec
2017

Happy Paperback Release Day!!!

categories: Adorkable, Amazon, doing what you love, Ninja Girl, Release Day, Romance, self-publishing, YA

I can’t believe it’s here!  Today is the day, my adorkable ninja readers, the day that Snow and Ash make their big debut in print <333.  And I’ve gotta say:

Happy Paperback Release Day, NINJA GIRL!!!!!!!

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It’s live, you guys!  Snow and Ash’s story is now available in another format, and I’m so excited.  I hope readers embrace their story, and the mix of action and romance.  I hope they love the strength, the chemistry, the funny, and of course, the swoon in NINJA GIRL.

Oh my Ash, do I hope they swoon :).

I can honestly say that this–publishing my second paperback–is just as exciting (and nerve-wracking lol) as the first time.  I care about my characters, and the experience of seeing a physical copy of their story, the beautiful cover, the real-life pages, knowing all the feelings and time that went into writing this little YA romance?  Ahhh, it is a truly amazing feeling <3.

Also, print books are just awesome!  I only give them to the people I really like lol.  I don’t loan mine out because I’m afraid of bent pages and torn covers (shivers).  As much as I love my iPad–and I definitely do!–books you can hold in your hand are irreplaceable.  Some people only read print books.  So, I’m hoping NINJA GIRL will find even more awesome readers and that Snow and Ash will find a place in their hearts and on their shelves.

And it’s just in time for Christmas!!!

I love getting books for Christmas, so hopefully NINJA GIRL (and ADORKABLE) will find its way under some bookish person’s Christmas tree lol :).  As always, thank you so much for your support, and I hope you’re having a wonderful week!

Happy reading and Happy Paperback Release Day,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I’ll be doing a giveaway tomorrow to celebrate, yayyyy! 🙂


Dec
2017

Hello December

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, NaNoWriMo, Ninja Girl, self-publishing, writing, YA

Hello December!

I hope the month is treating you well so far.  I also hope you’re further along in your Christmas shopping than me lol.  It’s a real problem, you guys.  There’s so much more to do, but I’ve been writing so all is well, right?  Just kidding.  But I did get a few presents today, so at least, it’s a start.

Speaking of writing, as mentioned in a previous post, this year I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time.  It’s all about words/increasing word count, and I gotta tell you: It is a challenge!  But NaNoWriMo was also a lot of fun. 🙂  Every day in November I wrote down how many words I added to my WIP.  I tried to push forward and not look back.  This was hard, though, because I feel the need to fix things when they need fixing lol!

Anyway, for anyone who enjoys numbers, here are my stats.

Most words written in a day: 1,684 words

Number of Days I wrote: 26 days (the other 4 days I edited (hey, I couldn’t help myself!))

Word count at the end of November: 40,104 words

I had about 12,000 words prior to starting NaNoWriMo–which means I added about 28,000 words!!!  I wanted to significantly advance the story, and that definitely happened.  Also, the more I write this book, the more I love it <3.  Sometimes the words just won’t come, but they did in November, and I’m very thankful for that.

On another note…I ordered proofs for the NINJA GIRL paperback!!!! 0__0  WOOHOO!!!!!  They should be here Thursday, and I’m so excited to add it to my shelf with ADORKABLE.  Ahhh!  They are going to look so awesome together. 🙂  If all goes well with the proofs, I should have NINJA GIRL up on Amazon and available in paperback before Christmas.  Fingers crossed!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Nov
2017

Happy Green Bean Casserole Day!

categories: Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, Goodreads, Romance, YA

Hi everyone!  I hope you are having a very Happy Thanksgiving!  My favorite thing about today is that it reminds me there is so much to be thankful for–and I think, like a lot of people, I forget this way too often.  Family and friends, good health, food (especially green bean casserole, yum!), shelter, kind people with good hearts and bookshelves overflowing with amazing books.  I also found this yesterday which made me pretty ecstatic :).  ADORKABLE was one of the most read this week in sports romance books on Goodreads!!!

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Woohoo!  So thankful for this and the fact that people are still reading my books.  I’ve been writing this month–yay, yay, hooray!–and I’m thankful for that as well.  My work in progress is a story I loved from the very beginning, and I’m falling more in love with the characters as I continue.  Hopefully, I will have some book updates soon, but until then…

Happy Green Bean Casserole Day, everyone! 🙂

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Nov
2017

NINJA GIRL Fan Art!

categories: doing what you love, Fan Art, fun, NaNoWriMo, nice surprise, Ninja Girl, YA

I love fan art!  It is one of the coolest, most thoughtful, best things out there, and it has personally helped me find books/movies over the years that have become some of my favorites!  I love it when a reader takes time out of their busy schedule and creates a picture, drawing, video etc.  They put not only their time but their talent into making that, and it means so much.

As much as I love it, though, I never really expected anyone to make fan art for my work.

But someone did, you guys!!!!!

I got this tweet from Alyssa last Friday (it was sent a couple of days earlier, but I didn’t see it until then).

Ahhhhh! Isn’t it awesome?!? <3 <3 <3

I couldn’t stop staring *____*.   Snow looks SO perfect, strong and kickass and so dang cute!  (Sidenote: I’d always thought Snow would be doing a high kick on the book’s cover but never found the right pic.)  And then take a look at the bad guy–notice his wince as our NINJA GIRL is kicking butt and taking names.  And then, oh my goodness, Ash!!!  He is possibly my favorite part of this whole scenario.  His little heart eyes as he watches Snow are…sigh…perfection <3.

The tears came even though I tried to stop them.  They were the good kind of tears because I was just so moved.  Alyssa didn’t have to make this; she didn’t have to draw an action scene of NINJA GIRL.  But she did, and I am over-the-moon grateful for this!  Go check out her instagram (@fanbookart) and while you’re there look at her other amazing pieces.  I’m particularly fond of the Harry Potter drawings ;).

This was such a cool and unexpected surprise.  To get to see Snow and Ash drawn like this…it is just incredible, made me cry like a baby.  Honestly, I still can’t stop looking at it.  If I ever see Sally and Becks from ADORKABLE rendered this way, going by my previous reaction?  Well, we better get the tissues ready lol.

To Alyssa and all of the other fan art creators out there: You are amazing, and as a writer and a lover of awesome things to fangirl over, I am SO thankful for your talent and your thoughtfulness.

It’s almost the middle of November, and I’m still NaNoWriMo-ing.  Surprises like this and the encouraging comments I’ve heard from other readers/writers definitely have given me the drive to push forward.  I’ve added over 11,000 words to my WIP, and I’m hoping to add more.

I hope you are doing well and are having a great week!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Nov
2017

NaNoWriMo

categories: doing what you love, NaNoWriMo, self-publishing, writing, YA

November is National Novel Writing Month.

If you’re a writer, you probably already knew this lol!  But if not, basically, the goal is to write a novel (or about 50,000 words) in a month.  That’s actually a bit short for a book–a typical YA romance ends up being between 60,000-80,000 words–which is somewhat of an arbitrary range, but when I started writing, I did a LOT of research on this.

FYI, my rough drafts were always short of the normal length.  *Le sigh*

But anyway, back to NaNoWriMo.

I’ve always thought about participating.  There’s even an online community/website here!  Sooo…this year I’ve decided to try and stick with it.  I haven’t signed up–mostly because I feel like the people may have their own friends/groups, and I’m nervous about introducing myself, getting to know new people yada yada yada.  Maybe someday I’ll finally take the plunge, but for now, I’m staying in my hermit writing cave lol!

My personal NaNoWriMo goal is to write every day and to significantly advance my current WIP.

If that means 50,000 words…awesome.  If it means I get to “The End,” that would be even better.  If not, though, I’ve decided to be proud of the progress and enjoy the journey.

Confession time: I’m a slow writer.  Also…I only work on one story at a time.  Gasp, I know!  There are people who can work on several stories at once.  It still baffles me when authors are able to put out multiple books a year!  Truly, I envy and respect those writers SO much.  But right now, that’s just not me.

So again, my goal is to write, write, write!

Currently, I’ve added about: 561 words (Nov. 1) and 1,248 words (Nov. 2) to my WIP.

I hope this post didn’t bore you too much, just really wanted to share this with you guys :).  Wish me luck, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Oct
2017

A Jedi, A Bad Guy and A Porg

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, fun, Geeking Out, Star Wars, writing, YA

Hi readers!

You’ve probably already seen it, but I’m sharing something that made me go WOW and totally fed my inner-geek this week.  My girls–Sally Spitz and Snow-Soon Lee–would be all about it, and I am as well :).  The light sabers, the female jedi who looks like she’s going to be a major Force in the universe (pun intended lol ;)), a bad guy that I can’t help but love (that voice!!!), and of course, the cutest creature in all of the galaxy: the Porg! <3  Here’s the trailer for the upcoming movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Sooooo, what did you think?  Like I said, you’ve probably already seen it, but man!  That was an awesome trailer.  I also thought that glass/crystallized fox-thing was really cool.  That said, I really hope nothing bad happens to the crystal fox-things or the porg.  That would make this writer very upset :/.

In other news, the Happy Fall YA’ll Giveaway has ended and the winner of a signed copy of ADORKABLE will be announced next week!  Yay!  And you guys, I’ve been writing, working on my newest manuscript.  I know you’re probably like, “Duh, isn’t that just what you do?  Write?”  Well, sometimes the words won’t flow, but recently they have been–and this book!  Gah, I’m loving it.  Double yay!! I hope you all have a great weekend.  And of course, may the Force, the porg, and Becks be with you :).

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Oct
2017

Never Have I Ever

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, giveaway, Happy Fall YA'll, Kamuzasok Kavarasok, Ninja Girl, self-publishing, writing, YA

Every writer has dreams.

Every person has dreams, but I’m pretty sure writers have specific writer-ly dreams.  Dreams about their book babies and how readers will embrace their work.  Off the top of my head, I can think of about ten that would apply to most people (write a book (bonus points if it’s a book you love); get a literary agent (I actually had one for a while!); publish a book; have people read said book etc.).  I won’t bore you by listing them all lol!  But I thought I’d talk about a few of my dreams that have yet to come true.

Caution: This post contains writer-ly “nevers” that may be embarrassing, revealing, and TMI.

You have been warned.

Never have I ever: done a book signing.  I know you’re probably like, “The ADORKABLE paperback’s been out a year!  What are you waiting for???”  Welllll, one reason I haven’t done a signing is because I’m self-published, and I’ll just say: bookstores are still snobby to self-pubbed people–especially if you use Amazon/Createspace.  Another reason is, though I’d love to do it, I’m not sure anyone would show up.  There, I said it.  I’m scared…scared people wouldn’t show…scared they would…ugh.

Never have I ever: participated as a writer at a book festival.   Pretty sure there’s a way to make this happen, I’m just not sure how lol.  And again, who would visit my table/booth/little corner anyway?

Never have I ever: spotted someone I don’t know reading my books.  I’ve seen a handful of people I do know reading my books (paperback and/or ebook), and I just wanna say: I seriously LOVE these people!!!  I fangirled every time, and it truly warmed my heart.  Now to happen upon a stranger reading ADORKABLE or NINJA GIRL in a shop/restaurant/train/walking their dog?  I would love that dog forever! 😉

Never have I ever: hit the New York Times, WSJ, or USA Today Best Seller Lists.  Yeah, I’m thinking this will Never (with a capital “N”) happen, but…dare to dream, right?

There are many more, but I’ll stop there.  I think a big part of it is fear–and that makes me wish my inner NINJA GIRL would come out.  And okay, I know this was supposed to be about “nevers,” but I want to end with a few dreams that have come true–mainly to remind myself, that they actually happened.

Writer-ly Dreams That Have Come True:  I got to see the ADORKABLE library book! (Bethany from Washington, you seriously rock!!!)

Adorkable library book

Both ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL have hit #1 in their categories on Amazon (multiple times and in multiple countries).

Adorkable Best Seller

Ninja Girl Best Seller

One of my books has been translated into another language–specifically Hungarian (again, I <3 Hungary!).

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A few of my students have asked me to sign copies of their books.

People from all over the world have messaged/left reviews/commented about how much they enjoyed the books.

And that brings me to my biggest writer-ly dream that has come true, and it wouldn’t have been possible without YOU.  I published my books (ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL), and people actually read them!  Real readers, awesome book-ish people, Harry Potter-loving, YA romance-reading, Korean Drama-watching, Book Boyfriend-collecting people, my kind of people, have actually read and liked my books!!!

I gotta say that was, is and always will be my greatest writer-ly dream.  What are your dreams and goals?  I’d love to hear about them, and whatever they are, I sincerely hope they all come true!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Just a reminder, if you’d like to win a signed copy of ADORKABLE, there’s still time to enter the Happy Fall YA’ll Giveaway! 🙂