Category: Adorkable


Dec
2022

Wishing You Happy Holidays

categories: Adorkable, Cupcake, December, Fauxmance, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, NA, New Adult, Ninja Girl, O'Brien Brothers, paperback, Romance, The Best Mistake, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad, The Kissing Challenge, The Perfect Play, The Sweetest Game, The Unbelievable Inconceivable Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder, Wallflower, YA
I just wanted to say: Happiest of happy holidays to you my awesome readers!

Wherever you are in life…

…whatever you’re going through…

…whatever has happened in the past to shape this time of year for you…

I hope you know you’re not alone.

This season can be difficult—finding the joy, feeling the cheer, remembering the good. But I so hope you do find it, feel it, and remember.

May peace and love surround you.

May your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year, be filled with good health, good people/pets, good times, good food, and of course, amazing books!!!

From my books to yours, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Mar
2022

FAUXMANCE Cover Reveal!

categories: Adorkable, cover love, doing what you love, Fauxmance, Ninja Girl, Romance, self-publishing, YA

It’s time, you guys!

I’m sharing the cover for my upcoming YA romance FAUXMANCE!

It’s gorgeous, and I love it so much! Stephanie Mooney did a beautiful job! I hope it makes you swoon, sigh, and smile!

Without further ado…

…here is the cover…

for FAUXMANCE! <3

Ahhh, I just can’t!

The almost kiss, the swoony position, the gorgeous colors, the jacket, *sigh*. It all just reminds me how much I love this book! Magnolia & Hayden truly make my heart so glad! I hope they’ll do the same for you! <3

FAUXMANCE will release on April 28, 2022!!!

That’s less than a month away! So excited (and nervous lol)! I hope you’ll check it out, and I hope you’re doing well my wonderful readers!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Happy 6th Book Birthday, ADORKABLE! Happy (a-day-late) 5th Book Birthday, NINJA GIRL! Happy Birthday to my wonderful Aunt Colleen who I love so much! And Happy Cover Reveal, FAUXMANCE! <333


Jan
2022

Hello 2022

categories: Adorkable, Cupcake, kindness, NA, New Adult, O'Brien Brothers, Romance, self-publishing, The Perfect Play, the pit of despair, Wallflower, writing, YA

It’s a new year, you guys!

We’re almost a week into 2022. Can you believe it? Also, have you actually tried saying the year? What do you say? Twenty-twenty two? Two-thousand twenty-two? Just twenty-two???

Regardless lol, I hope you are having an amazing year so far! 🙂

When I started The Cookie Jar, I promised to tell you about the sweet and bitter times in this writing journey. Honestly, 2021 was challenging. Still, there were good things, and I’d like to take a look back at my goals, see if I achieved them etc. The Hello 2021 post will help with this! Here we go!

Bookish/writing goals achieved last year: I published three books and wrote one half of a co-written story! Book baby #7, my YA romance WALLFLOWER was released in ebook, paperback, and audiobook, yay!!! Book baby #8, my NA sports romance, The Perfect Play, came next–it’s the second Southern U O’Brien Brothers book–which means I have an actual series, woop! Book baby #9, my #OwnVoices YA romance, CUPCAKE was published by Entangled and is now available in bookstores, huzzah! The Boys of King’s Prep Academy, co-written by myself and Michelle Pennington (under our pen name Cookie Michelle), is available now on Kindle Vella, Amazon’s new episodic reading platform! We only have a few more episodes, and our book baby is being read which is wonderful! Earlier in the year, ADORKABLE reached 10,000 ratings on Goodreads (thank you so much for making this happen!). I participated for the first time ever as an author at a conference (thank you RSJ Convention!), was part of an Entangled Teen Live Chat, had a wonderful conversation with Molly E. Lee hosted by Hub City Writers Project, and was part of a virtual YA panel hosted by Little Shop of Stories. I reached out to a few authors, and they agreed to a newsletter swap (thank you Maggie, Jordan, M.F., Sally, and Emma!). Some wonderful readers participated in the CUPCAKE Book Challenge, and even more played Cookie O’Bingo (still can’t believe people have read my books–but I’m SO grateful!!!). I didn’t write as much as I wanted to, but I wrote 2 books that I love (The Perfect Play and a new upcoming YA romance).

Now for the bitter.

I want to mention these things because…well, they happened. But no worries! I’ll be sure to bring it back to the positive!

In July, I got pretty down.

It blindsided me when another author–who I’d kind of thought of as a friend–said some hurtful things about me/my work to other authors. Part of me wishes I’d never found out (I don’t have many friends, hardly none who are writers), but I’m also glad to know. I’m so introverted; it just surprised me that someone would do that. Also, I hope to put my trust in people who would stand up for me, even when I’m not in the room.

Then something else happened. No details, but suffice it to say: social media tried to break me, and it nearly succeeded. I had heightened anxiety, the kind that affects you physically. I cried. A lot. I felt helpless, and unfortunately, that spread to my family. I broke down, wrote a depressing, way-too-real newsletter about my struggles, and sent it to my subscribers. And…I was definitely in the pit of despair. A big part was I never believed people could be so hateful. With how terrible people treat their fellow humans, I should’ve known, right?

But I didn’t.

And that was so disheartening.

Okay, enough of that lol. Let’s get back to the positive bc it far outweighs the negative!

Remember how I mentioned my newsletter?

Well, some of my wonderful readers read it and sent the kindest, most uplifting messages during that awful time. I don’t think they’ll ever know how much their words meant to me. How much light they provided. How their unexpected kindness truly touched my heart. My family was there, too, feeling it all, holding me up, giving me more love than I deserve. All that to say, I’m so very thankful.

I’m thankful for YOU.

Thank you for supporting me and my books.

Thank you for every bit of love and kindness you give to others.

Thank you for making the world a better place.

My goals for 2022 are: Write a book (hopefully 2-3). Write more and consistently. Publish a book. Start doing thankful/gratitude posts. Use the knowledge I’ve gained in writing courses, finally try running ads–but don’t stress. Send newsletter once a month–but don’t stress. Attend a writing conference and/or classes. Figure out how to be more a part of the writing/book community. Show my family that I love and appreciate them. Be thankful always. I hope to put more love in the world–I always hope that, but I want to be more vigilant about it. Try not to let the opinions of others (good or bad) affect me so much. Focus on the good.

Do you have any goals this year?

I hope you’re doing well, my wonderful readers!

Stay safe, keep reading, and I hope you have an amazing 2022!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Dec
2021

Merry & Bright

categories: Adorkable, Cupcake, December, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, NA, New Adult, Ninja Girl, Romance, The Best Mistake, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad, The Kissing Challenge, The Perfect Play, The Unbelievable Inconceivable Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder, Wallflower, YA, YA mystery

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

This time last year I could still hold all the books I’d published in one hand. I tried that this year, failed, broke an ornament, cleaned up the mess, then moved everything to the mantle lol. At least the picture turned out nice.

May your days be merry & bright. May you spend time with the ones you love (hug them, tell them how much you love them, and know how blessed you are to have that). And may the odds be ever in your favor <3.

Merry Christmas and happiest of happy holidays to you!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


May
2021

Work In Progress

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, Entangled Publishing, Goodreads, New Adult, O'Brien Brothers, Romance, self-publishing, Wallflower, WIP, writing, YA

Honestly, I feel like that title describes my life lol.

Work in progress.

Trying, trying some more, hopefully progressing.

Anyway, WIP probably describes everyone’s life, so at least I’m not alone :).

Here are a few updates on my books and what I’ve been doing recently (I’ll try not to make it too boring ha).

WALLFLOWER is out in the world, and it’s been doing so well! If you’re reading this, I cannot say thank you enough. So: Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I love Viola & Dare so much, and people are actually reading their book, enjoying the story, writing such sweet reviews! Ugh, thank you again!

I’ve actually been working on several projects–which is so crazy bc I’m used to only working on one at a time. It’s been…a learning experience lol! And it’s not done yet.

Project #1: Editing my YA romance for Entangled! I just turned in my first pass of the manuscript to my editor and can’t wait to see what she thinks! Hoping, hoping, hoping all of you will love it! The title of the book is CUPCAKE. <3 It’s actually already on Goodreads. I’ll post more about it soon, but I love this book! Ugh, can’t wait to share it with you!

Project #2: Another YA romance for Entangled! Still in the early idea stages with this one. I’m waiting for approval of the summary, but I already am so excited about it!

Project #3: The co-authored project I’ve been writing! It’s YA. It’s awesome. It’s almost finished…maybe. The last time we spoke we said it will likely come out in June/July. Very excited (and nervous) about this ha!

Project #4: The O’Brien Brothers Book 2!!! I’m so looking forward to finishing this one–not because I don’t love it, but because I do! The book is at about 56k words. Still a few chapters to go. I love it SO much, and I’m just trying to do the main couple and this wonderful family justice. Again, I can’t wait to share and hope readers will swoon! *Also, the cover is GORGEOUS!!!! I need to finish the book first, but I can’t wait to put that bit of loveliness out in the world! *

Those are my WIPs!

Besides myself, of course :-).

I was sick last week, so that kind of sucked. FeedBurner is apparently going to stop sending email notifications–like the ones you get when I do a blog post. So, I need to figure that out for the ten people who actually read these posts ;).

I hope you’re all staying safe and that wonderful things are happening where you are!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Oooh, and ADORKABLE is now available on the KISS app! It came out today! Yayyy!!! I think the publishing model is interesting; it involves tokens/chapters etc. Hope the KISS readers love Sally & Becks! 🙂


Feb
2021

Happy Reading

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, giveaway, New Adult, O'Brien Brothers, Romance, self-publishing, Wallflower, WIP, YA

Hi everyone!

So, it’s the last Friday of February—can you believe the month went by so fast???

March is right around the corner, and I wanted to do a quick post to check-in :).

First, congratulations to Judy G.!!! She was the winner of my giveaway to celebrate ADORKABLE hitting 10,000 ratings on Goodreads! I hope you enjoy your gift card, Judy, and thank you so much to everyone who entered!

Second, I’ve been trying to write! I’m loving the book(s) I’m working on, but honestly, I haven’t quite mastered the skill of writing more than one project at a time lol. My brain takes a minute to flip between stories. I just want to be consistently productive. Still trying to get the hang of this!

And third, there’s less than a month until the release of WALLFLOWER, yayyy! I’ve been trying to make sure it’s ready. There’s a blog tour and blitz scheduled. I sent out a few ARCs. Trying to work up the nerve to contact some authors for newsletter swaps (cue the nerves LOL). I still need to work on my dedication and acknowledgments.

I’ll definitely be posting more about WALLFLOWER in the coming weeks :). I so love this book. I hope you will, too! Crossing my fingers so hard!

I’ve got a to-do list about a mile long and am slowly making my way through it. Also, in case you’re interested, my current WIPs are a co-authored YA and book 2 of the O’Brien Brothers, woop! What have you been up to? Anything interesting? 🙂

Hope you are well, bookworms!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Feb
2021

Focus on the Good

categories: Adorkable, giveaway, Goodreads, Romance, self-publishing, Wallflower, YA

The other day I sent out a few ARCs for WALLFLOWER, eep! I was so excited—still am. Not going to lie, I was nervous though—still am lol. But it’s a good feeling to know the book is out there.

I think/hope the readers who enjoyed my other YA romances will enjoy this one. That’s not something I say lightly. Doubt comes easy to me; confidence is hard. But yeah, if you’re reading this, I think/hope you’ll love WALLFLOWER.

One important thing to know: This is not a sequel to ADORKABLE.

Viola is Sally & Becks’s daughter—but the book stands alone. This is why there’s no mention of ADORKABLE in the book summary as well. I hope people will love Viola & Dare’s romance regardless of if they’ve read any of my previous work.

Honestly, as I was writing, the parents just were Sally & Becks (at least in my head). Two or three awesome readers picked up on the “Kent” name and asked about it. I probably could’ve made Viola the child of one of the older Kent brothers—but I didn’t really think of that lol! Again, the parents just were Sally & Becks. Viola was the daughter I thought they would create together. I see bits of both characters in her. Her parents have an awesome relationship, and the family loves each other. I truly hope that comes across—along with the funny/swoon-worthy moments—which mostly involve Viola & Dare—because this is very much their book and not a sequel to my debut (both of which I love :D).

I gave up being negative and complaining for Lent (and a couple of other things). It’s challenging, but things are going okay so far! See there, no negativity :).

We’re in the last 24 hours of a giveaway to celebrate ADORKABLE reaching 10,000 ratings on Goodreads. Hooray!!! If you’d like to, you can enter here! Good luck to you!

I never thought one of my books could be that widely read. I always hope all of my books will reach people. I hope readers will love WALLFLOWER. May it find the readers and hearts it’s meant to. Hopefully, it will brighten someone’s day <3. There’s a little over a month before the book’s release on March 25th, gah! Can’t believe it’s coming up so soon. And now, I’ll stop rambling lol.

Whatever’s happening with you, I hope you’re able to focus on the good. Hope you’re doing well, bookworms! Positive vibes to you! Be safe out there!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Jan
2021

One Week

categories: Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, Goodreads, Romance, self-publishing, Wallflower, YA

Just one week until the cover reveal of WALLFLOWER!!! Hooray!

Okay, I know I’ve said it already, but…I’m so excited to share this cover (and story) with you and see what you think :)!

The time leading up to a book release is always super exciting. I just want to give Viola & Dare every chance possible to reach readers–and hopefully, crossing my fingers so hard, people will love them as much as I do <3.

Another exciting thing is happening as well!

As of now, ADORKABLE is 12 ratings away from 10,000 on Goodreads! Eep!!!

Isn’t that cool?

I love math and numbers, so for me, it definitely is ha!

Never in a million years would I have thought one of my books would reach that many people. It’s like a little miracle. I don’t have a big family or many friends (though the ones I do have are THE BEST). I’m not good at networking (*see: I suck at networking). I’m an introvert-perfectionist who struggles with putting my work out there. Even my doubts have doubts lol.

Despite all this, ADORKABLE is still being read. It’s crazy–and I’m so very thankful that people are actually finding my books!

I’ve had a hard time writing recently. My mind has felt so mushy/muddled with everything going on in the world. I know I’m not the only one, and I hope it gets better. Little miracles happen all the time. Maybe one is just around the corner for all of us. If you need a little inspiration, here’s a poem by Emily Dickinson that I thought about today, particularly the first stanza :).

Stay safe and hopeful, everyone!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Jan
2021

Hello 2021

categories: #passthebookchallenge, Adorkable, doing what you love, Goodreads, Instagram, New Adult, O'Brien Brothers, Romance, self-publishing, The Best Mistake, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad, The Kissing Challenge, writing, YA

New year, new goals, new books! Yay!!!

Hello, my lovely readers! I hope you’re doing well and that you got to read some awesome books over the holidays :). I didn’t get a chance to read, but I did finish writing a book, woop!

This one is for Entangled, and it’s with my editor now (very thankful to work with an amazing editor!). I love it, so I’m very much hoping she will, too! Crossing my fingers!

Just being honest: Sometimes it feels like I get nothing done lol. And with last year being so full of sadness, suffering and scary times, I was surprised to see that I’d reached several of my goals.

Bookish goals achieved last year: I published my 5th book baby and first ever New Adult romance, The Best Mistake, woohoo!!! The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad came out in paperback, and the Hungarian translation Piszkos Tánc was released, yay! I also published my first novella, The Kissing Challenge <3! The ADORKABLE paperback got a second printing! *happy dance* In June, some wonderful people helped me do the #passthebookchallenge with ADORKABLE (still so thankful & would love to do it again)! I attended a virtual writer’s conference hosted by The Writing Gals–which was awesome! Pretty sure I wrote more than I ever have in a year (completed 2 books + 1 novella and started another co-written book!).

I also had a few goals I didn’t achieve…but I’m rolling them over to this year :). Okay, so here we go. Bookish/Writing Goals for 2021: Write a book (or several! 2-3+). Publish a book. Write more and consistently. Send newsletter once a month. Post on blog, FB, Instagram without being scared/freaking out. Participate more in the author/book community; again, don’t be afraid to reach out. Learn how to run ads.

I also have several personal goals, but here are the big ones: Be thankful & focus on the good. Spread love & positivity.

And there you go! No idea if I’ll be able to reach any or all of them–but I’m going to try. How did your 2020 goals turn out, and what are your goals for this year? I’d love to know!

I wish you all the best and hope 2021 is treating you well so far! Be safe and well, bookworms!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I’ll do another post soon, but in case you’re interested, my upcoming release is on Goodreads!!! This is truly a book of my heart. <3 It’s my first time mentioning it anywhere; I’m already beating myself up that it’s in a post script ugh, but I just wanted to say thank you so much to the 4 people who have already added WALLFLOWER! You rock!!! Be on the lookout for another post soon, you guys! I can’t wait to share it with all of you! 😀


Dec
2020

Happy New Year!

categories: Adorkable, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Ninja Girl, Romance, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad, writing, YA

Happy New Year, everyone!

That’s me in my most bookish mask lol :). I could only put three of my books on there, and I can’t wear it out because of the little gaps in the sides and chin. But whatever! I love it! ADORKABLE, NINJA GIRL, and The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad look awesome in mask form!

I’ve been doing a lot of writing/editing/formatting, yay!!! Earlier this week, I completed and sent in the WIP I was working on for Entangled, and today, I’ve been formatting what will be my next release! Eep! So many exciting things going on :).

Just wanted to do a quick post since 2020 is coming to an end. Hopefully, there will be better times ahead for everyone–especially you awesome bookish peeps! I hope you had a merry Christmas, are having happy holidays, and that this new year is awesome for you!

Stay safe and be well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I’ll probably do another post later, but Bridgerton was AMAZING!!! I’d already loved the books. I now love the show. Besides our dogs and maybe a Taylor Swift song, it is the best thing to come out of 2020 imo :). Thank you, Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes!