I still can’t believe Ariel & Rhys’s story is actually going to be out there, yayyy! Book Baby #9! CUPCAKE is out in the wild! I hope readers love it and that it makes them smile! Most of all I hope it reminds people to love themselves and to be kind and that happily-ever-after comes in all shapes and sizes! <3
Can you believe it’s October already? Gah, I can’t. September was a busy month which is why I haven’t posted in a while. But there’s so much I want to share with you guys!
Today, I have an awesome giveaway for you!
Entangled is doing a Goodreads giveaway to win a paperback copy of my upcoming YA romance CUPCAKE!!! It ends on November 1st, and there will be 5 winners! Hooray!
I’ll also be doing a giveaway closer to the release date which is on November 2nd.
Yes, you read that right.
CUPCAKE, Book Baby #9, my first ever traditionally published book from start to finish, my first #OwnVoices book, will come out in less than a month. Ahhh! Trying not to freak out over here (and mostly succeeding…maybe lol).
CUPCAKE is a swoon-worthy, fun and funny YA romance, featuring a plus-sized princess named Ariel who loves baking, movies, and…herself–just as she is <3. It also features Rhys, the golden-boy quarterback who is slightly broody, imperfect, and *sigh* absolutely wonderful.
There are already over 60 ratings/reviews.
Again, freaking out a bit ha!
I’ve never had a book release with that many reviews/ratings.
Several early readers have picked out some of my favorite parts of the story, reminding me why I love it so much, and I’m so grateful for them.
I love that CUPCAKE features a teen girl who just happens to be plus-sized and who loves herself.
I love the swoon-worthy romance/chemistry between Ariel & Rhys.
I love the female relationships. Ariel & Toni. Ariel & her mom. Ariel & Lana. Ariel & all of the girls on Homecoming Court.
I love the supportive mother/daughter relationship.
I love Rhys and that he isn’t perfect.
I also love Zander <3, the movies mentioned, the funny and heartfelt moments. I could keep going, but I’ll stop lol.
Quick writing/life updates: I’ve been trying to write. It’s slow-going, but at least it’s coming, and I love the story so much!!! I hope to post more–life just got busy, and then I started to feel that fear again, like whatever I had to say didn’t matter; no one really wants to hear it anyway *sigh*. I’ve also been trying to stay positive.
And I’ll keep trying.
Whatever you have going on in your life, I hope you are well. I wish you so much joy and happiness. Positive vibes to you! I hope you’re having a wonderful October so far!
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
P.S. CUPCAKE comes out in less than a month!!! Ahh, so excited! <3
I hope you’re all doing well! I just wanted to do a post about some bookish updates :). Okay, here we go!
RJS Book Lovers’ Convention. I’ll be participating in my first book convention (as an author), yay!!! RSJ is a virtual romance book con that celebrates diversity in publishing! Sounds awesome, right? I definitely think so and am so thankful to be a small part of this event. On Sunday, I’ll be on a YA panel, chatting with readers, talking about books, playing fun games etc. This has always been a dream/goal of mine–to be an author at a conference/convention–so I’m very excited! Hoping it all goes well!
Entangled Teen Live Chat. Okay, so this already happened lol, but it was a lot of fun! Riki, Pamela, Sharina, and Marlene were so awesome, and we had a wonderful time talking about YA books! You can catch more info about my upcoming release CUPCAKE as well as a ton of my awkward facial expressions in the replay lol!
WALLFLOWER audiobook! Viola & Dare’s story is coming to audio on August 31st! Hooray!!! I’m so excited! Can’t wait to (hopefully) reach even more readers with this new format! <3 Can’t wait to listen to WALLFLOWER!
The Perfect Play paperback!!! That’s right, you guys! Team ChaCha is coming to paperback this month! Woop, woop! I’ve already received the proof, and it’s SO beautiful! *sigh* I really want to release tomorrow (Thursday, Aug. 5th) or at least within the week, so be on the lookout! Again: The Perfect Play is coming to paperback!!! Yayyy!
Writing vs. Being Sick. I haven’t been writing much lately. I’ve been sick but am feeling much better now. Not 100% yet–but definitely better. I thought I might have COVID, though I’ve been vaccinated. The symptoms were there, but my test was negative, and I’m very thankful for that. Looking forward to getting back to writing!
And that’s it! 🙂
I hope your August is off to a good start!
Hope everyone who’s going back to school has an awesome first week!!!
Ariel “Cupcake” Duncan is a seventeen-year-old girl who loves movies and baking. She also just happens to be plus-sized. When she gets nominated to Homecoming Court, Ariel is surprised–and reluctant lol. She absolutely doesn’t want to be a princess.
Then she’s paired with Rhys Castle. The popular quarterback is…complex, hot one minute, cold the next. Ariel doesn’t know what to think.
Sparks fly as they complete a ton of fun/hilarious/romantic Homecoming activities.
Spoiler alert: The curvy girl in this book doesn’t have to lose weight to get her happily-ever-after.
She loves herself, as she is.
And that is my favorite thing about the book <3.
I also love Rhys *swoon*, Ariel’s awesome relationship with her mom, her best friend & their talks, the friends she makes on the Court, and all of the Homecoming fun.
If you’re in the mood for something sweet, funny, and uplifting, I hope you’ll give CUPCAKE a try!
Hope you are staying safe and having a wonderful summer, bookworms!
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
P.S. CUPCAKE doesn’t officially release until November 2nd–but it’s already available for pre-order on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Google Play! Hooray!
P.P.S. WALLFLOWER is now available in paperback!!! I will most likely do another post about this later bc it’s a big deal, and I have pics to share, woop!
P.P.P.S. Be on the lookout for another cover reveal this Saturday! That one is for my upcoming NA romance The Perfect Play! <3 Can’t wait to share it with you!
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! 🙂
So, this has to be one of the coolest things I have ever done. And it was made possible by all of the wonderful people in this video! <3
If you need a little brightness added to your day, check out our ADORKABLE #passthebookchallenge! Featuring some awesome people who I have so much love for! So thankful!
If you’ve followed me on this publishing journey, from ADORKABLE and beyond, you know that I believe the world has too many tragedies and not enough happy endings. That is why I strive to give all of my characters happily-ever-afters, and why I try to spread at least a little happy where possible.
I’ve included this on all of my posts so far because it’s true:
Wherever you are, whatever you are going through, I hope this brings you some happiness!
In less than two weeks, my 5th book, The Best Mistake, comes out!!! Yay, yay, yay, you guys! Oh, I’m so excited to share this one with you!
I cannot wait for everyone to meet Honor & Archer and all of the O’Briens!
I decided to post and focus on the positive because…well, tbh, I get a little overwhelmed sometimes and need to be reminded of things that are cheerful and good.
Here are a few of the things that have recently brightened my days:
My family. I’m so incredibly grateful for the time I have with them. It is priceless. They are the best thing in my whole world. The few friends I have are wonderful as well.
The ability to connect. Thank goodness for phones/mail/video chats/texts/email/nice messages from nice people.
Good books/TV/movies. I’ve been reading a lot lately. Haven’t been writing–which stinks–but I’ve been stressed and escaping through books/TV/movies. So glad for the escape.
Second Printing. A very kind editor from Entangled let me know this week that ADORKABLE is actually going into a second printing!!! I’m no expert–this is my first and only book that’s been traditionally published–but they’ve told me it’s done well, yay, and this means the book will be on shelves longer–which, to me, is AMAZING! <3
Speaking of Amazing... A while ago, an awesome author friend asked when I’d have ARCS ready of The Best Mistake because she wanted to read it, and that just made my day! <3 Thank you so much, Theresa!!!
I’ve been struggling recently, as I’m sure a lot of you have, to stay in a positive place. The way our world is right now…how so many are suffering, going through the unthinkable…I just can’t help getting overwhelmed with sadness sometimes.
Trying to focus on the good things has cheered me up a bit, and I hope it helps you as well.
P.S. The idea that someone could be reading an ARC of The Best Mistake right now is nerve-wracking and exciting, eep! Oh, I’m crossing my fingers so hard that people like Archer & Honor’s story!!! I’ll be posting more about the book soon, and again, I hope you all have a great weekend! 🙂
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!!! I’ve got something really fun for your guys today!
I’m so glad to be a part of Entangled Teen’s Road Trip (aka blog hop)! Each day there will be a new stop with new authors and giveaways just for you!
Today’s stop is Chariot, North Carolina–the setting for my YA romance ADORKABLE! Chariot is a small fictional town and home to a whole cast of quirky characters–including Sally Spitz who asks her best friend, Becks, to be her fake boyfriend for a month. The problem: She’s been in love with him all her life–and he’s completely clueless :).
Here’s an excerpt from one of my most favorite scenes in the book (get ready to swoon <3):
Gently, Becks placed his hand on top of mine.
I didn’t jump this time, but my body was like a live wire, lit up from the inside.
“Jeez,” Becks said quietly, running the tips of his fingers up and down my arm. “You’re shaking, Sal.”
Mortified, I looked down to see that he was right. Every time his fingers passed a certain place on my skin, gooseflesh appeared first followed by a tiny quiver.
“Sorry,” I said, completely at a loss.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t command myself to not react. Why was my body betraying me like this? Didn’t it realize that if Becks saw how much I loved his touch, how much it moved me, he would know?
Just as I feared it might already be too late, he said, “This isn’t working.” Removing his hand, he sat back, shaking his head. “I don’t know why I freak you out so much, but we need to try something different.”
I was a lot of things, but “freaked out” was definitely not one of them.
“Here,” he said, moving a bit closer. “You do me.”
The road trip culminates on March 25th @ 6 pm PST/9 pm EST with a big party on the Entangled Teen Facebook page! I’ll be giving away a $10 Amazon gift card, yay! Hope to see you there!
Again, bookworms, I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe! This is a very scary and uncertain time for so many. May you live long and prosper. May the odds be ever in your favor. May COVID-19 stay far, far away from you. I wish you all the best–the best health, the best books, and the best times with those you love!
If you read the title, and immediately thought of The Princess Bride, awesome! We are part of the same dorky/geek-ish tribe lol.
Bonus points if you heard Mandy Patinkin AKA Inigo Montoya saying the iconic lines ;).
Anyway, hello, everyone! I wanted to share some cool things with you guys.
I went to an author event almost 2 weeks ago, and it was a lot of fun—despite my awkward.
Yes, that’s me LOL! The name tag was given to us courtesy of the bookstore (which I love!) that hosted the event. The freaked out/hilarious expression? Well, that’s all me ha!
This is what happens when you put an introvert in a room full of authors (who mostly already know each other argh) and expect them to just talk to people/have fun/mingle. Le sigh.
My mom, who was my wingman for the night, pointed out this book because she’s 1) a smart aleck and 2) hilarious!
She also told me, in all seriousness, that I did a great job and am actually good at talking to talking to people (gah, I love her and her pretty lies lol!).
Oh and did you notice her sleeve? We accidentally twinned that day—which my mom claimed we were not doing…but which was of course pointed out by the lady at Starbucks, who right when we walked in asked if we’d “matched on purpose.” *mental headslap*
No, Starbucks lady. No we did not match on purpose. We just both really like plaid/gingham LOL!
Pre-event, we went to dinner, and our lovely server brought us complimentary champagne to celebrate my first book being in the bookstore <3. I don’t drink, but it was such a nice, kind and unexpected surprise!
Another awesome surprise was actually seeing ADORKABLE on the shelves!!!! <333 Yay!
We also got to see ADORKABLE on the shelves at Target for the first time ever, and that was just too much amazingness for one day!!!
Recently, I’ve been trying to outline my new book, yay, and emailing my cover designer about what will hopefully be my next release, hooray!
I’ll post more about that soon; there’s a lot to say lol, and I’m so excited (and nervous) to share! 🙂
I’ve also received some awesome messages from readers, and I just have to say: Thank you so much!!!! I absolutely love hearing from you! You have no idea how much your kind words and support means to me! It really lifts my spirits and pushes me to keep writing, so again: Thank you!!!
I hope you’re all well, bookworms, and have an awesome weekend!
This post is a bit late (how is it already Jan. 14th???). But I’m taking a look back at 2019 to see how I did on reaching my goals! My Hello 2019 post should make it easier–and I hope it’s not too boring lol. 🙂
Okay, so here we go! Bookish/writing goals achieved last year: I published my 4th book baby, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, yay!!!; NINJA GIRL and The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad came out as audiobooks; I started a newsletter and created an Instagram account (still figuring these out, ha!); I tried a few different promo/marketing things like newsletter promo sites, swaps, and ads (ugggh, the confusion LOL); ADORKABLE came out in paperback with new exclusive bonus content from Entangled (Hooray!!!) and because of this I got to see ADORKABLE on shelves at Barnes & Noble, Target and Books-A-Million!!! 😀
Ahhh, OMG, huzzah!!!!!!!
I also got to do my first ever book signing(s), Instagram takeover and FB group takeovers! They were a bit stressful (just bc I’d never done them, didn’t want to mess up etc.) but also a ton of fun :).
Also got to attend a writers conference with my family, learned a lot, was inspired and enjoyed it immensely!
The one thing I didn’t do was finish the book I was working on :/. BUT! I did that last Saturday, so it’s all good, right? 😀
So, I reached most of my goals in 2019…and even had one dream come true that I never thought would: I got to see ADORKABLE on the shelf in actual stores. *Sigh* I’m so so so thankful to Entangled & all the people there for taking a chance on my little book, and I’m over-the-moon grateful to all of you for supporting me and my books throughout this publishing journey! This would’ve never been possible without YOU! So again: Thank you so much!!!
My publishing/writing goals for 2020 are: Publish a book. Learn how to balance everything (blog, newsletter, FB, Instagram etc.), and don’t be afraid to post. Write another book (or several, crossing my fingers on this!). Write more, better & consistently. Learn more about marketing/promo/ads. Attend another conference or book festival.
As always, I have personal goals as well (be a better person; get healthy; do more to help others). My main goal is to be a positive influence. To know that I’ve made life a little easier, happier, better for someone else.
Back to books!
I’ll let you know more about my brand new book soon, yay!!! I’m very excited to share it with you, and I hope you’ll love it! Will also be posting book updates, giveaways, and news about all the ups and downs of 2020.
Hoping for more ups than downs for you and for me, my lovely readers :). Wishing you all the best in 2020!
