Category: fun


Jan
2017

Le Sigh

categories: Adorkable, fun, Uncategorized, YA

I had the flu last week and getting over it this week so been feeling pretty blah.  The fevers made me feel lightheaded and dizzy, and I don’t know why I’m still so tired all the time.  Le sigh.

Not really sure what to post today, so here is a song that I’m really liking at the moment.

Always a good time for a trip to Paris, right?  I’ve never actually been, but I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place. 🙂

I hope you’re having a great week and that the flu stays far far away from you, my lovely readers!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Dec
2016

Crazy Amazing

categories: Adorkable, Amazon, debut, doing what you love, fun, Goodreads, writing, YA

It’s almost a new year, and I’ve got to say…2016 has been crazy.

The good, the bad, the ugly, ups and downs, rainbows and pits of despair.  I can say with all honesty it’s been a mixed bag for me.  But for this post–and because we’re about to say hello to 2017–I’m focusing on the good.

Here are a few of my favorites that brightened the year:

  1. Publishing my debut novel ADORKABLE!  It took a really long time for me to get to this point.  Still kinda can’t believe that I actually (finally) did it :).
  2. Written In Red by Anne Bishop.  My favorite book series of 2016!  I’ve read all of the books, and it is amazing.  I’m a big fan of urban fantasy, so this was right up my alley.  Loved it!
  3. The Hamilton Soundtrack.  One word: Incredible.  If you haven’t listened yet, go now.  I’ll wait for it ;).  The lyrics, music, phrasing, recurring themes…aw man, everything about it is outstanding.  Prepare yourself for greatness–and the need to listen to it over and over.
  4. Netflix.  I have fallen down the rabbit hole lol.  My awesome cousin got me a gift card, and I am using it well!
  5. Posts like these: Favorite Debut Novel of 2016, Best Book Boyfriends of 2016, Top Ten Best Books of 2016 <3.  Thank you so much ladies for being awesome and for including ADORKABLE.  Your support means everything to me!
  6. The ADORKABLE readers and all of the supportive people in my life.  This should be #1, but I saved the best for last :).  This year I have found that good people do exist.  They help just to help.  They send words of encouragement.  They give of themselves because they want to lift others up.  Thoughtfulness, kindness, those things matter so much, and I’m thankful to know that there are people like that in the world.

Back in May, I did a post called Crazy Amazing Stats.  In case you’re interested, here’s where we stand at the  end of the year (P.S. I love numbers lol).

ADORKABLE was published on March 31, 2016 and in paperback on September 20, 2016.

As of right now it has:

312 reviews on Amazon.

Reached #1 in its categories for seven different countries (U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and France).

475 reviews on Goodreads.

3,460 people rated it on Goodreads.

6,871 people added it on Goodreads.

Over 6 million pages have been read.

I also have people (real readers!) who have contacted me to let me know how much they love the book!  It floors me.  Every time.  The messages are so beautiful, and I’m grateful for each and every one.  The fact that I, as a first time, self-published author, could reach so many people with my sweet YA romance…it astounds me.  I was so afraid that my little book would be lost to oblivion, that no one would ever read it.  Just publishing ADORKABLE was a dream come true, but having it be so well and widely received?

Crazy. Amazing.

Thank you so much ADORKABLE readers for making my dream a reality <3.  You are truly the best!

I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

 

 


Dec
2016

Merry (Day-After) Christmas

categories: Adorkable, ADORKABLE Christmas Giveaway, Amazon, debut, doing what you love, fun, giveaway, Kindle Countdown Deal, promotion, YA

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Okay, so technically it’s the day-after Christmas–but still, I hope everyone had a great holiday.  This marks the conclusion of the ADORKABLE Christmas Giveaway :).  Thank you so much to everyone who entered; you’re fantastic!  And without further ado…the winner of the giveaway is…

Julie!!!

Congratulations, Julie!  I will be sending your $25 Amazon gift card tonight, and thank you again for entering :).

I also wanted to say thank you to all of the people who participated in my first Facebook giveaways.  The questions were all about ADORKABLE, and some of you readers actually showed up!  Yayyy!  You ladies made it so much fun, AND you really knew your stuff.  It was amazing to interact with actual readers.  They were wonderful; it was wonderful.  I will most definitely be doing something like it again in the future!

One more huge thank you to everyone who helped spread the word about the ADORKABLE Kindle Countdown Deal.  My goal was to make the book even more affordable for people around the Christmas holidays, but I didn’t expect it to go as well as it did.  ADORKABLE hit #1 on Amazon and stayed there all yesterday.  As of this posting, it’s still hanging in there.  It was a great surprise, such a cool Christmas gift, and it wouldn’t have been possible without you readers.

Merry (day-after) Christmas, Happy Holidays, and much love to all of you wonderful bookworms!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Dec
2016

Just For You

categories: Adorkable, Amazon, debut, doing what you love, fun, giveaway, Kindle Countdown Deal, self-publishing, YA

adork3

Isn’t that the most adorkable book tree you’ve ever seen???

adork4

Mister Potter seems to think so :).

Okay, ADORKABLE readers, I have something just for you.

Since this is the first book I’ve ever published–and it will always be my first, my book baby, sigh–I wanted to do something special to celebrate this Christmas.  And what better way than to give back to the ADORKABLE readers?

Tomorrow, December 21, 2016 at 12:00 pm EST I’m going to do a few quick giveaways on Facebook.  I’ll be giving away three $5 Amazon gift cards and one ADORKABLE paperback.  Signed or unsigned, if you win, you decide!

All you have to do to win is be first to correctly answer a few questions (one per giveaway) about ADORKABLE.

Easy, right?

Like I said, I really wanted this one to be for the readers, and it may completely flop.  My fear is that no one will show up or even attempt the questions lol.  But you never know until you try, right?

If you want to participate, I’ll see you at 12:00 pm EST on the Cookie O’Gorman Facebook page!

Good luck, and I hope you’re having a great week.

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The ADORKABLE e-book is only $0.99 on Amazon and Amazon UK for a limited time!  The Kindle Countdown Deal will last until December 25, 2016.  If you have any friends who’d be interested, please let them know and spread the word so they can get the deal before it ends.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

 


Dec
2016

Tis The Season

categories: Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, fun, giveaway, writing, YA

It’s nearly the end of 2016.

The Christmas tree is now up, and I wanted to share with you this little beauty.

huckleberry

It’s one of my favorite ornaments because 1) It was given to me by someone I love very much, 2) She did it because she loved ADORKABLE and knew how much I loved this quote, and 3) I really wasn’t expecting it.  Just in case you were wondering, those are indeed little mustaches on the ribbon.  And that quote…oh, that quote.

I do love the “Huckleberry” quote, and if someone actually said it to me, I may just melt on the spot–but you know, they’d have to mean it the way that Becks meant it when he said it to Sally.  Sigh…

Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff.

I wanted to let you all know that I’ll be running an ADORKABLE Christmas Giveaway soon!  Yay!!!  Be on the lookout and, as always: Good luck!

I also wanted to let you know that Ash’s book will be coming out in 2017.  I’m shooting for a March release.  His book is one that I love so very much.  And for those of you who were hoping for a December release (I know, I know, me too!), I will tell you this:

Half of the book is written from Ash’s POV.

Yep, that’s right.  We are going to get a glimpse straight into our hero’s thoughts.  Eep!  Ash’s book was my first story with dual POVs, and I had a great time writing it.  The heroine is crazy awesome and so cool and badass and matches up just perfectly with our Ash imo.  I hope everyone loves them and the book as much as I do <3.

Hope you all have a great day, and like I said, be on the lookout for that giveaway!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Nov
2016

5 Things: I’m Thankful For

categories: 5 Things, Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, fun, YA

This was actually a tough one.  It’s not that I don’t have anything to be thankful for, not at all.  The hard part was narrowing it down to 5 :).

Actually, the holidays are a hard time for me, but I am thankful for so many things.  And because I watched Pollyanna last night and learned about the “glad game”–right after watching the new Anne of Green Gables, which was okay, but will never take the place of the original <3–I’m going to focus on what makes me glad.

So here are 5 Things I’m Thankful For:

  1. Green bean casserole. Yummm!  It’s my favorite, made exactly as it says on the box. The green bean goodness cannot be beat.
  2. Fall weather.  I love blankets, warm socks, sweaters, and a nice chill in the air.  Living in the South, you’ve got to appreciate weather like that.  It’s just the best.  Ooh, and warm tea…sigh.
  3. Books, the writers who write them and the readers who read them.  My week has been filled with books, books and more books.  I just wish I read (and wrote) faster lol!  As a reader, I appreciate writers so much for putting their words and stories out there.  As an author, I cannot say it enough: ADORKABLE readers, you really are the best!  Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and encouragement!
  4. Dogs.  Puppies and full grown senior dogs, young or old, long or short haired, small or large, what can I say?  I love them.  God bless all the fur babies!
  5. Family and friends.  I don’t have a lot of either, but the ones I do have are tops.  They are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

And I gotta say, in keeping with the glad game, even though I don’t have Netflix and missed the revival of Gilmore Girls (ugggh), I’m happy I got to see the new Pollyanna.  There was no Rory.  Even worse, there was no Jess :(.  But there was also no Logan, who I disliked greatly, and I suppose that’s something to be glad about lol.  But seriously, that Pollyanna had so much spirit and endless cheer.  I happy cried, and I’m not even sorry about it.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Nov
2016

Happy Thanksgiving & Congratulations!

categories: Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, fun, giveaway, Goodreads, YA

I can’t believe it’s already the end of November!  How did that happen?  Seriously, I blinked and it’s Thanksgiving Day :).

Annnd now, we’ve reached the end of my first Goodreads Giveaway!

I’m honestly floored by the amount of people who requested ADORKABLE.

1308 people 0__0.

That’s just…wow.  Thank you to everyone who entered; the sheer amount of interest in the book floors and humbles me.  And I’m so happy to announce the names of the 2 winners:

Tiffany and Jennifer!!!

Congratulations to both of you, and thank you so much for entering the giveaway!  I will be sending your signed copies of ADORKABLE in the mail tomorrow.  Gah…I hope you love it :).

I’ll also be doing another post tomorrow about “5 things I’m Thankful For.”  I hope everyone has a very happy thanksgiving full of great food, friends and family and all the best things!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Oct
2016

Trying

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, fun, YA

Last week I missed posting which stinks.

The thing is I just didn’t know what to post about.  This happens to me a lot, the whole running out of things to say.  Sucks, right?  Is there anything sadder than a writer with no words?  Eh well, I’m going to keep trying anyway lol.

I saw this movie the other day that I really loved.  It’s called Sing Street.  Basically, this boy falls for this girl who he tries to impress by asking her (since she says she’s a model) to come be in a music video for his band.

Thing is…there is no band.

So the main guy scrambles around finding members to be in his band, writing song lyrics (inspired by girl), putting together hilarious costumes etc.  Did I mention the movie is set in Dublin in the 80s?  Ack, the makeup, the clothes, the MUSIC!  The story was just brilliant, funny and heartfelt, with a pair of brothers and their tight-knit relationship at its core, making up my favorite part of the story.  Brotherly love at it’s finest, and it was beautiful.

The movie reminded me of how tight Becks and his brothers are in ADORKABLE.  I’m a sucker for this kind of sibling relationship.  Absolutely loved writing Becks, Clayton and his brothers so much.

And you better believe, if Sing Street was a YA book, I’d be all over it :).

I mean, boy forms band just to impress the girl of his dreams?  I had to love it!  It kind of reminds me of 10 Things I Hate About You and how Cameron learns French just so he can tutor Bianca.  Le sigh…

When I was struggling to figure out what to post, someone told me I should write about the books I love, and I may definitely do that sometime.  This little movie, though, was such a bright spot.  I don’t know if many people have heard about or seen it, but I loved it.

In other news, I’m trying to set up a giveaway on Goodreads for ADORKABLE.  Currently, I’m waiting for my cover to be added to the paperback version–who knew you had to request these things?

Hopefully, I’ll have more on that later, but until then…I’ll just be here.  Trying my best.

Hope you are all enjoying your week so far!

Happy Reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Sep
2016

5 Things: I’m Loving Right Now

categories: 5 Things, Adorkable, debut, doing what you love, fun, YA

Lists are awesome, and since it is 5 DAYS before the release of the paperback version of ADORKABLE (eep!), it’s time for another “5 Things” post.  September is tough this year and not just because of the print release.  So basically, this is a list of the things that have made me happy this week.

Here are 5 Things I’m Loving Right Now:

  1.  Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  I started the book a couple of days ago because no matter how great the movie turns out I wanted to read the book first.  So far, I love it!  It’s odd and intriguing, and I can’t wait to get to the end.
  2. Videos of puppies and kittens.  Of course.
  3. Kilig!!!  This amazing, crazy cool Filipino word means (according to Google): exhilaration or elation caused by an exciting or romantic experience.  I also found this definition: the rush or the inexplicable joy one feels after seeing or experiencing something romantic.  Sigh…  We need more words like this!  We need more “kilig”!  I love it <3 .  Thank you, Beatrice and Henz for introducing me.
  4. Game of Thrones Season 6 (which i binge-watched last weekend).  Arya, Jon Snow, Brienne, and the Hound, all my faves are back.
  5. Sleeping in, warm socks, and nice people.

Kinda added a few more on that last one lol.  I hope your week is going well.  If you read ADORKABLE, I hope you feel the “kilig” :).  And yeah…just 5 more days until the print release!!!  Crossing my fingers that all goes well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman


Sep
2016

I Love Book Deals!

categories: Adorkable, doing what you love, fun, Kindle Countdown Deal, promotion, YA

It’s true.  Book deals are fantastic, and I love them!  Who doesn’t love a great deal, right?

So as I said in the last post, today is the day!  ADORKABLE will be just $0.99 starting at 8:00 am today and ending on September 16, 2016 at 12:00 am.  Hooray for book deals!

If you or someone you know needs a little YA romance to read over the weekend, you may want to give ADORKABLE a try!  I really hope you do :).

This is a limited time deal, so if you’d like to help me spread the word, I’d love the help!

I hope you enjoy your weekend and that it’s filled with lovely books and good times.

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman