It’s the end of August which means it’s time to share the love and announce the winner of the 5000+ ADORKABLE Readers Giveaway!!! Still can’t believe so many people actually read something that I wrote…just wow *__*. Without further ado, the winner of the giveaway is:
Bilqees B.!!!
Congratulations, Bilqees, and thank you so much for entering–and for adding NINJA GIRL to your Goodreads shelf! I will be sending your $25 Amazon gift card shortly. Again, thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and helped to make it a success.
To share even more love, spread good karma and hopefully contribute some positivity to the universe, I’m running a Kindle Countdown Deal. Starting today and running until September 7, 2017, ADORKABLE will be available for just $0.99 on Amazon and Amazon UK! Got any friends who you think might enjoy a lighthearted best-friends-to-lovers story? Anyone you know need a pick-me-up of the sweet YA romance variety? Well, look no further lol! Sally and Becks are here, and their story will make you laugh, swoon, and feel all the fluttery feels (at least they do for me :)).
If you will please help me spread the word, I’d greatly appreciate it; I love finding new readers!
I’m really in the spirit to share the love–my NINJA GIRL and ADORKABLE readers, rock!!!–so there will definitely be more giveaways to come. Be on the lookout for those, and I hope you’re having a great week!
Not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but in addition to YA romance, I am a BIG fan of YA fantasy–obviously lol. You’ll also notice the Slytherins outnumber the Gryffindors in this picture *gasp*. (Although I’m pretty sure Captain America would be a Gryffindor.) And next to those guys, I have my book babies, Kamuzások, kavarások and ADORKABLE <3. Four copies of ADORKABLE–one for each of the places the book is sold–and one copy of my beloved Hungarian debut! Speaking of which…
To all of the LOL readers who posted their shelfies: Imádom, imádom, imádom!!! <333333 I just loved looking at all of your beautiful book pics–and seeing that you’re #TeamBecks ;). Tija, I feel like you are my bookish fairy godmother or something, and I am so so grateful to you! I might get this wrong, but…köszönöm! Köszönöm szépen! You all rock and so do your awesome bookshelves :).
Thank you for making my week, and I hope you have a great one, too!
I mentioned a “super secret assignment” in my last post, and okaaay, it’s not really a secret. BUT if someone could help me with this, it would be pretty freakin’ super :). So here’s the deal. Last week, I was in L.A. for a few days, and one of the places I really wanted to go was the Los Angeles Public Library. I was seriously looking forward to it!
You get why I’d be excited about this right, fellow bookworms?
Books, shelves, readers, books, card catalogs (are there still card catalogs lol?) and…I mean, seriously, all those books!!!
And I really wanted to go there for one book in particular. If you look up the ADORKABLE paperback on Goodreads, there’s a button for “libraries.” I happened to click on it, not expecting much. I knew when I decided to self-publish that libraries probably wouldn’t order my book(s) just like bookstores wouldn’t stock them. It’s one of the dreams I kind of gave up on because of the stigma attached to being self-pubbed/using Createspace etc.
But when I clicked, I got a shock!
ADORKABLE, book baby #1, was actually available at 11 libraries!!! There were copies in Indiana, New York, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Idaho, California and Washington. And some of them were even checked out! Several branches of the L.A. Public Library had the book, and I was hoping to visit before I left–but alas, I never got the chance :(.
Now, I know this is a long shot, but I decided to ask anyway. If you live near any of the libraries that carry ADORKABLE, could you do me a favor? Could you take a picture of ADORKABLE on the library shelf and post it somewhere so I can see? Or if you have the paperback on your shelf, would you mind taking a shelfie and posting? I’d love to see a picture of the book in its natural habitat!
It’s kinda silly, I guess, but it was one of those author-ly dreams I just never thought would come true. I should do a post about those sometime because they are many lol. If you accept this super secret shelfie assignment, I’d be forever grateful. If not, that’s totally cool, too!
I hope you all have a great weekend surrounded by amazing books <3.
Okay, so I just got back from a short (but awesome) trip to California! Los Angeles to be exact. And I come home to find this on my doorstep…
It was in a bag with a note from one of my former students who moved away. The note said since I’d shared a few books with her, she wanted to share a few of her favorites with me <333. Seriously, it was such a nice surprise. (Thank you, Jaida!!!) There’s only one book in there that I’ve already read and own (The Westing Game), AND she is the same student who let me read her copy of Kasie West’s P.S. I Like You, my first book by West and one that I enjoyed immensely!
Anyway, ahhh like I said, it was so thoughtful.
I’m very fortunate to teach several thoughtful young adults who are smart, talented and just wonderful. The readers in this age group are fantastic as well and make me want to write the best books that I can for them. I actually had one reader leave a great comment on my last post. She’d read ADORKABLE, like it a lot, and was wondering when NINJA GIRL would be available in paperback because she loves reading real, tangible books. I loved that comment because to be honest I’m not sure if/when I’ll be publishing NINJA GIRL as a paperback. I mean, I would love to add it to my bookshelf. But I honestly haven’t had time to get it together and wasn’t sure if anyone (besides me) would want NINJA GIRL as a real, live book anyway. But I guess they do :).
And that…is so awesome!
Another nice surprise, and I am very thankful for her comment, those great books and all of my wonderful students. Next week, I’ll post more about my trip to L.A., and a super-secret assignment, something fun my readers may be able to help me with ;).
Have a great weekend, and I really hope some nice surprises happen for you as well!
First, I want to give a huge thank you to YA Bound Book Tours and to everyone who participated in the NINJA GIRL Book Blitz! You are awesome, and I appreciate you so much for helping me spread the word. I’ve mentioned that one of my biggest fears as a writer is that my books won’t find their audience, and that remains true today. Every recommendation to a friend, every review/post/tweet truly helps. So again, thank you!!!
Second, I wanted to share my book playlist for NINJA GIRL! You may have already seen it, but I wanted it for my website as well lol. Also, on Goodreads, a reader created her own book playlists for both ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL, and I thought that was so cool!
If you’ve read NINJA GIRL, you’ll see several of the songs mentioned in the book–but others may be a surprise :). The full playlist will be at the end of the post. Alright, let’s get to it:
“Ho Hey” by The Lumineers–or “Snow Hey” if we’re talking about the swoon worthy rendition done by the one and only Ash Stryker–absolutely represents how Ash feels about Snow. *sigh* When he sang to our ninja girl, she definitely got the message. And I mean, seriously, what girl wouldn’t love a guy putting her name into a song like this? <3
“I Am the Best” by 2NE1 represents Snow’s confidence in martial arts, self-defense and just taking on anyone who challenges her. She may be insecure when it comes to boys and her own femininity, but when it comes to kicking butt? Snow is a true badass!
When Nicki Minaj comes in and goes off on this track, it is Snow all day, every day lol! But “My Chick Bad” is the perfect song to express how Ash feels about Snow’s strength. He’s impressed by it, finds it attractive; basically, he’s got it bad for our ninja girl–and even though he’s a country fan, I think Ash would totally agree with this choice (minus the 2nd verse bc Ash is a Southern gentleman :)).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QEDb3xzdec
Ah, that voice <33333. Patsy Cline is timeless and truly one of the greats, and her songs are so so incredibly perfect for this little YA romance. Snow’s tough on the outside. Ash is confident/cocky. But they both have their insecurities, and Patsy exposes them all. The car scene where Ash and Snow have a Patsy Cline battle, speaking to each other through their song choices, too afraid to voice their feelings, is one of my absolute favorite scenes.
Okay, I LOVE this song. It is so innocent and lovely. I think the chorus is like what Ash was trying to convince Snow of all along: I’ll be yours, if you’ll just be mine. Then the part near the end where she sings by herself, and it’s so exposed and real…that’s Snow finally admitting her feelings and how much she cares for him. Snow and Ash, the honesty, the pure loveliness of this is what YA and romance is all about.
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
NINJA GIRL Book Playlist
“Ho Hey” by The Lumineers
“I Am the Best” by 2NE1
“Sparks Fly” by Taylor Swift
“Fans” by Kings of Leon
“My Chick Bad” by Ludacris & Nicki Minaj
“In For The Kill” (Skrillex Remix) by La Roux
“Lies” by BIGBANG
“Someone Like You” by Adele
“Miss Atomic Bomb” by The Killers
“Crazy” by Patsy Cline
“I Fall to Pieces” by Patsy Cline
“Call Your Girlfriend” (live) by Lennon and Maisy Stella
Actually, a lot of us collect book boyfriends. No really, it’s a thing! And I know for a fact that I’m not the only one because I’ve seen other blog posts, discussions and articles about this. Different readers look for different things in their favorite male leads, but the common trait that all of them share is this.
A great book boyfriend will make fangirl bookworms everywhere swoon and fall hard for him.
This post will focus on Ash Stryker, one of my personal favorites, first introduced in ADORKABLE and most recently featured in NINJA GIRL. 🙂
Here is what I think makes Ash book boyfriend material:
He kisses back. If you’ve read NINJA GIRL, you know what I mean. If not, I’ll just say Ash goes with the flow and gives Snow an amazing/unforgettable first kiss (…and second…and third…).
He knows what he wants and goes after it.
He’s protective (but not in an overbearing a-hole kind of way). Yeah, he’s got a hero complex, but he makes it look good. Just picture a young Chris Evans/Captain America with a bit of a pottymouth, and you basically have our Ash.
He likes smart girls who can kick his ass. He’s encouraging and loves Snow’s strength and intelligence.
He tells it like it is and never gives up—especially when it matters.
He listens to country and K-Pop.
He’s multi-lingual—which means he can sweet talk you in a whole bunch of languages.
He’s athletic, talented and yes, fit. Soccer is his passion, and he’s darn good at it. The green eyes, dirty blond hair and lean body don’t hurt either ;).
He’s swoonworthy. In NINJA GIRL, Ash is willing to make a fool of himself for his girl (aka the singing), and he’s also thoughtful (the Bruce Lee marathon with Snow). *Sigh*
He’s smart, confident, a little cocky and a lot comfortable-in-his-own-skin. He’s a straightforward smooth-talker with charm to spare. He can also be jealous, incorrigible and a smartass. All in all, Ash is imperfect and real—which may be what I like best about him.
For all these reasons and more, I love my main man from NINJA GIRL.
Oh my Ash! <3
Btw huge thanks to Tija for inventing the phrase “Oh my Ash;” I love it lol! Basically, as Koi says in the book, Ash Stryker is a BAMF. He’s also a great book boyfriend imo. Feel free to add him and NINJA GIRL to your shelf if you’re looking for a sweet YA romance with a kickass heroine and a swoonworthy hero. 🙂
The idea for this post was inspired by Snow from my YA romance NINJA GIRL (of course!) and Tressa over at Wishful Endings. (You can read the original here.)
One of my favorite things about writing is really getting into the heads of my characters. My MCs are people that I admire, that I could see myself being friends with, and Snow is a ninja girl after my own heart. 🙂 She’s tough yet vulnerable, strong yet soft on the inside, smart and incredibly loyal. In short, she is one tough cookie, and I love her for it. So without further ado…
Snow’s Top 10 Ninja Tips:
Embrace your inner ninja (aka love yourself and everything that makes you YOU).
Watch out for mean girls. Even ninjas have feelings, and mean girls always go for the weak spots.
Be stealth–especially when it comes to stealing a kiss from a stranger in a theater. Who said you have to wait for that first kiss?
Adhere to the ninja way, and always stick up for your friends (even when they keep secrets and drag you to Girls Night…ugh).
Say “no” to karaoke. Just because you kick ass does not mean you have ninja singing skills.
Work out every day–especially if you’ve eaten marshmallow fluff the night before.
Keep it professional (aka stop accidentally kissing the guy whose body you’re supposed to be guarding).
Some ninjas like chick flicks…or have a collection of every romantic comedy ever.
Be fearless if you can. If you’re scared, be brave and do it anyway.
If someone loves you for the ninja that you are, don’t be afraid to love them right back <3.
Like I said, I love Snow! I’m really hoping readers will as well. Next week, I’m planning to do a post about Ash…oh Ash, sigh <333. Keep a lookout for that if you’d like to fangirl right along with me lol. Also, if you like winning free stuff, there’s still a few more days to enter the NINJA GIRL Blog Tour Giveaway! I hoped you enjoyed these ninja tips as much as I did, and I hope you have a great day!
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
P.S. NINJA GIRL hit #1 in the U.S. in one of its categories this week!!! Yayyyyy, whoohoo, and hi-yah!
Excitement and nervousness are battling it out, but I’m looking forward to (and also dreading lol) seeing what readers thought of the book. I can’t believe NINJA GIRL has been out for almost a month! That’s just crazy. I really hope people love Snow and Ash and their story. Oh I so hope that! No matter what though, I am grateful for every blogger who took the time out to review and/or post about book baby #2 :). Thank you to YA Bound Book Tours for working with me again, and thank you to every reader who has helped spread the word about NINJA GIRL! If you’re interested, here is a link to the tour. Several awesome blogs are involved, and there’s also a giveaway! I hope your week is off to a great start!
It’s time to announce another winner :). Thank you to everyone who entered the NINJA GIRL giveaway and helped celebrate the release of my second book! Thank you for adding NINJA GIRL on Goodreads, visiting my Facebook page, commenting here on the blog and tweeting all the “kickass” tweets (there were a LOT of those lol!).
And without further ado, the winner is…
Sarah M.
Congratulations, Sarah!!! Your $25 Amazon gift card is on the way. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for entering!
In case you didn’t know, NINJA GIRL is available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited, and one of my favorite things is watching the “pages read” count grow :). If you’ve supported my second release in any way (by reading, rating, reviewing, recommending or offering a kind word), I appreciate it and you readers so so much.
Book baby #2 (aka NINJA GIRL) has officially been out a week! Woohoo!!
And it has been quite a time let me tell you :).
Someone left NINJA GIRL‘s first review–its first 5-star review–on Amazon very quickly after the book was released. If you are the sweet soul who wrote it, I just want to say: Thank you sooooo much! You have no idea how excited, relieved and thankful I was to see that :).
My mom got me my favorite cupcake to celebrate the book’s release.
And because she is wonderful, she also got me a cookie (no picture, but it was yummy ;)). Then later, this happened…
NINJA GIRL was a #1 Hot New Release on Amazon! Oh yeah, and this happened…
NINJA GIRL hit #1 in Canada on Amazon in its category!!! My jaw literally dropped when I saw this, and I thought, “Canada, you are awesome.”
Also, in the U.S., NINJA GIRL was #2…right next to ADORKABLE,which celebrated turning 1-year-old at #1 on Amazon! Ah, I love my book babies <3 <3 <3.
Needless to say, book-wise, it was a very good week, and I am so very thankful to everyone who made this possible <3. Your support, your kind comments, reviews, ratings and recommendations to friends mean everything.
Thank you for reading my books–and YAY! I can now say “books” plural lol. NINJA GIRL is out there, you guys! If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll give it a try :).
