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!
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!
What is book birthday week, you ask? Well, I didn’t realize it at first, but nearly all my books share a birthday week! In other words, they were released within 7 days of each other, just in different years!
If that wasn’t cool enough and you’re wondering why The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, swoony/hilarious book baby #4, is up there when in fact it came out in late April of 2019…
…the answer is: Piszkos Tánc, The Hungarian version of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, which actually just came out this week!!! Here’s the lovely cover!
LOL rocks, and I’m so thankful to them for bringing my books and the characters I love so much to the awesome LOL readers in Hungary!!!
So yayyy, this is book birthday week, you guys! It’s something to celebrate, a bit of brightness, and I hope it brings light to your day as well!
I hope you’re all well and safe, readers! Thank you so much for being a part of my publishing journey! No matter if you’ve read one or all four of my books (some of you are probably like, just four lol??? But I’ve tried, and I’m still glad I have that many out ha! Also, my NA sports romance, The Best Mistake, is coming April 23rd, so book baby #5 is on the way!!!), I’m so glad to have your support and thankful for every positive comment/message!
Self-publishing ADORKABLE was the fulfillment of a long-held, long-hoped-for dream, and I made the decision to do it on a day that was (and still is) the anniversary of one of the worst days of my entire life, an effort to take the day back and turn it into something good. Thank you so much for helping me do that, and I hope my books give you even a small amount of happiness!
Hold on to hope, be well, keep celebrating the small things, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
P.S. Another awesome thing that made me glad this week was The English Game on Netflix! It was awesome, and soccer-loving Becks and Ash (and all of my characters lol) would’ve loved it! If you need something new to watch, I’d definitely recommend! 😉
Okay, so technically, I should’ve posted this over two weeks ago lol.
But I completed my WIP, you guys! 😀 It has about 1,000 more words now because of edits–and I still have a bit more to do on that front–but WOOHOO!!!! It’s done, you guys!
And I love, love, love it so much! <3
There are a few things that I wanted to ask you, so I may do a poll later or something.
But for right now, I just wanted to tell you it’s complete–and I took this pic after lol–and once it’s ready, I cannot wait for you to read!!!
Also, I have some updates on my other book babies :).
The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad reached 500 ratings on Goodreads! Woohoo, yay, hooray!!!! I will have to do a giveaway to celebrate soon!
Someone wrote a one-star review of NINJA GIRL and tagged me in it…ugh (about the tagging, not the bad review. Honestly, one-stars hurt like a dagger to the chest, but everyone has their own opinion. I still absolutely love Snow and Ash and their story <3. Plus, someone else wrote a really awesome review, so it evens out I guess).
Oh yes, and ADORKABLE got a very nice review from Kirkus! My first trade review, you guys! Want to know my initial reaction? “I’m so glad they didn’t hate it” LOL!!!!! 🙂 But seriously…I’m so glad they didn’t hate it!
I hope you’re all doing well, accomplishing your goals for 2020 and reading wonderful books!
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!
This was my attempt at a book tree, and I think it turned out pretty…ADORKABLE <3 ;).
May you have the best times with family & friends, and may ALL the books be under your tree! I truly hope today (and every day) is wonderful for you! <3 <3 <3
First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered the NINJA GIRL 100th Review Giveaway!!! This is a milestone for Snow, Ash and me, and I was so glad to see so many entries :).
I’m also very glad to announce the randomly chosen winner…
Irma!!!
Congrats, Irma! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway, and I hope you enjoy your $10 Amazon gift card! It should be in your inbox now :).
It’s being organized by Xpresso Book Tours (who made that beautiful banner *_*), and I’m very excited. There was a wonderful response to the cover which was so great to see!
(Sidenote: It’s a hard time of the year for my family and me. Back when I released ADORKABLE, I was trying to make it better. Not sure it worked–but my books are something positive, and I hope they make people happy.)
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll see all the Book Birthday pics I’ve posted–and I’ll be doing another Friday to celebrate Ethan! 🙂
And last, I sent my first newsletter! It took 7+ hours on Sunday (more before that), and I know there’s room for improvement lol. But it was sent–and according to MailChimp, actual people opened it, so yayyy!
The Cookie Jar Newsletter and this blog are really for my readers, to keep in touch with the people who love my books and want to know more <3.
There’s so much I want to share with you guys! I’ll be doing monthly giveaways only open to newsletter subscribers, offering fun free content and the latest news on my books :). If that sounds good to you, please subscribe here!
I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far, bookworms!
Okay, so I know this is a little late, but one of my favorite people was born on this holiday, and I hope you all had an awesome one :). Did you wear green, find four-leaf clovers, and celebrate in wonderful ways? Were there books involved?
I spent mine at a dance competition with my awesome mom. Sadly, there were no books–but there was dancing, and I got to watch some of the kids I teach do amazing!
I wasn’t sure what to post to be honest, but here is an update on all things bookish:
—NINJA GIRL reached 100 reviews on Amazon! <333 Yay!!! Plus, review 100 was very nice (thank you so much, Hollie!), and I’m so grateful!
–I took 3 more pictures of my books with the glasses my Aunt Colleen made which turned out pretty cool imo :).
–In 6 days, the cover for The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad will be revealed!!!! That’s next Monday (March 25th), eep! So excited to share it with you guys, and I hope you love it as much as I do!
–2 awesome readers sent me wonderful messages about my books <3. Thank you so much, Bobi and Mai! Your kind words really lifted my spirits, and I’m so glad you sent them!
–AND later in the week I’m going to have a giveaway to celebrate NINJA GIRL‘s 100th Amazon review! You’ve got to celebrate the good, right? And I may even try to do another post bc I missed last week and have more to share with you guys :).
Anyway, I hope you’re all well and that your week is off to a great start! May the luck of the Irish be with you!
My awesome Aunt Colleen made me these glasses (one for each of my books!), and I wanted to share them with you guys <3.
It’s such a thoughtful gift, and I absolutely love them!
Since I don’t drink, though, I told her I’d just use them for water or Ginger Ale lol :).
Some not-so-wonderful things have happened in the past weeks, and my mind has been on some tough decisions. But these glasses really brighten my days. My mom and my Aunt Colleen really brighten my days.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them, how all the big and little things really matter.
The first ARC copies of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad have gone out. Eep! I can’t tell you how much I hope readers enjoy Sadie’s book. Not even going to lie: I really love this one. It’s a bit scary, putting something you care about into the hands of others, hoping it will bring them joy, laughter, love and all the feels–hoping, hoping, hoping… Ahh, can you tell I’m nervous lol?
Anyway, I’m sure this post rambled a bit. To ramble further and get even more off topic, at least two of my students cried in class the other day. Not because of me, thank goodness, but in one case because she was stressed, and I felt SO much empathy for her, totally could relate.
So, I just wanted to say: I hope you have a wonderful weekend, readers. No matter how small it may be, I hope you can find the good. Focus on the positive, and don’t let the negative drag you down. Don’t let stress bring you down either. I hope you find that bright spot and bask in it–hopefully with a great book in hand :).
It’s been a while since I’ve done a post like this, but I’m bringing it back because: Lists rock, and I found some things I think are wonderful and wanted to share them with you :).
Without further ado, here are 5 Things: That are awesome!
Blooming Books. My mom got me these lovely bookish flowers made out of my debut novel, and I just had to share <3. Isn’t that the most ADORKABLE bouquet you’ve ever seen? 🙂 I got one for my aunt made out of the Dr. Seuss books, and they turned out beautiful as well!
Silver Linings Playbook. So yes, I’m late to the party, but I so enjoyed this movie! It took me by surprise, made me laugh and was just really well done. Thanks again, Netflix!
The Wicked King. You guys!!! Remember how my favorite book from 2018 was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black? Well, the second book, The Wicked King, came out in January, and I have it in my possession, exuding wonderful wickedness, just waiting to be read! Cannot. Wait.
So much awesome! Also, I got a wonderful comment on my last post from a reader that really made my day. Thank you so much again, Karen! You rock! I’ve been re-thinking my goals for 2019, wondering if I really need a newsletter if I have a blog? I’ve also been working on my next book. Gah, you guys, I love, love, love it! The cover is in the process of being made, woot! It’s all moving right along, and I’m so excited <3.
Sending positive vibes your way, readers, and hoping your weekend is full of awesome!
Happy reading,
Cookie O’Gorman
P.S. Also, starting Monday, next week NINJA GIRL will be available for a limited time for just $0.99!!! I’ll do another post, but if you know anyone you think would enjoy Ash and Snow, please let them know! 🙂
