Sara McClung

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Sara's Law

Murphy's Law
A supposed law of nature . . . to the effect that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. (source)

NOT to be confused with:

Sara's Law
A real law of nature to the effect that if anything can make a situation awkward, embarrassing, clumsy, and/or stupid sounding Sara will make it awkward, embarrassing, clumsy, and/or stupid-sounding.

Yep. This is me EVERY TIME.

On the real. I can take any situation and pull Sara's Law into effect. Even the simplest of situations. Like, for example, reading on my Kindle. No joke, three days ago, I managed to self-inflict an injury via Kindle reading. And I'm not even talking about dropping it on my head while reading lying down. Nope. I injured my hand. While reading. I mean, seriously, who does that? I can't bring myself to give the details, they're too embarrassing, but needless to say, I'm CLUMSY.

Or take social situations. I have basically two modes. Painfully shy in which I can't even make myself speak, much less make eye contact--because I totally suffer from analysis paralysis (in which I question my every thought or opinion and always end up convincing myself I'm wrong). But I mostly prefer that to the other mode: When I make myself talk and then end up looking back on conversations and wanting to murder myself because I spoke without thinking and sounded like a freaking idiot.

You know what I'm talking about? Like driving on autopilot, when you're suddenly at your destination but don't remember driving the last five miles? Yeah. I frequently get to the end of a conversation and have no idea how I got there. And can't fight the suspicion that I blew through a few red lights and possibly ran over a chicken along the way.

Granted, the better I know people the less awkward I tend to make situations. But even with my best friends--in the writing world and out--I'm basically guaranteed to stick my foot (all the way up to my freaking knee) in my mouth ~~every so often~~ at least once a week. Just ask them. Or better yet, don't. Chances are I'll share it here anyway. :)

So. There's today's little Sara tidbit for ya.

xo

Monday, April 30, 2012

In the words of the Great Kristen Wiig . . .

source

Why?

Oh, you know. I just am.

SIKE.

It's really because, tomorrow is the start of Blog Me MAYbe! And while I didn't spend April prewriting posts--or at least thinking of exactly what I'd blog about--like I meant to, I'm still excited to blog. Which hasn't been the case in a loooooong time.

Click here if you want to know more about Blog Me Maybe.

And ALSO!! You know what else? Over at YA Confidential, we've got three new additions! Jessica Love, Katy Upperman, and Matthew MacNish--I hope you'll hop over and say hello to them. :)

See? Today is a day for partying!

I'll see you guys mañana.

OH WAIT. One more thing. So blogger updated and seems to be refusing to publish scheduled posts when it's supposed to. I've tried setting it for three hours earlier, because someone said blogger was stuck on west coast time, but that doesn't work for me either. DO ANY OF YOU HAVE A FIX???

Monday, April 16, 2012

Blog Me MAYbe

Sooooooo, yeah. Blogging motivation?

What the heck is that?

As in . . . this is my *pauses to count* . . . yep, TWELFTH post of the year. It's the middle of April. I mean, seriously? And I've pretty much been talking a big game about getting back into blogging since January. Again, it's April.

*crickets chirping*

source

Office Space FOR THE WIN!!

But that caption's wrong, I DO care. I used to love blogging--it's how I met most of my favorite writing friends and all of you wonderful people. So finally, I'm doing something about it. I'm getting back on track--and if you've been having trouble finding blogging motivation, I invite you to join me (and Katy, Cambria, Jessica, Tracey, Alexandra, Lola, and Alison) in two weeks for Blog Me MAYbe.

Here's the deal:

Banner created by the über-talented Tracey Neithercott!
Feel free to snag it for your own blog, if you want! (Or the button below!)

The purpose: To get back in the habit of blogging by following a weekly schedule for the month of May. (Or if you already post regularly, to have an easy schedule to follow without having to struggle with deciding what to blog about.)

(And if posting every day sounds like too much, or if you miss a few days, or only do a couple posts a week, who cares, yanno?)

What you DON'T have to do: Follow every blog that participates and comment on everyone's posts every day. This isn't a blogfest to gain followers--although maybe that will happen. And of course if you WANT to comment on everyone's posts, feel free. :)

But really the point of this is to focus mostly on our own blogs and to write posts about things we're interested in that our followers will want to read about.

The schedule:

Mondays: May I tell you something about writing?
This can be anything writing-related. A post on craft. A post on your process. A snippet of your WIP, if you like to share. A book on craft that you want to recommend. Things you struggle with. Things you rock at. ANYTHING at all!

Tuesdays: May I tell you something about myself?
Pretty self-explanatory :) Share something about yourself that your followers might not know. Or maybe they do. It doesn't matter--this is just so people who read your blog can get to know you a little better.

Wednesdays: May I ask something about you?
Ask your followers something about themselves.

Thursdays: May I tell you something about someone else?
Make this post about someone else. A writing friend. A critique partner. A person from history who's fascinating. A character from a book. Anyone you want. :) Have a guest poster. Give an interview. Get creative! Just let the spotlight shine on someone else.

Fridays: May I share something funny?
Fridays = the starts of weekends! BOOYA. Reason to celebrate and laugh on it's own--plus, who doesn't want to see something amusing after a long week?

Two quick side notes:

1) I don't think I'm going to title my posts "May I tell you something about . . . " I'll just title them whatever fits with what I've written, while following that schedule. And,

2) I'm definitely not planning to blog every single day after May. No way, dude. I want to get back on that two or three times a week rotation. This is just the jumpstart!

And while you don't have to follow every blog or comment or anything, in case you're interested in who's participating--or want to let the blogosphere know that you're going to participate, you can sign up below.

Blogs participating in Blog Me MAYbe:

I think that's all. Enjoy the rest of April--I'll see you in May!

PS I prescheduled this post, so if for some reason the link sign up isn't working, check back later--I'll fix it after I've woken up for the day.

Button also created by Tracey Neithercott!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Tagalicious . . . You're It!

Soooooo . . . I basically never talk about my WIPs on here. Not in detail anyway--and I don't think I've ever shared lines from what I'm working on. But then this Lucky Seven meme went around and I got tagged twice. By MG and Marsha (both of whom you should check out and read their lines)!

And since I've loved reading everyone else's 7 lines, I figured just this once I'd play too. :)

(Okay, fine. Also? As I type this post I may have had a bit* of wine, so I'm feeling very sharey**.)

Here are the rules if you're tagged:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors

I'm not cheating--no tweaking or anything--just copying and pasting my lines as they are. So have fun with that, ha.

"Let me change and grab my board." I sprint back up the stairs, hoping Robert will take the hint and quit it with the parental stuff.

Kellan calls after me to bring some shoes for walking, too. I grab sneakers from my closet and sit on my bed needing a second to catch my breath, a second to let my pulse slow down. But I can't deny it; there's a spark of attraction for him deep in my belly. It's the first thing—the first bright thing—to cut through the numbness I've waded in all week. I cling to it, letting it lift me higher than I've felt in a long time.

BOOM. There ya have 'em. What'd you think?

And now it's MY turn to tag seven authors to post from their WIPs!! *insert evil laughter here*

Lindsey Roth Culli
Lola Sharp

~~Rick Lipman~~ (found out after the fact: he's already done it! check out his line here)

Sarah Enni

source

*like half a ~~glass~~ gallon

**It's a word. Well, it is now anyway.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Myra Rocks Day! (Author Appreciation Blog Tour)

Basically, what today comes down to is this:

Myra McEntire is fabulous.

And our mutual friend, MG Buehrlen, came up with this idea to surprise Myra with a day allllll for her!

First, Myra, a note for you.

You might not remember this, but you were one of the first people who tweeted to me back in the day when I was still figuring out this whole twitter/blogging/being a writer thing. And you were so nice. Honestly, you're one of the reasons I stopped being so nervous about reaching out to other writers--and because of that? I found the writing friends and CPs that I have today. Thank you, Myra. Sincerely. <3

PS. It's just a little thing, but still. Sometimes I've seen you tweet "rabbit, rabbit," on the first of the month. Growing up, it was a tradition in my household for those to be the first words out of our mouths each month for luck--and I still do it today. It's just a little thing, but still. It makes you even cooler in my book. :)

PPS. I can't wait to see you in October.

And, you guys, in case you needed more proof that Myra's the awesome:

The girl wrote and gave us Kaleb. Kaleb, ya'll. Kaleb. <3 We first met him in Hourglass, book one of awesome--and then we get even more of him (so, so much more *happy dances*) in Timepiece, book two of awesome. Don't worry. If you haven't had the chance to read Timepiece ahead of schedule, it comes out June 12th. Trust me, the book is worth the wait.

(You can find/preorder Myra's books at Amazon, Books a Million, IndieBound, and Barnes and Noble!)

OH. And? I give you this. In which Myra connects writing and microwaving peeps. It really needs no other explanation, and you. are. welcome.

So happy Myra Day! Make sure to tell her how super she is either on twitter (@myramcentire with the hashtag #authorlove) or on her blog myramcentire.blogspot.com!

Check out everyone else celebrating Myra Day!

Harmony's Radiant Reads

YA Books Central Blog