Author MJ Pullen, the Distracted Writer

Posts Categorized: The Distracted Writer

Follow M.J. Pullen’s blog posts about writing and publishing. Geared toward beginning writers, pre-published authors. seasoned veterans, and authors attempting to navigate platform development on social media.

Relevant to self-publishing, traditional publishing, indie authors and hybrid authors.

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Featured image for A Bit of Grace about “Balance” - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/elizabethgilbertquote-300x300.jpg
Well, hi there, blog! Come to think of it, hi there, keyboard and written word, while we’re at it… I have been away for a couple of weeks: away from you, away from my desk, away from my favorite coffee shop and everything else writing related. This wasn’t a formal vacation that included a trip  […]
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Featured image for Everyone’s Seen it. Posting Anyway. - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/disneywriterstop-300x293.jpg
It’s Weird Al! On Grammar! I think my work here is done. Okay, not entirely done. If you want the full grammatical analysis of the video, you can check out this article on Slate. The article also mentions one of my favorite Vampire Weekend songs, “Oxford Comma.” That is the best title to a song,  […]
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Featured image for Book Reviews: Do As I Say, Not as I (Don’t) Do - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pileofbooks-small-300x189.jpg
A couple of people have asked me lately about my ratings on Goodreads and why I don’t seem to write reviews of the books I’ve read there. People also sometimes come across my blog and ask me to review their books here, and I almost always politely turn them down. The answer is that I  […]
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Featured image for My Writing Process Blog - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Revisions2-small-256x300.jpg
This post is part of a blog tour series in which writers answer a set of questions about their writing process, and tag other writers to keep it going the following week. Many thanks to my friend and critique buddy Chris Negron for tagging me! Chris is an agented writer on the verge of international  […]
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Featured image for Mommy, You’ve Been Gone Too Much - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/bookclubdunwoody5-7-2014-300x200.jpg
“Mommy, you’ve been gone too much. You’ve been gone Every. Single. Night.” Ugh. Rip my heart out and stomp on it, why don’t you? Yes, those were the words over Cheerios this morning of my Pre-K Little Man, who wishes his name were Anakin even though he has never seen the Star Wars movies, and  […]
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Featured image for You Gotta Know the Rules to Break the Rules - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheRulesforWritingFiction-300x300.jpg
One of my favorite memories from teenager-hood was the night some friends and I sneaked out of our houses and met at the Waffle House at midnight. We were all sixteen, and driving was our newly granted privilege (or at least for most of us, I was the youngest and constantly hitching rides). We were  […]
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Featured image for A Fan Letter to Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Frozen_2013_soundtrack-300x300.png
Dear Kris and Bobby – [Can I call you that? Too familiar? Mr. and Mrs. Lopez? Kristen and Bob?]. How about… Dear friends – See, I feel like we’re friends. You, me, my two little boys, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad… we hang out every single day on the way to preschool, on the  […]
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Featured image for Surprisingly Dangerous Things about Being a Novelist - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/bwbearsign-284x300.jpg
Most of the time, I love being a fiction writer. It’s something I have been passionate about my whole life, and as a bonus, it can be done while wearing pajamas and eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches in bed. For all its glamor, though, fiction writing is a risky business. Not spy risky, or  […]
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Featured image for A Little Sunday Wisdom - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CoffeeWANACommonsTheSpareChangeKitchen-199x300.jpg
Okay, I’ll own it – I love CBS Sunday Morning. Our kids pretty much know that unless we have other plans or make a trip to our favorite bagel place, Hubs and I will be sipping coffee in our pajamas watching “our show” for that hour and a half every week. They also know they’ll  […]
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Featured image for New Year’s Wishes for Readers and Writers - Image Source at http://mjpullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/new-years-eve-2014-300x168.jpg
Just a few hours left until the ball drops in Times Square, and the peach drops here in Atlanta, to ring in 2014. Time to take a quick breath and reflect back on the past year… Looking back over 2013, I see a year of blessings and challenges. We had several changes in our household  […]
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