Mynx Writes

Insomnia. It creeps up on you and doesn't let you go.  One minute you're so tired that you can't keep your eyes open, and the next minute your brain is on overdrive and you're still so tired that you can't keep your eyes open.  So you lay there and let your brain run rampant.  In my case, last night, it was on full overdrive.  I did everything.  I rolled over.  I put a pillow over my head.  I got up and went to the bathroom.  I got a glass of water.  I even grabbed my phone and tweeted to whoever was awake and listening for insomnia to go away and tell my brain to shut up on the way out. And then, it came to me... Tommyknockers. Not the movie - the book. Have you ever read it?  "Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, Knocking at the door..." I'm no genius, but this book holds the solution. Stephen King, when he wrote "Tommyknockers", was expressing an idea that writers all over the w...

Would you like to hear about the time I killed a man in cold blood and got away with it? Or, I could tell you about the time that someone killed me and I was trapped between this world and the afterlife for several hundred years. How about that one time – the time when I survived a zombie apocalypse? Have I told you that story yet? I have done these things, and more, because of the library. I have traveled aboard spaceships and taken exotic vacations to planets that don’t exist. I have stumbled into parallel realities through wardrobes, paintings, and hidden portals in the backyard shed. I have colonized worlds. I have lived on a moon base. I’ve been abducted by aliens and lived through a nuclear winter. I’ve actually survived several zombie apocalypses – not just the one. The library was where I fell in love with dragons, unicorns, and elves, and then brought them home to play with in my imagination. I found monsters in the library, as well. They hid themselves in the ...

Heaven in a pan At Crafty Bitch Headquarters , it wouldn't be Christmas without the fudge.  The awesome, killer, Hershey's chocolatey fudge that mom has made every year for as long as I can remember.  Sounds good, doesn't it? This recipe was passed down from dad's side of the family to my mom by my grandmother. I have no idea if I'm going to disappear for leaking it to the Internet, but it's just too good not to share! Grandma Patchen's Killer Christmas Fudge 4 cups granulated sugar 1 large can Carnation evaporated milk Set aside: 2 large (the HUGE ones, 8oz) Hershey's milk chocolate bars (broken apart) 1 pint or 2 cups marshmallow cream fluff (14-16oz jar) 2 cups chopped walnuts 1 12oz package chocolate chips 2 sticks oleo 2 teaspoons vanilla Boil sugar and evaporated milk together, stirring constantly at a rolling boil for 6 minutes or until mixture reaches soft ball stage. (mixture forms a ball when dropped into cold water) Pour hot mix...

Last Saturday, some fabulous bloggers brought you the 12 Blogs of Christmas . I've had a lot of requests for the recipe of the cheese ball that I shared at Amberr Meadow's 12 Blogs of Christmas: Tasty Traditions and so today, I've posted it here.  It's been quite a few years now, but an old friend in Pennsylvania shared this recipe with me one Christmas, and it's quickly become one of my favorite holiday recipes, and traditions.  I make it instead of cookies for holiday goodie exchanges, and I also give it out to friends and family.  When the holidays roll around, I have plenty on hand for entertaining - it's always a hit.  Mynx’s Fabulously Simple Holiday Cheese Ball Recipe 2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature 1 - 5oz jar Kraft Old English Spread (@room temperature) 1 - 5oz jar Kraft Roka Blue Spread (@room temperature) 2 Tbsp cider vinegar (or flavored vinegar – feel free to experiment) 2 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder) 1 cup c...

I'm going to preface this blog by saying that I think that the basic social media sharing options on Blogger are great, but they are a far cry from covering all of the options available for sharing your blog posts. So, what do you do when you want to add more options? The easy way is to look for plug-ins - those lines of code that someone else has already done all the work on, and you just have to click your mouse a few times to install it.  If you use Blogger as your blogging platform like I do, you no doubt get frustrated with the fact that the plug-ins are pretty basic, and it's hard finding ones that do what you want them to do.  You are also limited as to where you can place your plug-ins on the blog template. For instance, I wanted to add a StumbleUpon button for readers to be able to use to share my blog posts.  Logically, I went to my "Design" tab on the blogger dashboard and tried to find the appropriate plug in.  I found a grand total of one and quick...

If you follow me on Twitter, you've no doubt seen me mention Craftapalooza and not much else on many a weekend lately.  The fact that I've been a mostly unemployed college student this year has afforded me the opportunity to revisit old hobbies and pastimes in the interest of being thrifty this holiday season.  (Translation: Y'inz are all getting handmade shit from me this Christmas and if you don't like it, too damn bad!) The past several months have been especially busy at Crafty Bitch Headquarters (aka Mom's house), where we've been busier than Santa's elves on crack trying to get the presents and cards finished and ready to go out in time for Christmas.  Now, I'm in no way implying that we do crack at Crafty Bitch Headquarters.  Our speed is usually more along the lines of a nice glass of red wine, which is probably why it's now December 6th and we have a grand total of 11 Christmas cards crafted.  The truth is, there are so many fabulous thi...

Well, here we all are, for better or for worse, attempting to complete Day 3 of National Novel Writing Month .  If you are on schedule, you've got no less than 5,001 words completed, and you've even dug into tomorrow's word count quota. Or more. It you aren't on schedule, no doubt you are gnashing your teeth, pulling your hair, and have even thrown in the towel already. (Or at least threatened to.) Here's a thought: Don't. Quit. Don't. Give. Up. Wanna know a secret?  I didn't write a single word for my NaNoWriMo project on November 1st.   That's right.  I didn't.  I meant to, but life got in the way.  I had to work.  I had to drive the two hours home from my mother's house.  I had school work to do. Wanna know another secret? I still didn't have any idea what I was going to write for NaNoWriMo this year, even when I sat down to write my two day quota yesterday. As a matter of fact, I didn't actually sign up for NaNoWriM...

It all boils down to one question - are you a plotter, or a pantser? With just five more days until National Novel Writing Month begins, there is a lot of buzz going on about how people are preparing to face the challenge of writing a fifty-thousand word novel in thirty days. Some people have detailed outlines and character sketches. Some people have decided that they have Character A and Character B, and they are going to get thrown into Situations C and D, but they are going to let what happens write itself. Still other people are tossing ideas around, but haven't really settled on the story they are going to write yet. And finally, there are those NaNoWriMo purists who, having no idea what they are going to write, will sit down in front of their computer on November first and fly through the month, and their novel, by the seat of their pants. I saw it mentioned somewhere recently that outlining fiction is a pointless effort, because the outline ends up becoming so de...

For those of you in the know, the title of this post speaks for itself, and you are either laughing at me or nodding your head in sympathy because you are planning on spending the month of November much the same way I will be -- glued to your computer, gulping down coffee, and neglecting your family and friends until you have completed your goal of writing a fifty-thousand word novel. For those of you who are new to NaNoWriMo Madness , don't let that first paragraph scare you away.  I didn't mean it.  Okay, so I did, but it's not as bad as it sounds.  Really, its a lot of fun, and your friends and family will be so proud of you when it's over that they won't hold a grudge about you neglecting them for thirty days straight.  (In theory, anyway.) So, what exactly is this NaNoWriMo Madness of which I speak?  Simply put, it is that festive event that takes place every year during the month of November where aspiring novelists test their resolve (and their san...

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. This is part three of a three part vignette that is an account of my experiences. You can read part one by clicking here , and part two by clicking here .  I do not recognize the woman in the mirror. She is not me. She is someone else. She frightens me, the woman in the mirror.  Her eyes have no whites.  They are bright blood red, and she won’t meet my gaze with her swollen-lidded, empty stare.  She looks beyond me, seeking an escape route that I cannot offer her, and her fingers play at her throat, which bears the impression of two hands, rendered perfectly in blaring black and blue. Choking me… can’t breathe… won’t stop… have to make him stop… oh God oh God oh God I can’t breathe why won’t he stop please make him stop… go limp… play dead… that will make him stop so I do I go limp I stop breathing hold my breath oh God please stop choking me I can’t… shhh… he’s letting go… don’t breathe yet… he’s letting go…don’t...

I wrote this short story when I was in high school, and later, after several revisions, submitted it for publication to several well known fantasy magazines.  Thus, I received my first ever rejection slips from the world of professional publication. I'm proud of those rejection slips.  They are proof that I was brave enough to put myself out there.  They are proof that I took the first toddling steps towards reaching my goals as a writer, at the young age of 16. No matter whether you are considering traditional publishing or self-publishing, it is important to remember that you are going to face rejection.  Not everyone is going to like your writing style.  Not everyone is going like your content or your subject matter. However, someone out there is going to like your work.  It pays to network, to be persistent, and most of all, keep writing.  Kyra’s Gambit             “You don’t have to k...

Copyright 2011, Marie Patchen The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost, 1915 Put yourself into the picture. Where do these two paths lead? If you had a choice, which path would you take, and why?  Why are you standing here, having to make this dec...

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. This is part two of a three part vignette that is an account of my experiences. You can read part one by clicking here. It is morning.  The light outside is sharp, knifing into my bloodied eyes relentlessly.  Fresh snow has fallen to cover the red stains on the icy driveway, but I know that they are there.  “You don’t have to do this,”  he says, opening the truck door for me and helping me up into the seat.  Somehow, I manage to buckle my seat belt, gasping as my chest prickles in pain from being touched.  “You don’t have to do this,”  he repeats.  “You don’t have to go back.  I’ll stay while you pack a bag and I’ll bring you back here.” I hear what he says.  I comprehend.  He is offering me safety.  He is offering me freedom.  He is offering me peace of mind.  “I don’t know,”  I whisper.  Everything looks different in the bright light of day.  And I ...

Like athletes, writers must train.  We all have tips, tricks, and resources to get our creativity flowing. I have a few favorite resources that I like to go to to inspire me.  One is a book,  "Journal to the Soul" by Rose Offner, and it is filled with many inspiring exercises to get you writing, such as the following exercise: The task? Write about your life or a piece of your life that you don't understand and would like to. Write it as a fairy tale or a short story. Include an obstacle that has yet to be overcome, an encounter that has significance, the gift you received, or the lesson learned, and how you came to triumph in the end. The  following is my response, originally written long hand, in green ink, in a hard bound journal with unlined pages on September 7, 2002: Once upon a time.... It was told that there was a little girl, who for various and mysterious reasons, became trapped within the body of a wicked and hideous witch. Now, this was no o...

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.  This is part one of a three part vignette that is an account of my experiences. It is bitter cold and dark, and I am running. I have to get away. I have to get away. I have to get away. One foot in front of the other and I have to get away. He is going to kill me if I don’t get away. A car turns onto the street in front of me. One foot in front of the other… The headlights catch me off guard. I have to get away. One foot in front of the other, and I slip on the ice and fall. The impact of my knee against the pavement brings me to my senses. It is dark. I have to get out of the way of the oncoming car. I roll to one side, sobbing hysterically. The pain is unbearable. The car slows. I try to sit up. The car door opens and I hear a voice without comprehending who is speaking. “Jesus Fucking Christ! What the FUCK ?” I don’t have the answer. My mouth moves, but my throat chokes on silent shrieks. I can taste fresh...

One thing about being a writer -- the greatest advice that we all have received is simple enough. Write what you know. How easy this seems at first. Sit down. Start vomiting words onto the page or onto the computer. Eventually, you will have a work of genius, because, as the saying goes, if you give x number of monkeys typewriters and x number of years to pound away on them, they will produce the collected works of Shakespeare. Right? Maybe.... Me, myself, am a firm believer in the writer within, so when faced with as simple a writing exercise as the one that inspired my previous blog post , I went with it. The mission? Write for ten minutes, non-stop, using the phrase "I remember". Keyword? NON-STOP. If you get hung up, start over. Keep going until you've exhausted all avenues. I don't care if you remember what color t-shirt your 4th grade bus driver was wearing. Write it all down. The point of this exercise is to get your thoughts moving. ...

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived an enchanted girl who liked to talk to herself on paper.  She spent hours, days, months, and years chronicling the angst-filled dramas of her adolescence.   With a candy cane shaped pen that wrote in red, peppermint-scented ink, she filled page after page of a pink, hard bound journal.  She most certainly wrote about crushes and divulged her innermost secrets on those pages, but the distance in space and time between then and now has made her memory of what secrets those pages wore... fuzzy. Of course, the peppermint-scented red ink ran out, and the pages of the pink journal soon filled up.  So, on she went to another journal, this one bound in blue floral fabric.   She was no longer discerning as to the color of ink that she wrote in as she continued to puzzle out the questions of her existence within the journal's blank lined pages.  She continued to chronicle her awkward adolescence as i...

Earlier today in a moment of what I thought was rather clever snark, I felt the need to tweet this into cyberspace: Dear potential employer. Congrats on finding my Twitter feed. Your prize is a zombie unicorn. Call me to claim it and schedule an interview. Yes, that's me making light of the fact that I do, in fact, have profiles on various social networking sites and I am completely aware of the fact that potential employers now use said profiles to determine whether or not candidates for job openings might be a good fit for their company.  (And yes, I am aware that someone reading this at any given point in time might be doing so for exactly that reason.) The last time I was in the market for a new job, the social network of choice was MySpace, and I had made an effort to keep everything about my profile there disassociated from my real name.  You see, I knew that people had been fired and also denied jobs because of what could be found on their MySpace page.  Not t...

I like to think that with any luck, I will manage to be late for my own funeral.  That's not to say that I'm not a punctual person.  No indeed!  I pride myself for being on time.  If I set a time and say, "I'll be there!", come rain, nor snow, nor dark of... oh, wait.... I'm not a letter carrier. Anyhoo. My name is Marie, and I have a procrastination problem.  I doubt very much that a twelve step program can save me anymore, because I'm getting too old and set in my ways.  And so, I've resigned myself to my fate.  I will forever be stressing over deadlines, whether they be outside sources or self-imposed.  My favorite thing to do when I have said deadline looming is to jump on the information highway and surf teh shiny interwebz until my eyes fall out research my chosen topics, but I tend to get distracted.  Often. Which in Mynx time, is something like every seven minutes, give or take. And so, my day goes something like this: W...