Tag: fiction

Posted in updates

Life Changes, and Catching Up

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Whew! It’s been an eventful time since the last post, and I have a lot of news to share.

First and foremost, I am no longer a teacher. I decided to quit for the sake of my mental health. The stress of it all led to an unhealthy condition. With help, I have managed said condition. I’m in a better place now, and I feel more like myself than I ever did working in the public school setting. It was the right choice for me.

It was a big decision, but my family has been supportive and understanding. It feels strange not being in the classroom in front of students. Though I missed teaching the future generation, I know I had to step back.

As many of you know, or don’t know, I also went back for my master’s. Another reason for quitting my job was to finish my MFA. This program required me to write an 80-k word thesis, aka a novel, and without the extra time, I wouldn’t have completed it. My thesis took up the majority of my time, but I got it done!

I got it done!

It took me about four drafts to complete. After the second draft, I completely changed the point of view, so I had to rewrite it. Then, I had to work on the developmental edits and then the line editing. I’ve never been so exhausted yet proud all at the same time.

Currently, I am waiting on an editorial letter from my professor post-term. My plan is to do one more round of edits, then seek out beta readers. I’m not too sure about publishing times, but I’ve started building an agent list so I can query them later.

My MFA program helped me create my pitch, query letter, and synopsis. I am quite confident in my querying package. However, I do plan on giving it a once-over before I use anything.

This brings me to another piece of good news! I’m a recent MFA graduate! All that hard work paid off. My commencement is this weekend (I chose the virtual option), and I can’t be more excited. It’s been my dream to have a master’s degree. It’s definitely for self-fulfilment, but also gets me closer to one of my dreams: to teach at the collegiate level. One of the requirements is to have a master’s. While teaching was tough and stressful, I did fall in love with it. I also love writing, so I wanted to make a career out of the two.

I did it!

Another piece of good news is that I did it! The path to publishing has gotten closer. At the end of the year (2025), I began submitting to literary magazines. One of the reasons is that my MFA required a short story submission as a graduation requirement.

Another reason is that as a college professor, I need a publication record, and I need more opportunities for my work to be seen. The publishing path for novels is long, and I didn’t want to wait. So every month, I’ve submitted to at least one literary magazine with the hopes of being accepted.

Guess what? My work got accepted! You can read the announcement here. My work is going to officially going to be printed in an anthology. This is the first step to my dreams. While publication is forthcoming, it still feels amazing. I can say I’m a published author now.

Going forward, I’m planning on continuing my submission schedule (one lit magazine a month) while also building my author platform. I recently joined Threads and Instagram and will be setting up a newsletter soon. I want to make writing a larger part of my life, so I’m getting a head start.

Wish me luck!

-Kassandra

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Game Over

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

 

Game Over
Find Source Here

I took a shuddering breath. My lungs felt like they were about to cave in. What was this? I must be seeing things. There was no way this was a video game. Stuff like this didn’t happen in real life. This was real and I knew I was going to die. There was no way around that.

Somehow I managed to look away from the screen. There were figures around my bed but I couldn’t tell who they were. One of them held my hand, squeezing tightly. I felt their warmth but didn’t have the strength to squeeze back. Their voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. There were two others by the foot of the bed. I couldn’t recognize their faces either.

My memory was a bit hazy. I remember an accident and that my parents had been with me. No one had told me about them and I couldn’t manage to. Would they tell me if I asked? I couldn’t move either. My strength faded with each passing moment.

Again the screen flashed with the two options.

Maybe I was crazy for entertaining the thought. It wasn’t like I had any regrets. I got into a good college and attended school for two years, but I hadn’t enrolled for the next semester. There wasn’t anything I wanted to be. I’d thought if I took some time off, I could decide.

My parents had been okay with it. It’s why we decided to go on a family vacation . . . but then the accident happened. It was all coming back to me. And I knew, deep down, even if no one told me, that my parents were gone.

At the thought, my throat squeezed painfully. There was no point in staying then. There was nothing for me here.

Tiredly, I looked at the screen again. ‘Try again’ or ‘End Game’, huh? The decision was easy enough.

End Game.

Gradually, my vision darkened. The darkness started from the corners of my vision. It spread towards the center, darkening the blurred figures. Finally, the darkness reached the center and my vision went black.