Win a copy of TASTE.
Join us in welcoming Kate Evangelista to Guilty Pleasures. Kate is kicking off her TASTE Blog Tour today. Please be sure to visit all the stops throughout the tour.
The Evolution of Taste
I was a high school teacher when the beginnings of Taste first came to me. At the school I taught at, there was this practice of ringing a bell in the afternoon to signal that all remaining students on campus must be at the guardhouse to wait for their parents to pick them up. I always wondered why they did this. What was it about the campus during the afternoons that students aren’t allowed to roam around after a certain time? The practical reason would be that the nuns who ran the school were at prayer and need absolute silence. But the writer in me wouldn’t leave it at that. The practice of ringing the bell sparked my imagination. I began thinking of more supernatural reasons as to why students didn’t need to be on campus past a certain hour. This is why the beginning of Taste shows Phoenix waking up in the library to the ringing of bells.
One would think that because of my burst of inspiration, I would have begun writing Taste, but that wasn’t the case. Being a teacher took over every aspect of my life. I only had time to sleep, and there was barely enough of that. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed teaching. Every time I saw understanding in the eyes of my students after a lesson, I was elated—I actually helped someone learn something. But, deep down, I knew teaching wasn’t for me. Every time I woke up in the morning, I would ask myself: Is this what I want to do ten years from now? And the answer was always no. It took me a couple of years to get around to writing Taste. I finally realized that being a writer, sharing the stories of the characters in my head, was my life’s work.
Now, when inspiration strikes, I don’t wait years before I act on it. I know this is a cliché, but time really is too short to waste on doing something you don’t find fulfillment in. Okay, I’ve digressed from the main point of this post. Bear with me because it might happen again at some point.
Anyway, when I finally sat down and started writing Taste, it was still titled Lunar Heat. I was going for a play on words that involved the LunarGarden in the story. For those who’ve read Taste, you know where the LunarGarden is. At the time, I didn’t know anything about writing. Sure, I could write, but formatting, proper grammar, and pacing was beyond me. I didn’t even understand how to properly use the first person narrative. But the lack of knowhow didn’t stop me. I kept writing until I had a first draft ready.
When the first draft was complete, I made the mistake of asking my friends to help edit. What I love about friends is that they will never hesitate to compliment you on everything you do. For a writer, this is a good ego boost, but it doesn’t necessarily help you grow within your craft. Unless you have a friend who is willing to give you constructive criticism about your work, stay away from letting friends edit your work. That’s one lesson learned in this process.
The first draft was around the time I started doing my research about the writing process. I even had the guts to submit Lunar Heat to agents without the manuscript even being close to ready. This endeavor ended in a pile of rejection letters. Save yourself the agony and make sure to learn a thing or two first. I wish someone had told me that at the beginning. But, of course, like with many of us, we learn things on our own. So, I started following blogs that had anything to do with writing. And one of them actually featured an ad for a writer who was looking for a critique partner. I didn’t know what a critique partner was, but I took a leap of faith and answered the ad. This leap led me down the path of many emails exchanged between many critique partners. Some of them I still keep in contact with. One of them even became my sister in writing. Check the dedication of Taste and the acknowledgement section to understand what I mean.
Armed with new knowledge about writing, I set about editing Lunar Heat to the ground.
When you think you’ve edited your manuscript enough, that’s a sign that you need to edit it some more. But one thing I learned through this process is that you don’t need a perfect manuscript. There is no such thing as a perfect manuscript. Those are mythical creatures. Why is this? Because your future editor will still ask you to change many things within the story. What you need to do is get your manuscript to a point where editors will see the potential in the story and want to help you make it better. How do you know when you’re there? When you start getting request for partial or full submissions.
After editing for about a year—yes, you got that right, a year—I began submitting Lunar Heat to agents. And after six months, I finally got “The Call.” I thought to myself, finally, I have an agent, next stop, publishing. So, I eagerly waited for my agent’s editorial notes for Lunar Heat. Yes, folks, more editing. When he was satisfied that Lunar Heat was ready for submission, we changed the title to Taste and he sent it out to editors. Long story short, and saving you from all the heartbreak that comes with this part of my life, after five rejections from editors, my agent lost confidence in submitting Taste. It was downhill from there. Another lesson learned, you never want an agent who losses confidence in your writing. Nothing good comes of it.
So, after a year of nothing happening with my agent, I decided to let him go and start querying Taste to other agents and smaller publishing houses. My goal was to get Taste published so I could share Phoenix’s story with the world. This meant more editing. And when requests started filling my inbox from agents and publishers about full submissions, I thought to myself, here we go again. Another chance.
Finally, two months after parting ways with my agent, I received an email from Crescent Moon Press. They wanted to publish Taste! I was finally going to be a published author. My dream was coming true. And you know what I realized after my excitement and elation wore off? More editing to come.
Basically, Taste evolved the way it is today because of all the editing that’s been done to it. The biggest lesson I learned through writing Taste was to love the editing process. I realized that getting the story onto the page is important, but it is through editing where you find the diamond in the rough. Editing is where you find the real story, where your creativity is challenged the most. Some hate editing, and rightfully so, because it’s not the easiest process. You need to learn compromise and always remind yourself that all the notes and suggestions are for the good of the story. At least, that was what I kept reminding myself. Once I opened myself up to the editing process, I realized that there was so much more to learn when it comes to being a writer.
I guess, at the beginning of this post, I set out to show all of you how Taste’s story evolved through the years, but in the end, I showed all of you how I evolved. It’s funny how things work out that way. With Taste’s release last April 30, 2012 (which is so surreal, by the way, that I’m at this point already) I know that my journey to being a writer is just beginning. That I have more stories I want to share with the world. That I have so much more to learn and so many more people to meet.
I would like to take this moment, to thank Guilty Pleasures for letting me take over the blog today. I had so much fun hanging out today. Thank you so much for having me. I dare you to break curfew!
Win a copy of TASTE
at the end of the tour Kate will give away 5 digital copies and one print copy. The winners will be selected using rafflecopter on January 17.
Taste Trailer
Song Credits: “Hunger” © Noelle Pico.
Full Download available at http://sheisnoelle.bandcamp.com
Taste Blurb:
At Barinkoff Academy, there’s only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.
When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneathBarinkoffAcademy.Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
Author Bio:
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: 
entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master’s courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.
Author Website: www.kateevangelista.com
Twitter: @KateEvangelista
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Evangelista/165693410143202
Find Taste on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13484226-taste
Crescent Moon Press page for Taste: http://crescentmoonpress.com/books/Taste.html
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taste-ebook/dp/B007Z1AC78
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/taste-kate-evangelista/1110599907?ean=9781937254551
The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Taste-Kate-Evangelista/9781937254551
Be sure to visit all the stops on the TASTE Blog Tour to increase your chances to win.
January 7
Guilty Pleasures
My Library in the Making
January 8
Read Your Writes Book Reviews
The Revolving Bookcase
A Dream Within A Dream
January 9
The Readers Roundtable Young & the Restless
What’s On the Bookshelf
Lebooksquirrel
January 10
Fade Into Fantasy
The Solitary Bookworm
My Life With Boys and Books
Storey Book Reviews
January 11
The Book Whisperer
High-Strung
Book Bitches Blog
January 12
Heart Braking Reviews
Moosubi Reviews!
Open the Page
January 13
Bookittyblog
Just Me,Myself,and I
Smardy Pants Book Blog
January 14
Sugar and Spice Book Reviews
The Reflections of a Bookworm
Cover2CoverBlog
January 15
My Life Beyond Labels
Escape2Books
Dizneeee’s World of Books
January 16
Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost!
Bookworm Brandee
Shh Moms Reading
20 comments
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Meredith
January 7, 2013 at 10:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I love reading these kind successes, through lots of hard work. Congrats!
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 7:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you so much for hanging out, Maredith!
Slick~Guilty Pleasures Reviewer
January 7, 2013 at 11:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for being with us today and sharing your journey!
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 7:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the post. *hugs*
Eileen
January 7, 2013 at 12:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I have to hand it to you for your perseverence to get your story out there. That is why I’ll never be a writer. I don’t think I could do it all. Congrats on your published story! I wish you more to come. Thanks for the chance.
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 7:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
You never know. I never thought writing would be the career for me until I made the decision to really take it seriously. Thank you for hanging out with me today.
Kerry
January 7, 2013 at 12:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Congratulations and I hope to see more of your work!!
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 8:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you, Kerry! Besides Taste, there’s Reaping Me Softly too.
Sandy Lion
January 7, 2013 at 5:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sexy cover. sdylion(at)gmail(dot)com
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 8:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you, Sandy!
I’m glad you like it.
Lori Meehan
January 7, 2013 at 7:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Congrats on you fabulous journey. Looking forward to the book.
Kate Evangelista
January 7, 2013 at 8:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you, Lori! Couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people.
Timitra
January 7, 2013 at 8:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I love the sound of Taste!
Kate Evangelista
January 8, 2013 at 7:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I hope you enjoy the read, Timitra.
lisagk
January 8, 2013 at 12:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Congrats and good luck as you continue your journey. Thanks for the post.
Kate Evangelista
January 8, 2013 at 7:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you, Lisa! I hope you grab a copy of Taste.
Mary Preston
January 8, 2013 at 3:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m looking forward to reading TASTE. It looks amazing.
Kate Evangelista
January 8, 2013 at 7:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Let me know what you think of the read, Mary. Happy Reading!
erinf1
January 8, 2013 at 11:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Congrats to Kate on the new release! Sounds fantastic
bn100
January 8, 2013 at 9:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nice post.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com