A best-selling author specializing in intense psychological thrillers, Rachael Tamayo has built her career on exploring the dark, twisted side of her characters' impulses and desires which has earned her and her work numerous awards. Now, in honor of our Women in Horror Movement, I talk with her about her early interest in writing, her style and approach, and her latest novel Mine.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?
Rachael Tamayo: I write in the genre of Horror’s favorite first cousin- the dark psychological thriller. Sometimes it can cross the line and be hard to tell the difference between them. I’ve always loved thrillers, especially the twisty ones that make you think, the psychological, the strange things the mind makes us think and do.
The possibilities are endless.
Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
RT: The first one I remember watching was the original Halloween. The House on Haunted Hill, the original black and white version, and the original The Haunting of Hill House, and anything Alfred Hitchcock. The movie Spellbound scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, but it’s a favorite now. There are also random oddballs in my memory bank that I can’t remember the titles of and I wonder why my parents were allowing me to watch this stuff at such a young age- haha! The Halloween series is still my favorite.
Me: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up? Do you try to take influences from their style with your own voice in your work?
RT: I was afraid to read horror growing up, I preferred thrillers, true crime, police procedure. I loved (still do) Ted Dekker. He’s not horror at all, but the way he writes is just so different and brilliant (The Circle series, for example) it always inspired me to write. Now my tastes are different, and you can see my reading list on my website. I review most everything I read on my blog.
Me: What was the starting point to becoming a writer? Were you always into writing growing up?
RT: Just write. And write, and write. Find your voice. Is it first person? Third? Past or present? What genre do you like? Discover that then move forward with perfecting what you’ve discovered.
And yes, I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil. I write stories as a child, I typed out novels on old used typewriters my dad used to get me when I was in high school. I stopped for a long time after marriage but it was always in the back of my mine. I picked it up in my mid-thirties and decided I was going to do it right and get published, and here I am nine books later.
Me: What is your writing process? How do you stay focused on writing?
RT: A lot of what I do is waiting, cooking ideas in my mind, and letting them stew. Waiting for the next scene to come to me, or a character to speak to me and tell me what they would do. I don’t write daily, and if it doesn't feel right in my gut, I will back up and hit that delete button until it does. I’m a “pantser” all the way and have no clue what I’m writing half the time. My current project, for example, I know I need to come up with an ending but It’s eluding me. I know it will come to me in time, they always so, so I keep going with what I have now, and I wait. I may have to go back and change something to make the ending fit, but that’s just part of the process.
As far as staying focused, it’s just part of who I am. If you catch me writing, don’t be surprised if you have to call my name a few times to pull me out of the world I’m in within my brain. Nothing else sucks me in like writing does. I can almost forget where I am sometimes.
Me: Is there any specific type of genre you prefer writing? Is there any style or format you find easier to get into even without a preference?
RT: I started writing Romance, but I never felt comfortable there. It wasn’t home for me, so to speak. Now I'm exclusive to dark psychological thrillers, a close cousin to horror for sure. I prefer to write in first person present tense, which many writers find very difficult, but I find that it’s easy for me to get deeply into the character’s head that way.
Me: Having contributed to various anthologies early in your career, what tools and skills do you acquire working on those that transferred to future projects?
RT: I think these are good, the main reason is most of these are pretty structures as far as theme and genre. It’s a writing challenge sometimes to come up with a short story for an anthology. It’s also a great way to find a new reader. A person that picks up one of these might not have heard of me, and when they stumbled on my short story, they might find something they love and go searching for more titles.
Me: What is the general process for getting involved in these projects?
RT: The ones I’ve joined have been through publishers. I’ve seen open calls in various places from time to time for them. I stay clear of the ones I have to pay to be included in, as I’m not self-published. That’s just a personal preference of mine.
Me: How did you settle on the plot for your new novel Mine?
RT: I think my head spun around a few times writing this one. I had to keep notes to keep track and often had to go read back and make sure I hadn’t missed something. It’s the most complicated plot I’ve ever come up with, and in all the drafts and notes and banging my head on the wall for ideas, I lost track of what my original idea was.
I can say this- I surprised myself and surpassed what I thought I could do in writing Mine. I wrote the prologue first (it was originally the first chapter) and then I decided I wanted an older set of characters. I’ve written quite a few in their late twenties, early thirties. Many of these are in their mid-forties, with issues like divorce and shared custody, and almost grown children. I didn’t want this story to be about some billionaire done wrong, I wanted it to be characters that you can relate to. People that you can imagine knowing- and I think I pulled it off.
Me: Was there any special significance to making the characters engage in illicit affairs? How do you vary the characterizations in these types of stories that repeat these themes of obsession and unattained greed?
RT: I think that comes from my background. I was a 911/Police dispatcher for twelve years and I have seen firsthand that monsters come in all shapes and sizes. And if pushed far enough, we all have that darkness within. It just takes the right kind of trauma to unlock it. I use that to create the darkness within relatable characters, knowing that no one is all bad or all good. My favorite part of writing is confusing the reader and creating characters they can’t decide if they like them or not because they are layered, because their motivations were caused by this or that, and it forced them to make a bad decision. Characters are my favorite part; they make the story. They make the plot. I mean, think about it, a fantastic story can be ruined by a flat, forgettable character.
Me: Was there any part of your real self injected into the characters?
RT: I’ve never thought about this. I guess every writer probably can’t help but sprinkling a little of themselves into each of their creations. Even if they don’t mean to. I don’t do it purposely, but I’d say it’s a possibility.
Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process of having it published?
RT: Once I’m satisfied with it, I read it again. Then I send it to a friend to read and lightly edit to make sure it still makes sense. Sometimes I push to beta readers I use for general feedback to be sure it’s ready. Then I send it to my publisher, hold my breath and wait to see if they like it. It’s always a worry that they will come back with- really? This is it? So far that hasn’t happened. I will sign the contract and they send me the editing schedule, and I do edit with deadlines with multiple editors so that new eyes catch mistakes that someone else might have missed. Then they send the book off to their own beta readers and I have one more shot to change something based on their feedback. After that, the book is set in stone and the rest is waiting and marketing for release.
Me: How do you do to keep your creative energy flowing?
RT: Reading. I read. I listen to audiobooks now; I love to hear them when I’m driving. Reading in and around the genre you write in is a must. You can get a feel for what works, what doesn’t what readers like based on what’s on the bestseller list, find sleeper hits and get so much inspiration for new things. You can learn from the masters, compare what you’re doing with what they are doing and push yourself a little harder.
Reading all the way.
Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!
RT: Mine is coming out this month and I’m so excited! I’m currently writing book four of the Deadly Sins series, based on the sin of Jealousy. This one has been hard because I got writers' block for a while, but I’m out of that now and it's moving along. I’m really proud of how it’s turning out, and when I say jealousy- if you know me and my twisted books- you will know there is so much more to it than the jealousy between a man and a women and one cheating on the other and the aftermath of that.
So much more!
To follow her work, check out her social media links:
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