Rachael Tamayo

| FEATURE AUTHOR |

(a local trampoline park), and my son just started school again finally. I think the stress of the pandemic and not knowing that might come next has had its effects on everyone.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Ted Dekker is my number one favorite. His Circle Series is so brilliant, I’d love to talk to him. Stephen King, cause- I mean come on- and Jane Austin.

Uncaged: Have any of your characters ever done something that you didn’t intend when you began?

I would say yes. But I hate to go into detail, that would be telling.

Uncaged: What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?

I enjoy karaoke at home with my husband, having dance parties with my three-year-old, playing Mario Kart with my son, and watching movies. I also listen to Audiobooks every chance I get. I’m currently listening to the new Hunger Games book by Suzanne Collins.

Uncaged: What does success as an author look like to you?

I think real success is when the readers reach out and tell you how much they love your books, even if you aren’t on a best seller list. We do this because we have a passion and sharing that passion with the world is so exposing that when someone reaches out that connected with a book it makes it all worth it.

Uncaged: Do you prefer ebooks, audiobooks or physical books? Are you reading anything now?

I am guilty of falling head over heals for audio books. I’m currently reading the new Hunger Games book by Suzanne Collins, and I think next I will venture into

the Twilight series, since I’ve never read it before and I need to see what the hype is all about. I usually read thrillers, but I love a good long series.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Reach out to me and tell me how you connected with my books, what you want to see next, and tell me what you think. I love hearing from readers.

Enjoy an excerpt from Carnal Knowledge

Carnal Knowledge Rachael Tamayo Psychological Thriller

What do you do when you know you’re on a serial killer’s hit list?

Six women are dead, and Wren Addison is the next victim on the SMS Killer’s list—or so she’s been told after waking in a pool of blood with no memory of the events that have transpired.

Newly separated and struggling to start her life over after her husband’s infidelity, Wren tries to remember what happened to her, but nothing is adding up as more horrors unfold around her. With her life on a timer and the murderer taunting her, she realizes there is nothing typical about this serial killer.

Wren is pushed to the edge as she dances between knowing she’s likely to die and fighting to be the first to survive. As the truth starts to emerge, she rises to the challenge and decides not to go down without a fight.  

Someone is going to die, and she’s determined it won’t be her.

| RACHAEL TAMAYO |

The tears blur my vision, but I can still see the red stain on the floor muddled by the water that drips from my eyes. I drag my hand under my nose, looking at the spatter around me. Standing, I look at the sheets, more red. The blankets are ripped, the sheets half off the bed. Bedside lamp is on the floor, my phone screen is shattered.

Not knowing what else to do, I gather the linens from the bed and walk them down the hall, stuffing them into my front-loading washing machine before starting the load. I gather the Clorox bleach spray and a wad of paper towels to clean the wood laminate floor.

It takes a while, but now it looks normal again. The blood is gone. Normal except for the bare mattress and the bleach smell. By this time, I’m almost brave enough to look down. My tears are gone, my vision is clear. I have been terrified to look, scared that I am the source of blood. A wound that I can’t face, or maybe can’t feel somewhere that might have caused this mess. I look down at my body, naked, spattered. I see no cuts, no anything that would suggest blood loss of this magnitude. My head hurts now, so much that I can’t concentrate enough to be afraid, or think on what the last thing I remember is, or how I got here, who I might have brought home with me. The answers to the questions that the police would ask, if I were to go to them, which I won’t.

Blood, it’s drying on my thighs. I didn’t go to bed naked. I don’t even remember going to bed or coming home. But that is where I woke up, waking up when you didn’t even know you went to sleep, or passed out, or whatever the hell this is. I gingerly touch the back of my head, feeling the growing lump there. My blonde hair feels matted, tangled. Source of the headache.

The blood is mine... I think. At least the pain I have tells me that at least some of it is probably mine.

CATCH UP

The writing duo, Char Chaffin and Cheryl Yeko, collectively known as CiCi Cordelia, come back to Uncaged to talk about their latest book in the Brides of Little Creede series.

Uncaged: Welcome back to Uncaged! You are releasing the 4th book of the Brides of Little Creede in September, The Runaway Wife. Can you tell readers more about this book and the series?

Hi, Cyrene. Thank you for having us back to discuss the Brides of Little Creede Series. We’ve had so much fun writing these characters, and our readers seem to agree. To date, the Brides of Little Creede Series has garnered eight writing awards, including a runner up in the Uncaged Raven Awards.

The Runaway Wife, Book Four introduces a new hero to CiCi’s devoted readers, Sam Singleton. A fun little tidbit . . . CiCi’s hero on the book cover is Michael Wayne Foster, model and actor, known for his role in The Walking Dead TV Series, and he’s currently shooting a movie in Hollywood. How cool is that? We had the pleasure of meeting Michael a few years ago at a writers’ conference. A very nice man with a huge sense of humor, it’s great having him represent CiCi’s hero. Sam is a former riverboat gambler and hired-gun, turned security expert for the town’s new, flamboyant Gambling Galleria, owned by none other than Knight Gleason, the redheaded, brash Southern-Irish riverboat entrepreneur readers first met in The Innocent Wife (Book Three). Sam’s got his hands full, policing poker tourneys, thwarting cheating gamblers, uncovering unsavory criminal activity, rescuing pantry thieves . . .

Well, one pantry thief by the name of Izzy McDougall, who has a very good reason to be rooting through the Galleria’s kitchen pantry in the first place. Izzy’s the perfect foil for the strong, rough-around-the-edges and fiercely loyal Sam.

Uncaged: What are you working on now that you can tell us about?

Under CiCi, we’re working on Book Five in the Brides of Little Creede Series, The High Society Wife. Our outline is mostly completed and Chapter 1 is almost done. We’re also working on a Romantic Suspense Thriller that we hope to have out by late next year. rary romance, Made for Each Other, and Cheryl is working on the fourth book in her award-winning Hero series, but doesn’t have a name yet. Busy. Busy . . .

Uncaged: How has the coronavirus pandemic changed your lifestyle?

Like most folks, we are both sheltering at home as much as possible. No conferences this year, and we aren’t able to get together for a writing retreat. But we continue to talk daily, either on the phone or Facebook messenger. We plan to set up Zoom meetings in the future for busier brainstorming days.

Uncaged: Are there any promotional events for 2020 that are on hold for now because of the pandemic?

All of them, actually. The most disappointing one was this year’s RONE award, where CiCi is a finalist for both The Innocent Wife, Book Three in the Brides of Little Creede Series, and Healing Emily’s Heart, a contemporary novella. Last year’s conference was canceled due to some reshuffling with the organization, and the winners were announced via video. Since CiCi’s book The Substitute Wife (Book One of the Brides of Little Creede) won in last year’s historical fiction category, and we weren’t able to attend to receive our award, we were so looking forward to this year’s event and walking down that red carpet all dressed to the nines. Alas, it was not meant to be . . . Who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm with The Runaway Wife!

CiCi Cordelia is the pen name for the writing team of award-winning authors Char Chaffin and Cheryl Yeko. Published authors in their own right, they share a love for well-written