Behind the Book (Black Diamonds) : New Blood: Victor Fontaine

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btbbdnewblood copyVictor Fontaine is a character who was in the works during the beginning stages of the series. In fact, he was a part of the original version of The Ace of Diamonds, which was later scrapped. His character was moved and introduced to what is now known and published as, Black Diamonds. While the character remained a part of the series, his persona completely changed. In the original version, Victor is a twenty-seven year old restaurant owner who is quiet, reserved, and easily intimidated. He is Blu’s sidekick because he is someone Blu can easily control and scare. He also had a strong passion for reading classics (books like Great Expectations). The idea for his character was actually inspired by a photograph I saw of Jay-Z and Kanye West in XXL Magazine. It was a recreation of a famous photograph of the late John F. Kennedy and his brother, the late Robert Kennedy. When I looked at the photo, Jay-Z appeared to be the one in charge and Kanye was there listening to an order. It reminded me of the relationship between Blu and Victor. One was the ringleader while the other was only second in command.

I didn’t change my mind about his character until I started watching Season 3 of VH1’s Single Ladies (now airing on Centric). I liked the persona of Terrence Franks (portrayed by Harold “House” Moore) and how he was tough as nails, ruggedly handsome, and had a great business sense. His character made me think of how Victor could be perceived. I didn’t want readers to think that Victor was soft or a man who couldn’t stand on his own so I decided to change his persona a bit. I made him slightly more like Terrence in the sense that he has great fashion sense and style, and has some clout about him.

"House"

“House”

In terms of Victor’s background, I’m going to reveal something that was not mentioned in Black Diamonds. Victor was adopted and raised in a single parent household. He has zero knowledge of his birth parents and never had a father figure. This information will be revealed in Diamonds N’ Roses, which is the fifth installment of The Diamond Collection series. As far as his physical appearance, Victor is dark-skinned, has a normal build for a male, and wears his hair cut in a Caesar.

To see how Victor Fontaine’s character pans out in Black Diamonds, check out a copy of the book on Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook.

Behind the Book (Black Diamonds): New Blood: Guillermo “Gully” Perez

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btbbdnewblood copyIt wasn’t my initial plan when I started writing The Diamond Collection series to have a character by the name of Guillermo “Gully” Perez. The idea for this character came about from me wanting Jay, the main male character, to have other blood ties in the series aside from his children. I easily could’ve resurrected his father or mother from the dead, but I settled on him having a cousin. With Gully, I figured, he could be Jay’s cousin by relation, but his “brother” in terms of the closeness of their relationship.

To start, Guillermo “Gully” Perez was actually born Guillermo Santiago. Gully’s father is Hector Santiago’s brother who I have not yet given a name (Hector Santiago is Jay’s father). He is full-blooded Puerto Rican, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to parents who both have Puerto Rican ancestry. Perez is Gully’s mother maiden name, a name he uses purposely to separate himself from all things Santiago. Just like Jay, both of his parents are deceased, however, they weren’t murdered. I haven’t came up with reasons as to why Gully’s parents are dead, but it will probably be something like a heart attack, cancer, etc.

jim-jones-featuring-trey-songz-the-sht-1

Jim Jones

Before I came up with the name Guillermo, I knew the character’s name was going to be Gully. I chose Gully because I wanted a name that represented a persona which was tough, mean, and hood. While it didn’t seem fitting to have a man in the book with a birth name of Gully, I knew it would have to be a nickname. I didn’t come up with Guillermo until I was watching an episode of Chrissy and Mr. Jones. Jim Jones had the appearance I was visualizing for Gully so I did a little Wikipedia search on the rapper and discovered the name Guillermo, which is actually Jim Jones’ middle name. It fit perfectly with the nickname Gully and made sense. I then gave him the last name Perez because of its Spanish origin.

Gully makes his first appearance in Book Four of The Diamond Collection, but will have a strong presence in the rest of the series. He will serve not only as Jay’s cousin, but also has his new right-hand, best friend, and “brother.” At this time, there are not any plans to give him a love interest, but this can always change. To see how the character, Guillermo Perez pans out in Black Diamonds, check out a copy of the book on Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook.

What I Watched: Fan Made Video of Nicki Minaj + SB

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I watched this, thinking it was going to be some sappy ol’ “I Miss You’ type song and it was actually clips of Nicki and SB with various remarks she made about him and their breakup in interviews. Ugh….and it just put me in all of my feelings as I started going down memory lane…Still I wanted to share.

Behind the Book (Black Diamonds): New Blood

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btbbdnewblood copySo I got the idea recently to start a part two to my blog series, Behind the Book. While it is too early to blog about the inspiration for scenes, etc, I realized I could delve into the background of the new characters without spoiling anything. Hence, the subtitle of the series, New Blood. I felt this was important because these new characters are going to be prevalent throughout the rest of the series. This series of Behind the Book is written to give you the background you probably won’t get in the books.

So, the characters I am going to focus on in this series are: Guillermo Perez, Victor Fontaine, and Roman Soliz. I did think about adding Jean Monet, but since she’s technically not a new character, I decided to leave her out. Besides, her story will be told in Part Six of The Diamond Collection, The Diamond Tiara. If you haven’t heard of these three male characters then you haven’t read Black Diamonds or you haven’t finished. This series will give you something to look forward to. If you are familiar with them then this will only give you a little bit more insight on their character. I hope you enjoy!

#RazzleDazzle

What I Watched: Tyrese “Shame”

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One of the reasons why I love Tyrese is because he goes so hard for whatever project he’s working on. Whether its a movie, TGT, or his own stuff, he promotes it so much that I can’t help but support him. I definitely had to check out his new single from his new album, Black Rose. Check out, “Shame,” which features a cameo from Jennifer Hudson.

Save The Date: Interview with WordSexy Radio

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Join me along with host, author Red Snapper (The Heated Addiction Within, Scandalous Motives, Memoirs of a Creole Crime Cartel ) as we discuss books, being an author, and more on WordSexy Radio! The interview will take place at 9pm EST on Tuesday, July 7th. The call-in number is 917-889-8206.

Happy Independence Day! #RazzleDazzle

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So the day is here, the official release date for Black Diamonds! The Kindle version of the book is currently available and the Nook version will be available shortly (sorry for the delay for all of you Nook users, unfortunately, this part is out of my hands, I simply have to wait for the book to get in their listings). In the meantime, enjoy your 4th and as always, Razzle Dazzle!

blackdiamindepend

Behind the Book (The Ace of Diamonds): Chapters Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, and Fifty

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btbaceofdiam copy

Well, here we are, the last final edition of Behind the Book for The Ace of Diamonds. I hope you enjoyed the review of Book Three of The Diamond Collection just as much as I enjoyed reviewing it. It was an excellent review as I finalized thing for Black Diamonds, which will be available on July 4th.

Chapter Forty-Eight
1. I’ve been the clean-up man since he got back in this game. – This line spoken by King actually came from a quote by Young Buck I read in a magazine. He was discussing how he was bringing G-Unit back on top because his album, Buck the World, was actually selling thus making him the clean-up man (he even had a song called Clean Up Man on the album). I felt like King was a clean-up man, too and decided to use the phrase in this scene.
2. Coco bit her lip as she thought about giving in to him. Her concern wasn’t necessarily in the physical pain that came with losing her virginity, it was the aftermath. She had heard countless stories about girls who had gave it up only to become single again. She didn’t want to be one of them. – If you’ve ever seen Aretha Franklin’s video with Lauryn Hill, A Rose Is Still a Rose, then you know the synopsis involved a “good girl” losing her virginity only to be ditched for another chick. I think this is one of the fears girls/women have when it comes to making that decision of losing their virginity. The whole idea of “giving it up” only to be ditched. Since Coco is a virgin, I wanted this to be her concern other than the whole, “What if I get pregnant?” or “Will it hurt?”
3. Her right hand was busy putting the final edits on a design while the paper next to it was a rough outline of his grandfather’s homegoing service. – While planning my own father’s funeral, I had several rough outlines of the service before turning in the final one to the funeral home. I figured Carmen should at least have the same.

Chapter Forty-Nine
1. “We commit his body to the ground,” Minister Harrison was saying, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him, the Lord make His face to shine upon him.” – I had to research how to conduct funerals in order to get this quote. Believe me, this part wasn’t fun. I don’t like looking at caskets especially not at night. This line is from Lotus’ burial ceremony.
2. She took a deep breath and knelt down in front of Tricia’s tombstone. “Well, it’s not a secret that we weren’t the best of friends,” she told her. “I wouldn’t exactly say we were enemies, but we had our differences. For some reason, we never confronted each other about them. I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. What I do know is that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that your kids grow up to be successful. I know you’re proud of them and so am I. Without you, I wouldn’t have them. I guess that means I’m indebted to you.” Carmen placed the lily bouquet on the right side of the tombstone. “I know that I could never take you or Consuelo’s place. I don’t want to. I just want to make you proud,” she continued. – One of the things I regret about Book Two, Diamonds are Forever, is that there was never a scene where Carmen and Tricia had a conversation. I tried to make up for it in this book, but there were a slew of things that couldn’t be discussed because Tricia is dead. IY YI YI… too late to change it now.

Lil' Kim

Lil’ Kim

Chapter Fifty
1. “I’m not taking my foot off his neck. – This line spoken by Kane, is actually a Lil’ Kim quote. She said this in regards to Nicki Minaj during an interview with Angie Martinez. I loved it so much, not because it was in reference to Nicki, because I’m a fan of the Harajuku Barbie, but because I thought it was very ferocious.
2. I guess I better start calling the DreamGirlz now. – The DreamGirlz is actually two of my friends who were looking to start an event planning business. I’m putting them in my series as the event planners Carmen is using for her wedding. They will appear as characters in Book Five, Diamonds N’ Roses.
3. Blu glanced periodically out of the window as he was led down the streets of Copperton City. – This is the first line of the last scene in The Ace of Diamonds. In the original version of the book, this is the FIRST line in the FIRST scene of the entire book.
4. While the money was good, he wanted to get his hands on the black diamonds that he knew Jay possessed. – I dropped the words black diamonds here on purpose as a teaser for the fourth book, Black Diamonds.
5. “See nothing in the air but green dollar signs/ they say I can’t claim it, but from the looks, its mine/ I love the way it shines/ my ski mask, the next in line/ I steal with cats cryin’/ my eye is set on the diamond” – These six bars, part of a fictional rap song that Kristian is listening, too, are actually original rap lyrics written by me. It’s not a full-out song, but just something I wrote quickly for the scene

Behind the Book (The Ace of Diamonds): Chapters Forty-Five, Forty-Six, and Forty-Seven

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btbaceofdiam copyChapter Forty-Five
1. Therefore, he headed towards the den were he knew Patricia was. He hadn’t seen her since they had returned to the house and he wanted to check up on her before he left. – This scene where Jay goes to check on Patricia is supposed to show readers that the two did have a cordial relationship at one point in time.
2. “Birds of a feather may flock together, but you can’t fly with the eagles if you’re hanging with the chickens. – In my father’s kitchen, years ago, there was a magnet which said the famous quote, “You can’t fly with the eagles if you’re hanging with the chickens.” I thought this quote would be a good response for Patricia since Jay said, “Birds of a feather flock together.”

Chapter Forty-Six
I didn’t want to skip this chapter, but after reading it, there wasn’t anything in it to really dissect. I will say that some of the things Kristian said to her mother in this chapter, I never could imagine saying to mine. All right, moving right along to Chapter Forty-Seven.

untteeitled

Teairra Mari

Chapter Forty-Seven
1. The park had always been her refuge and thankfully, it didn’t fail her this time. – In this scene, Kristian goes to the park after her argument with her mother. I chose the park because I knew Nicholas was going to be in this scene and in Book Two, Diamonds are Forever, it was a place they were always at together.
2. Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see life with a clearer view again.”- This quote by Alex Tan, spoken by Nicholas, was inserted in this scene on purpose. I did a search on quotes about tears and crying and settled on this one. Nicholas uses this quote to announce his presence to Kristian.
3. Now, she was eighteen, appeared to be more mature, and had the body of Teairra Mari. – This is Nicholas’ description of Kristian. I guess this is the part where I say that I always see Teairra Mari in my head when I’m writing about Kristian.
4. Daddy always said, Carmen thought, whatever is done in darkness will come to light. – This thought of Carmen’s is a reference to the theme of Book One, Diamonds in the Rough.

Sneak Peek at VH1’s “She Got Game”

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So, I first saw a clip of Game’s new show on IG and of course, IG went crazy because all of the bachelorettes in Game’s new show are light-skinned. Most people who know me, know I am a big fan of Game. As a big fan, I’ve read a few articles and interviews where its been stated that he prefers light-skin women over dark-skinned women. This has never changed my view of him because every one has their preference. I know women who prefer dark-skinned men over light-skinned and vice versa. People want what they want and regardless of what we think, they will continue to want what they want in a mate. Besides, the women who really have a problem with it aren’t going to be dating him anyway, lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kzVwvqYNM8

Challenge: Can You Eat Healthy On A Budget of $40 for 2 Weeks

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IMG_7350I decided to do this challenge after seeing all these food stamp challenges. I also wanted to know if I could create a 2 week meal plan that would allow me to stick to a $40 budget to include 3 meals and snacks for 2 weeks. Of course, this would only work if I had a few staples already in the house. I also would have to pay attention even more to serving sizes and meal plan, meal plan, meal plan! This challenge is posted after I completed it to show what I spent.

What Did I Already Have?

Oatmeal – A container of oatmeal has 11 servings (depending on what size you buy) if you eat the serving size which is 1/2 cup of dry oats. I already had a container in my cupboard and had only eaten 3 servings during my 7 Day Challenge so that left me with 8 servings. Since I don’t want to eat the same thing every day for breakfast, I will probably alternate. With 8 servings to eat, I can eat oatmeal 4 times out the 1st week and 4 times out the second.

Grits- I saw two containers of grits in my cupboard during the start of the 7 Day Challenge and thought I was good to go for the week. Then I found out that one of the containers was practically empty and the other one was about to be. I had to buy a bag of grits a week before I started this challenge which allowed me to mark this off my grocery list.

Three Cheese Sharp Shredded Cheese- I’m not even sure what I originally bought this for, but I still had it in the fridge and it doesn’t expire until September of this year. I plan on using this in my Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla

Real Bacon Pieces (Low Sodium)- my Aunt told me about this quick easy breakfast which involves grits, real bacon pieces and cheese. Real bacon pieces is cheaper than turkey bacon so there is savings there. Besides, I only eat bacon in my grits anyway.

Kraft Light Sour Cream

Rice Pilaf (2 boxes)- I got this at Wal-Mart during the 7 Day Challenge, it was marked down to $1 a box.

Cereal

Popcorn

Turkey Patties- leftover from the 7 Day Challenge

Pancake Mix

Light Ranch dressing

Jelly

Taco Seasoning

Hash browns

Chips- I am trying not to eat chips, but since I have 5 bags of chips, in the event I get hungry at work, I’ll grab one

Staples: Eggs, mayo, sweet relish, light margarine, peanut butter

Grocery List

  • Farmers Market (First Visit)
  1. 4 Bananas- I like to eat bananas in my oatmeal. I only need 8 bananas to go with my 8 servings of oatmeal. Well, technically 4 because only half a banana is needed in oatmeal, but you get the picture. However, since I don’t like my bananas really ripe, I bought 4 from the Farmer’s Market and at the top of the 2nd of week, I bought another 4
  2. 4 Baked Potatoes – there’s something about having a potato with fish, whether its mashed or baked. Hopefully I can find 4 really good ones for a great price
  3. 1 zucchini
  4. 1 squash

Total Spent: $3.24

  • Farmers Market (Second Visit)

1. 4 Bananas

2. 2 Plum Tomatoes

Total Spent: $1.40

Total Spent at the Farmers Market: $4.64

Notes: I definitely could’ve gotten more squash and zucchini on my first visit considering the price at the Farmers Market, but once I slice these two veggies up, it spreads very well so only 2 are needed. Never again will I buy produce from a supermarket. I normally spend $4 on 4 microwave-ready potatoes. Here at the market, I didn’t even spend $4 on everything I got.

  • Wally World (Wal-Mart- First Visit)
  1. Bag of Salmon (I bought this during the 7 Day Challenge for only $3.25. This week, it was $3.97)
  2. 1 bag of broccoli florets
  3. 1 pack of English Muffins (12-count) (I could’ve gotten a 6-pack of whole wheat bagels for less, but I chose the English muffins because its lower in calories)

Total Spent: $7.69

  • Wally World (Second Visit)

1. Salad Mix

Total Spent: 1.48

Note: I couldn’t find the bag for .99 that was for 2 servings so I had to buy the 4 serving bag.

Total Spent at Wally World: $9.17

Save-A-Lot (I prefer Save-A-Lot over Aldi only because they give you bags, lol)

  1. 1 can of black beans
  2. 1 can of whole kernel corn
  3. 1 jar of Mild Salsa
  4. 1 pack of whole wheat tortillas (10 count)
  5. 1 package of Sandwich cheese
  6. Bacon bits (this is actually for my baked potato since I’m using real bacon pieces for my grits)
  7. Cream of Mushroom soup
  8. Crackers
  9. 1 can of spinach
  10. 1 can of green beans
  11. 1 can of collard greens
  12. Yogurt (4)
  13. Pinto Beans (2 cans)
  14. 1 loaf of whole wheat bread
  15. 2 packs of Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (3 breasts each)
  16. 1 pack of chicken drumsticks

Total Spent at Save-A-Lot: $25.79

What Did I Spend?

I spent a total of $39.60. While I intended to show copies of all my receipts, I accidentally threw away the receipts to the Farmers’ Market and to Wally World on my second visits.

Farmers Market (First Visit)
Save-A-Lot
Wally World (First Visit)

Meal Plan (Week One)

Sunday 06/07/2015

Breakfast: Oatmeal, 1 banana, 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Lunch: 1 chicken drumstick, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of spinach

Dinner: Moe’s Grill to support the Theta Eta Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho’s fundraiser (EEE-YIP!)

Monday 06/08/2015

Breakfast: 1 serving of grits, 1 tbsp of Real Bacon pieces, and 1 slice of sandwich cheese, and 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: 1 chicken drumstick, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of spinach

Dinner: 4 oz of salmon, baked potato with butter, bacon bits and sour cream, 1 cup of broccoli florets

Tuesday 06/09/2015

Breakfast: Oatmeal, 1 banana, 1 toasted English muffin with 1/2 a  tbsp of light butter

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: 1 chicken drumstick, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of spinach

Dinner: 4 oz of salmon, baked potato with butter, bacon bits and sour cream, 1 cup of broccoli florets

Wednesday 06/10/2015

Breakfast: 1 serving of grits, 1 tbsp of Real Bacon pieces, and 1 slice of sandwich cheese and 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: Shredded Chicken with brown rice, cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of collard greens

Dinner: 4 oz of salmon, baked potato, 1 cup of broccoli florets

Thursday 06/11/2015

Breakfast: Egg Muffin Sandwich ( 1 English Muffin with 1 egg, 1/2 tbsp of butter, and 1 tbsp of bacon bits)and 1 banana

Lunch: Shredded Chicken with brown rice, cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of collard greens

Snack: Yogurt

Dinner: 4 oz of salmon, baked potato, 1 cup of broccoli florets

Friday 06/12/2015

Breakfast: 1 serving of grits, 1 tbsp of Real Bacon pieces, and 1 slice of sandwich cheese and 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: Shredded Chicken with brown rice, cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of collard greens

Dinner: 1 broccoli and cheese baked potato and 4 Chicken Nuggets from Wendy’s

Saturday 06/13/2015

Snack: 1 banana

Breakfast: 1 serving of grits with butter, slice of cheese and 2 turkey patties and 1 English Muffin with butter

Lunch: Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla (Check out the recipe here!)

Dinner: Shredded Chicken with brown rice, cream of mushroom soup and 1 cup of California Style Vegetable Mix (leftover from the 7 Day Challenge)

_____________________________________

Meal Plan (Week Two)

Sunday 06/14/2015

Breakfast: Egg Muffin Sandwich ( 1 English Muffin with 1 egg, 1/2 tbsp of butter, and 1 tbsp of bacon bits)

Lunch: Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla

Dinner: 4 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 cup of cooked/sliced  zucchini+ squash mix, 1/2 cup of  pinto beans

Monday 06/15/2015

Breakfast: Oatmeal and 1 banana, 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Lunch: 4 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 cup of zucchini/ squash mix, 1/2 cup of pinto beans

Snack: Yogurt

Dinner: Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla

Tuesday 06/16/2015

Breakfast:2 Black Bean and Corn Burritos (I made burritos with the leftover mix versus quesadillas)

Lunch: 4 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 cup of zucchini/ squash mix, 1/2 cup of pinto beans

Snack: Crackers and Peanut Butter

Dinner: 1 drumstick, 1/2 cup of pinto beans, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of green beans

Wednesday 06/17/2015

Breakfast: Oatmeal and 1 banana, 1 toasted English muffin with 1 tbsp of light butter

Lunch: Shredded Chicken with brown rice, cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of collard greens (leftovers!)

Snack: Crackers and Peanut Butter

Dinner: 1 drumstick, 1/2 cup of pinto beans, 1 serving of rice pilaf

Thursday 06/18/2015

Breakfast: 2 sausage burritos and 2 hash browns from McDonalds’ (I was running late and had a cheat meal)

Lunch: 1 drumstick, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of pinto beans

Dinner: Chicken Salad (1/4 of the salad mix with baked chicken, tomatoes, eggs, and light ranch dressing)

Friday 06/19/2015

Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 serving of grits, 1 tbsp of Real Bacon pieces, and 1 slice of sandwich cheese

Lunch: Chicken Salad (1/4 of the salad mix with baked chicken, tomatoes, eggs, and light ranch dressing)

Dinner: 1 drumstick, 1 serving of rice pilaf, 1/2 cup of pinto beans

Saturday 06/20/2015

Breakfast: No breakfast this morning. I slept in

Lunch: Chicken Salad (1/4 of the salad mix with baked chicken, tomatoes, eggs, and light ranch dressing)

Dinner: My uncle treated me to a cheat meal at Ryan’s.