Chapter Forty-Two
I didn’t want to skip this chapter, but after reading it, there wasn’t anything in it to really dissect. Therefore I’ll be moving right along to Chapter Forty-Three.

Chapter Forty-Three
1. Her father couldn’t be dead. It wasn’t possible. – This was the easiest and the hardest scene to write. This is the part of the book where Carmen finds out her father has passed. It was the easiest to write because I know what it’s like to find out unexpectedly that a parent has passed. However, it was hard because I had to relive my own experience. Many of Carmen’s thoughts and feelings were my own, but not necessarily her actions.

Chapter Forty-Four
1. I have a relative who works in the mailroom, too. I think she’s like my father’s second cousin or some shit. Whenever I visit her, I get a badge with full access. Bitch doesn’t even know I’m using her.”- I inserted this line by Blu into the book purposely to explain how he was able to get into Flame so easily.
2. Shit, I didn’t even tell you about the phone call I got from Cesar. All of the bodies that were left at Blue Magic ended up at Jimenez Funeral Home. You know what that means? I get another chance to show Blu who he’s fuckin’ with. – These lines spoken by Jay end up again in Book Four, Black Diamonds during a flashback scene Carmen has.

Chapter Forty
1. This chapter contains the only real love scene in the book. I honestly don’t believe in putting love scenes in books unless there is a purpose. While one may assume that this scene was simply a set-up to create a plot twist in the book, it wasn’t. When you read Black Diamonds, you will understand perfectly why a love scene had to be in this book.
2. “Don’t tell me you’re pregnant this time,” he joked. – This line is spoken by Jay and is a reference to the very last scene in Diamonds in the Rough when Jay and Carmen are arrested for the first time together.

Part V- The Aftermath
This section serves as the calm after the storm. The climax of the book is over and now it’s time to wrap all of this up…well, sort of, the book does have somewhat of a cliffhanger ending.

Chapter Forty-One
1. “My husband and another guy, I never knew his name.” – This line spoken by Carmen is in reference to the Triad agents who were responsible for getting her out her charge (of stealing the Pink Sunrise diamond) in Book One. The unknown man in this sentence will become a character in Book Seven: Dirty Red Diamonds.

Chapter Thirty-Seven
1. Silvas set a mug of steaming hot green tea onto the table. As Jay picked up the cup, he pulled out a chair so that they could talk one on one. – I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but Silvas is actually German. Most people would probably assume that he is Puerto Rican, but he’s not. He actually moved to Puerto Rico as a young boy. This information isn’t in any of the books yet, but it will be.
2. “Why should I be a king when I can be an ace?”- This line was intentionally put in this scene as a reference to the title of the book.

Chapter Thirty-Eight
1. From what King could see, there were two empty chairs on the opposite side of his grandfather’s bed. – Since I knew how the book was going to end, I wanted a lot of the major characters to each to have a final conversation with Lotus where he gave them words of advice. This was the start of those conversations.
2. Malik took a step away from his car so he had more room to maneuver. He walked closer to Kane so that they were standing toe to toe. “You did this same shit twenty-something years ago, Kane. I gave you what you wanted then. You don’t remember? We made a deal. I gave you everything you wanted to know about Jay. I led you right to him. – One of the most asked questions I got from my first book was why Malik wasn’t arrested. Here is the answer right here in this chapter.
3. When he looked at his daughter, he could see for himself that she was torn between two men. Each of them gave her what the other one didn’t. Carmen longed for the traditional household, which Kane gave her while Jay fed her desire of a quick thrill. – Now that I’m rereading this statement, this is almost an example of the difference between a life partner and a soulmate. In this case, Kane would be Carmen’s life partner because he gave Carmen the traditional household while Jay would be Carmen’s soulmate because there’s a strong connection there yet they never seem to make a relationship work.

Chapter Thirty-Nine
I didn’t want to skip this chapter, but after reading it, there wasn’t anything in it to really dissect. Therefore I’ll be moving right along to Chapter Forty in the next installment of Behind the Book.

Chapter Thirty-Four
1. Mom was the single word that read on the screen of Kristian’s Blackberry. – It’s funny how the phones they use change depending on which phone I have at the time. In most of the books, they had Blackberry phones, but starting in Black Diamonds, they will have IPhones.

Chapter Thirty-Five
1. The man stated his name to be Stephen Franklin, the CEO of Continental. Tall, medium build, with dark brown hair and an olive skin complexion, it was the first time that Jay had officially seen him in person. – I don’t know if Patrick Dempsey’s (Grey’s Anatomy) skin complexion would be considered as olive, but I always pictured him as Stephen Franklin.

Chapter Thirty-Six
I didn’t want to skip this chapter, but after reading it, there wasn’t anything in it to really dissect. Therefore I’ll be moving right along to Chapter Thirty-Seven in the next installment of Behind the Book.

Part IV: The Tipping Point- The title of this section serves as an alert to the reader that you’ve reached the climax of the book.
Chapter Thirty-One
1. Once Kristian and Akaila were both back inside of their dormitory, Carmen got inside the mini-van, preparing for the long drive back home. – I debated about using the word dormitory because I was always corrected in college by the RAs that we don’t live in dorms or dormitories, but in residence halls, lol.
2. “There’s a freshman party at the Sphinx Club. It’s like opening night for the club or something. I wanna go. You know, learn the city; meet new people.”- While the Sphinx Club is the name of Blu’s club in Copperton City, this part of the chapter is also a reference to my freshmen college days. The first party I went to was hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha. The Great Sphinx of Gaza is actually the fraternity’s symbol. In this scene, Kristian is planning to attend her first college party at the Sphinx Club.
3. Kristian was about to say more until she was interrupted by a guy who came up to them out of nowhere. He didn’t appear to be a bouncer and looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a Ralph Lauren catalog. – The guy spoken of in this scene was supposed to be a strong supporting character in the original version of The Ace of Diamonds. Right now, it appears that his character will be deleted from the series all together. To be honest, I don’t even remember what his name was.

Chapter Thirty-Two
1. Malik came in right behind him, along with Cesar, a man his father had brought from Puerto Rico. He served mostly as his father’s right-hand, taking over Costa’s duties. – I will go on record and say that when I think of Cesar’s character, I always visualize Brian J. White. I don’t think he’s Hispanic, but he can pass for being a black Latino.
2. Like they say, no one man should have all that power. When you get to the top, you have no choice, but to come back down. – Both of these lines are references or inspired by two hip-hop songs. The first line, which is probably the most recognizable, is from Kanye West’s, “Power,” while the second line is from the Intro on Jermaine Dupri’s first solo album, Life in 1472.

Chapter Thirty-Three
1. His friend in Africa had an army much bigger than his and fiercer. – This line was not meant to be taken literally, but as I started working on the plots for future novels, it became a literal statement. This statement references Jay’s comrade in Africa who is supplying diamonds to him.
2. She realized he was when he followed her into the hospital’s garden. – I was visiting a family member at the hospital one time and needed some fresh air away from the nurses, and that hospital smell. I went down to the garden for some peace and quiet. When I was writing this scene, I figured it would be a good private place for Carmen and Kane to talk since they’re at the hospital.

Chapter Twenty-Eight
1. It was rare that she saw him like that, but she knew why when he held up the glass of Red Berry Ciroc.- While I’ll never be a Ciroc girl, I can always put product placement in my books. I intentionally put the product here. This is from a scene in the book when Carmen visits Jay to discuss her attack.
2. I need you to ride with me on this one. – Jay says this to Carmen to try and persuade her to handle her attack the way he wants too. It’s another ode to the whole Bonnie and Clyde theme in the storyline.
3. He showed his acceptance by planting a single kiss on her forehead. – Ever watched The Best Man and seen how they talk about the forehead kiss? It’s simple, sexy, and says so much. I had to put it in this scene.

Chapter Twenty-Nine
I didn’t want to skip this chapter, but after reading it, there wasn’t anything in it to really dissect. Therefore I’ll be moving right along to Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty
1. Despite there being two large Louis Vuitton suitcases near the recliner, his godfather was inside alone. – Here’s another reference to Kimora Lee Simmons. If you watched Life in the Fab Lane, you probably remember that most of her luggage is Louis Vuitton and she has tons of it.
2. Jay could hear the sentiment loud and clear in Lotus’ voice. He knew there was a lot that his godfather wanted to say, he only needed someone to listen. – I always felt like there needed to be a scene in one of the books that gave some background to Jay’s parents. This scene in Lotus’ hospital room seemed to be the perfect place to put the information.