Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Other Available Titles in The Diamond Collection: Diamonds in the Rough, Diamonds are Forever, The Ace of Diamonds, Black Diamonds, The Diamond Tiara (Part Six) and Dirty Red Diamonds (Part Seven).

SNEAK PREVIEW: THE DIAMOND TIARA

In Part Five of The Diamond Collection, Diamonds N’ Roses, I included a Sneak Preview of my sixth novel, The Diamond Tiara. So, how did this Sneak Preview come about? During the editing process of Diamonds N’ Roses, my editor felt there were some questions that were left unanswered in the book. So, to prevent any cliffhangers, I decided to add on a chapter from the next book in the series.

But what happened after that? Well, I took a break from the series, obtained a master’s degree from Queens University, and when I did start back writing, I decided to go in a different direction with the book. As a writer, that happens sometimes. You can write something, get a better idea, and scrap everything you’ve had before. Let’s just call it a plot twist.

Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Other Available Titles in The Diamond Collection: Diamonds in the Rough, Diamonds are Forever, The Ace of Diamonds, Black Diamonds, The Diamond Tiara (Part Six) and Dirty Red Diamonds (Part Seven).

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: GRAND PIANO

Chapter 22 is the last chapter of Diamonds N’ Roses and this chapter is what I believe readers were waiting on because it contains the wedding. This chapter also shows the path I’m trying to take with Jay. In Book Three: The Ace of Diamonds, he stopped being a drug dealer, and in this book, specifically this chapter, he gets baptized. These changes came about because as the writer, I’m changing. I’m maturing. While selling drugs and killing people brings drama, it also brings prison and death. Well, I can tell you now, that’s not where Jay is going. So, it was time to show that with him taking this step.

Moving on to the wedding…

There were things I intentionally included. For example, I always wanted Silvas to marry them and the whole ordeal with their minister was just to add a little more drama to the book. Also, I thought it was important for King to verbally give his blessing considering the dynamics of his relationship with Jay. In terms of Carmen and Jay’s vows, I had them say the things I felt they needed to say to each other. A lot of it had to do with the journey because these two went on one. In the end, though, they tied the knot, jumped the broom; they became one.

Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Other Available Titles in The Diamond Collection: Diamonds in the Rough, Diamonds are Forever, The Ace of Diamonds, Black Diamonds, The Diamond Tiara (Part Six) and Dirty Red Diamonds (Part Seven).

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: SANDCASTLES

In Chapter 21, the night after the bachelor party, both Carmen and Jay’s heads are still spinning. They don’t know whether they’re coming or going in terms of their relationship. Yes, Carmen called the wedding off, but she’s still battling between being with Jay and not being with him. This represents what we all go through in relationships. You want to leave because of the bad times, but the memories of the good times makes you want to stay.

This whole dilemma is the reason Carmen has verbally called the wedding off but hasn’t taken the necessary steps to really stop it. For example, when Jay goes to Puerto Rico, all the wedding vendors are still preparing for a wedding they don’t know has been called off. And no one is telling them to stop. That’s like the first hint I give that this wedding is going to happen. Then, you read the last paragraph and you see it is.

Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Other Available Titles in The Diamond Collection: Diamonds in the Rough, Diamonds are Forever, The Ace of Diamonds, Black Diamonds, The Diamond Tiara (Part Six) and Dirty Red Diamonds (Part Seven).

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SHANGHAI

 In Chapter Seventeen, the truth about Casa de Sangre is revealed to Carmen by her ex-husband Kane. So, what is the truth? The truth is that the house was previously owned by Carmen’s fiancé, Jay. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, it is, considering, she purchased the home not knowing he was the owner. Imaging buying a home, paying millions for it, not knowing your money went to the person you’re about to marry.

In this chapter, I write, “Kane had placed a boulder on her chest,” the boulder of course being the truth about Casa de Sangre, “and the weight of it was choking the life out of her. Not a boulder, she thought. It’s a bullet. Carmen peered at Kane as she suddenly remembered the nightmare, she had over a year ago.”

When writing Chapter Seventeen, I drew a comparison between Kane dropping this news on Carmen and the nightmare she had at the start of the novel. In the nightmare, Kane sees her and Jay in an intimate moment, and shoots them dead. Now, in this present scene, Carmen realizes what the dream actually meant, and so did I. It wasn’t about violence, it was about releasing something unexpected, powerful, and lifechanging. While it wasn’t an actual bullet, it was a mighty big secret.  

Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Other Available Titles in The Diamond Collection: Diamonds in the Rough, Diamonds are Forever, The Ace of Diamonds, Black Diamonds, The Diamond Tiara (Part Six) and Dirty Red Diamonds (Part Seven).

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FORWARD

I always tell people that writing the book is the fun part. The opening scene of Chapter Sixteen reminds me why. In this scene, Carmen is trying on a potential wedding dress. She isn’t sold on it, and that is reflective of what I was going through as the author. Every time I saw a dress I liked, I would bookmark it, but then I would find something better or I would have second thoughts.

Now, why is this a big deal? Because description is a very big part of a story. In order to describe Carmen’s wedding dress, I would need to have a dress in mind to describe. I wanted to be able to share with readers what it looked like and how it felt. Since finding the perfect dress was a dilemma I was going through, I decided to make it Carmen’s dilemma as well.

Behind the Book is a series in which I give you a behind the scenes look at one of the latest installments of The Diamond Collection. For this round, I will be focusing on Diamonds N’ Roses: Part Five of The Diamond Collection.

Diamonds N’ Roses was released on December 25, 2016 and is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million.

CHAPTER TWO: ALL THINGS GO

In this chapter, readers learn that Chapter One was a nightmare. Well, parts of it was. Some of it did actually happen.

In Chapter Two, readers are introduced to the two main plot points of the book. The first is Story A, which is the planning of Carmen and Jay’s wedding. The second is Story B, which is Jay being introduced to the issue of conflict diamonds (or blood diamonds).

Story B conflicts with Story A because it distracts Jay from the main task at hand – the planning of his wedding. This chapter shows the start of the breakdown in some of Jay’s relationships. First, with his fiancée, Carmen, as he misses their first planning session. Then, with his business partner in Africa and his best friend/ right-hand, Malik Washington.

Of course, it wouldn’t be The Diamond Collection if there wasn’t a sea of other conflicts occurring at the same time (i.e. Coco’s pregnancy, Kristian’s disappearance). I planted this stuff on purpose as I wanted readers to question if the wedding between Carmen and Jay was even going to happen with all the drama surrounding them. Hence why the chapter is named, “All Things Go.” The title of the chapter as well as many more in the book come from the tracklisting of Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint album. This album stayed on repeat while I was writing the book, which is why I named the chapters after most of the songs.