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 NINETEEN: BED OF LIES

A common question I think most writers get is, is any parts of your book based off your real life? I always answer yes, but my writing is so convoluted with fiction you wouldn’t know what actually happened to me and what didn’t.

In Chapter 19, after Carmen reveals she knows the truth about Casa de Sangre and is about to call off the wedding, Jay demands for her to tell him what he needs to do to make it right. That is a repetitive demand I’ve received from a person whenever he messed up. “Tell me what I need to do to make it right.” In this scene, Carmen’s response was, “Die.” Yes, that is harsh, and I wanted it to be, because I wanted her response to match the hurt she was feeling.

 In this same scene, Carmen also learns that Jay almost slept with a stripper. She tells him that the slight indiscretion made her question her worth. Now let’s dive deeper. Growing up, I was always taught that a woman with good morals and values is what a man wants as a wife. But as I got older, I started looking around, and seeing that some of the women who were the most promiscuous and the shadiest were the ones getting the men. I even went to one of my relatives and was like, I feel tricked, because obviously that stuff doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a man. (Well, it does matter to some.)

So, I have Carmen basically tell Jay that. She says what I wanted to say to a particular person – “you got me questioning my worth because I do this, I do this, I do this, but someone who isn’t on my level could so easily get you. I’m feeling like I’m not good enough.” Now, what I realized from that situation is that, it’s not that I’m not good enough, he’s not good enough. Carmen even tells that to Jay. You know the saying: You will never be right for the wrong person? The good I do does not matter if it’s for the wrong person. They don’t care because they don’t care about me. However, it will matter to the right person.

Back to the novel, though. In this chapter, Carmen’s hurt is talking. Yes, Jay has made some mistakes, but so has Carmen. And the mistakes don’t stop in this book. Unlike my situation, this is fiction, and I can control it.

If you haven’t read this book, and you’re following the Behind the Book series, well, you’ll have to stay tuned for the next three entries to see what happens between these two.