Chapter Twelve

1. “Did you really come all the way here to bring Nyla?” – Jay asks Carmen this question after she brings Nyla to Puerto Rico for a visit. One of my readers told me she wanted Carmen to sleep with Jay in this scene, which I did think about; however, I felt like Carmen had done enough dirt. It was time for her to finally say no and not be vulnerable whenever Jay pressured her into being frisky, lol.
2. Kane believed that their time was wasted until Jarrod pulled up driving an exterminator’s van. – So I was trying to find a clever way for Jay to sell his drugs aside from the stereotypical stuff (selling on corners, etc.). A guy friend suggested that Jay have a taxi cab service, which was a great idea, but I settled on an extermination business (Jay doesn’t really have this, it’s just a front).
3. “First thing first, Seventeen wants to do a feature on Kristian. They faxed over this letter to our publicist.” – I had a subscription to Seventeen growing up so if Kristian was going to be on the cover of any teen magazine, Seventeen was going to be it.

Chapter Ten

1. “Can we all sit down?” she asked looking back and forth between the two men. – Carmen is at the hospital about to give birth when Kane is served papers for paternity fraud. Jay is on one side of the bed while Kane is on the other. Of course, this arrangement was done on purpose so Carmen would be in the middle to represent that good ole fashion love triangle.
2. “Do you want to do the honor? I’ll lead you through it. No worries, you can’t go wrong.”- Since Jay has missed two of his children’s births (King’s and Rakim’s), I figured it would not only be fair, but also special, if he got to witness Nyla’s birth. I took it a step further by also allowing him to deliver her. In this scene, Carmen’s doctor is giving him the opportunity to deliver his own child. 

Part Two: Flashing Lights (Behind the Title): Of course, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t throw a little ode to Kanye West in the book, right? This is just a hint to the reader that the book is about to become even spicier.

Chapter Seven

1. Softly crying, she did the only thing she knew how; she prayed to God for guidance and strength. – This line comes from the scene when Kane leaves the house in the middle of the night. He’s bothered by the fact that Carmen is pregnant again by Jay since he is unable to give her a child. Just like I mentioned in Behind the Book: The Ace of Diamonds (Chapter Five) with Jay, I try to put references to God in my book so readers will know that despite my characters’ shortcomings they do have a relationship with God.
2. “No, Jay, I have diabetes. I’ve known for years. Patricia and I didn’t publicize it. – Lotus breaks into Jay’s apartment to have a conversation with him regarding the diamonds he received and Carmen. He also discloses that he has diabetes. This was always planned even during the creation of the first book, Diamonds in the Rough. There is a scene near the end of that book where Patricia, Lotus’ wife, chastises him for some having too much sugar. I knew my readers wouldn’t remember that small detail, but I still planned on expounding on it later in the series.
3. “No, Jay.” Lotus chuckled, “I’m talking about when you were six. I had brought Carmen to the house one day so Hector could see her. You were playing and you came into the parlor where we were. You asked to hold her. I let you and it was like pulling teeth to get her back. – I always thought that if Hector and Lotus were as good friends as I described them to be, there had to be some point in time when Jay and Carmen’s path crossed. I mean, if your best friend has a baby, you are going to come into contact with the child at some point in time, right? I figured this was the best time to insert a conversation where Lotus shares this information with Jay. I even shared how intrigued Jay was with Carmen even when he was six years old.