Guest Blog: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Ace of Diamonds by Vogue

Book Synopsis:

 

Since his release from prison, Brookstone’s most notorious drug lord, Jay Santiago, has been hard at work rebuilding his life and empire. With two businesses under his belt and one in the making, Jay is readily known as one of New York’s elite men. While the root of his financial status lies in the newly rebuilt Santiago cartel, Jay is determined to expand his wealth. After reconnecting with an old comrade, he believes he has found the one thing that could increase his fortune and allow him to leave behind the dangers of his criminal enterprise for good. However, as Jay’s new business venture begins to come to fruition, he quickly learns the one material object he loves the most could lead to his biggest downfall yet.

 

10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Ace of Diamonds

 

1. The current version of The Ace of Diamonds is actually the third draft of the book. The original version followed teenage character, Kristian Kane’s experience pledging a collegiate sorority. The second version is very similar to the current version; however, there were a lot of cliffhangers. The entire project took about two years to complete.

 

2. The physical appearance of character Shawn Blumington, the novel’s antagonist, was inspired by The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.

 

3. The restaurant, Old Town Bistro, in the novel is inspired by a real restaurant located in downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina.

 

4. Chapter One of the book takes place in Dallas, Texas because when I first started working on The Ace of Diamonds, I was in Dallas for two weeks visiting my aunt and wanted the city to be a part of the novel. 

 

5. Without giving away too many details regarding a twist in the plot, I incorporated my personal life into the book by sharing my thoughts and emotions following the death of one of my parents. This scene was very difficult to write because I had to revisit the memory; however, it was also very therapeutic.

 

6. A new fashion collection is introduced in The Ace of Diamonds entitled Fresh Prince. Although it shares the same name as the popular comedy show, starring Will Smith, the collection’s name was actually not influenced by the show, but by the French novella, The Little Prince.

 

7. The cityscape on the front cover of the book is actually not New York, but Chicago, Illinois.

 

8. By now, most people are aware that Brookstone is not a real city in New York. However, a new city is introduced in the book, Copperton City, which is a fictional city in Georgia.

 

9. For three years, I worked as a residential counselor in a treatment facility for juvenile delinquents. During this time, I grew so accustomed to referring to my colleagues by their last name that it carried over into my books. This is the reason why some of my characters only have last names (i.e. Silvas, Sanders, Gomez, and Clement).

 

10. The Ace of Diamonds is the first release under my own imprint, Crown Jewelz Publishing.

 

The Ace of Diamonds is currently available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.

Behind the Character: Jay Santiago of The Ace of Diamonds by vogue

Author Vogue gives a special insight on Jay Santiago of The Ace of Diamonds

Out of all the characters introduced in The Diamond Collection, it seems Jay Santiago is the most popular. I don't know if it’s his protective nature or the description of his looks, but he's definitely a fan favorite.

The name Jay Santiago came from a couple different places. I will start with his last name only because I've gotten the question if it came from The Coldest Winter Ever by Sistah Souljah. In that particular novel, the main character's last name is Santiaga. While The Coldest Winter Ever is one of my favorite books, I chose the name Santiago because it was of Spanish origin and I loved the way it sounded. It is just a coincidence the names are similar. As for his first name, I named the character after the rapper, Jay-Z. I have always admired his career as a business person and knew I wanted the main male character of The Diamond Collection to follow a similar path. In addition, most of Jay's businesses have connections to the color blue, which is heavily associated with the rapper Jay-Z (it’s rumored to be his favorite color). For example, the club, Sapphire, is named after a blue gemstone and the soul food restaurant, Blue Magic, is named after a song that appeared on Jay-Z’s American Gangster album called, “Blue Magic.”

LaLa Anthony

In terms of Jay’s background, he was born in the fictional Brookstone, New York to Hector and Lady Santiago who are both deceased at the beginning of the series. Both of his parents were born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to Brookstone, New York in their mid-twenties. Jay's father, Hector, is 100% Puerto Rican while his mother, Lady, is a black Puerto Rican (she was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but has some ancestry in Africa). The idea to make his mother black came from reading an article in Latina magazine that featured actress and reality TV personality, La La Anthony. In the article, she says:

A lot of people don’t realize that I’m Latina, which is fine. One thing about being Latina is that there isn’t one look that comes with the territory. I don’t expect people to know my cultural background just by glancing at me. I do, however, expect that when I tell people my family is from Puerto Rico, that I will be believed and not accused of trying to be something that I’m not. It usually goes something like this: a person having a conversation with me discovers one way or another that I’m Puerto Rican and fluent in Spanish. That person then expresses their shock over these realizations for any number of reasons—common responses are, “You don’t look Latina” and “I thought you were black!” I never said I wasn’t black. And since when does being black and being Latina have to be mutually exclusive?

 

This statement made me look at race, ethnicity and nationality in a whole different light and I wanted to somehow incorporate that into my novel. I chose to do it through Jay’s mother, Lady, and will explore the topic more in The Ace of Diamonds. If you want more of a visual of his parents, think along the lines of Raul Julia (The Addams Family) and Reagan Gomez-Preston.



Laz Alonso

When it comes to Jay’s physical appearance, several people have asked me to reveal who I see when I am writing about Jay, but I refuse to give up this secret (not even for Behind the Character!). However, I will give the list of names I commonly hear readers say they envision: Terrence Howard (I think it’s the eyes), Laz Alonso, and Michael Ealy. I must say, Jay Santiago, is a character who developed on his own. In the beginning, I had certain intentions for the character, but as I wrote, his character got somewhat watered down. Maybe, I was afraid to show how wild and crazy he really could get. If I had let my imagination run wild, his transition from kingpin to family man would be much greater. Of course, this is my own personal opinion.

Tidbits about Jay Santiago
-He doesn’t have a middle name.
-He is 6’5 and has beautiful hazel eyes.
-His hair is naturally curly, but he wears it closely shaven.
-He is an only child (currently).
-He has a high school diploma, but never attended college.
-He owns a home in San Juan, Puerto Rico where his personal butler, Silvas, lives.
-At the beginning of The Ace of Diamonds, he has three businesses under his belt, Sapphire, Blue Magic and is set to open Iceland, a jewelry store.

Book Synopsis:

Since his release from prison, Brookstone’s most notorious drug lord, Jay Santiago, has been hard at work rebuilding his life and empire. With two businesses under his belt and one in the making, Jay is readily known as one of New York’s elite men. While the root of his financial status lies in the newly rebuilt Santiago cartel, Jay is determined to expand his wealth. After reconnecting with an old comrade, he believes he has found the one thing that could increase his fortune and allow him to leave behind the dangers of his criminal enterprise for good. However, as Jay’s new business venture begins to come to fruition, he quickly learns the one material object he loves the most could lead to his biggest downfall yet.


The Ace of Diamonds is currently available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.

Party Time!: Book Feature and Excerpt with The Ace of Diamonds by Vogue

Synopsis:

Since his release from prison, Brookstone’s most notorious drug lord, Jay Santiago, has been hard at work rebuilding his life and empire. With two businesses under his belt and one in the making, Jay is readily known as one of New York’s elite men. While the root of his financial status lies in the newly rebuilt Santiago cartel, Jay is determined to expand his wealth. After reconnecting with an old comrade, he believes that he has found the one thing that could increase his fortune and allow him to leave behind the dangers of his criminal enterprise for good. However, as Jay’s new business venture begins to come to fruition, he quickly learns that the one material object that he loves the most could lead to his biggest downfall yet.

Excerpt:

Jay focused the conversation on the real reason he had come to Dallas. He had recently linked up with one of his old comrades who had helped him put millions into a new investment, one he wanted Lotus to help him with. His plan was to use their connection to his advantage.

“I figured since I’m Hector’s son you would help me.”

Lotus was taken aback. “Help you? Help you with what?”

Jay knew what he said next was going to send Lotus into a fury. “I need a warehouse,” he told him, quickly.

“Oh no,” Lotus said, taking off his seatbelt. “Stop the car, Arnold. Pull over.”

Jay unbuckled his seatbelt as well. He grabbed Lotus’ shoulder, in an attempt to calm him down. “Lotus, come on, listen to me. I know you helped me with this before, but I need another one. I mean, you sold me the building for Blue Magic. I’m making honest of the restaurant, aren’t I? I promise you, I will—” Jay was interrupted as Lotus screamed in his ear.

“Are you out of your mind? What are you getting into now?”

“I can’t go to anybody with this project. I don’t need a lot of ears or eyes on this. I trust you, Lotus. I know you won’t publicize this sale like you do the others. I know you will take the warehouse out of your company’s listings way before the sale is even complete.”

Lotus shook his head, nervously. He knew if Jay was asking for a warehouse then there was probably some illegal operation about to go down inside of it. The last time he had sold him one, he ended up using the space to house illegal drugs and weapons. Now, he wanted one again. Certain Jay was still running a drug cartel, Lotus didn’t want anything to do with it. His days of working alongside a criminal enterprise were long gone.

 

 

 

The Ace of Diamonds is currently available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.