Interview With Ja'Nese Dixon Author of "Black Diamond"

Friend, the first question that comes to mind is who the heck is Janese Dixon and how are you two associated?  
She is the fiction writer inside me. (smile) I have always loved writing, but life sidetracked me. I looked up and I had a family and worked at a job that made me miserable.   Years later, I started my company. Working with authors and publishing professionals ignited a spark in me to write again.  

I know personally that you've helped a lot of people with their book ventures, tell me, how did you finally muster up enough FAITH to write your very own book?  
I closed my eyes and jumped. No, in all seriousness, it was a hard decision. I had full faith in the story that I created, however, I'm still getting accustomed to my role as an author. I had people around me that kept encouraging me to move forward. After praying over my decision, I decided to move ahead and I haven't looked back. (Well, I looked back but I didn't stop...)  

I'm going to get to Black Diamond but before I do, I just want you to tell the audience a brief testimony as to how you've arrived in this place...as author and as a book promoter.  
I'm here because I don't accept things as they were. I truly believe in the call that God has placed over my life. I am meant to use my life to help others. I am meant to use and share the gifts that God has given me.   At one point in my life I went to a job that physically made me ill. I would wake every morning and think "God why am I doing this to myself?" He told me to stop being comfortable and do something about it. Many years later, I am the CEO of my own company. I'm published. And if it's His will I have a lot more in me to do.    

Now to Black Diamond, girl how did you come up with this storyline?  
I had a dream about Marc Fulton and Camille Blackwell. I could see them and feel a strong connection between them but I couldn't hear anything. I woke up confused. Thankfully, I started keeping my writing journal by my bed. I write, or sometimes sketch, out my dreams.   I moved on but that scene continued to haunt me. One day, I went to a coffeehouse and start handwriting the scene and describing the characters and that was the beginning of Black Diamond.  

I myself, had never heard of black diamonds before this book and it made me quite interested. How long did it take you to research this particular diamond and what made it the focal point of your book?  
I researched it for a couple of weeks, but I needed to expand my research because I wasn't finding something that truly captured me. I still loved the stone and the story behind it. However, it wasn't enough to carry a story. Once I broaden my research to the diamond industry, I decided to use conflict diamonds as the focal point.  

Of course I like many other readers look for every day situations in the books that I read so I would like to address the interracial affair in the book. As an African American woman I typically would expect to read a book concerning a black male in an interracial relationship, so what made you stray from the norm making a sister the object of a white male's affection?  
Honestly, it just happened. Kind of. I spent a couple of months getting to know my characters. My life is extremely busy, as a result, I usually only write on my stories a few days a week in the outlining stage. While exploring my characters I discovered that he (Harold Donovan) was totally infatuated with her (Ashanta Kenani). And what's not to love. We are beautiful women and I've seen men of all races fall for Black women because of our strength. He was no exception.  

After Black Diamond, can we expect more from you?  
I'm writing my second novel Intoxicated. I am also working on a nonfiction project that is close to my heart. I plan to reveal it later in the year. I will tell people now. Get ready. It is life changing. Working on this project has changed me and I can't wait to see the lives that will be impacted by the work that we (you and I) are doing.   Definitely stay tuned.  

About Black Diamond
Camille Blackwell, an undercover FBI agent, poses as a jewelry purchaser in an international diamond trading company in hopes of identifying the domestic players in a vicious rebel group suspected of trafficking conflict diamonds. The Bureau requests CIA renegade Marc Fulton's assistance with sweeping international intelligence to identify the major rebel organizations with the finances and stateside connections strong enough to evade criminal prosecution, despite Camille's objections.
Their attraction is instant and tense; both resolve to focus on the case. But when Camille receives an encrypted memory stick from a murdered co-worker Marc may be the only person she can trust.
Black Diamond is the eagerly anticipated debut novel by Ja'Nese Dixon. True love, like black diamonds, is rare and precious but when murder and a persistent criminal threaten a frail relationship, will love triumph?  

About Ja'Nese Dixon
Ja'Nese Dixon writes fiction novels for readers yearning to escape and disappear into a good book. Ja'Nese's debut novel, Black Diamond is scheduled for release in June 2010. She resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband and their two children. For more information visit http://www.janesedixon.com.   * * * *   Black Diamond by Ja'Nese Dixon Virtual Book Tour is organized by Nia Promotions, a marketing company that assists authors and publishers with using web-marketing strategy to market and promote books on the internet. Follow Ja'Nese's tour at http://bit.ly/blackdiamondvbt.