Character Q&A: Jayce Martin

We’re seated in one of the conference rooms at Brown, Bloom & Associates, with views of Manhattan everywhere I turn as I relax in my seat. Jayce sits comfortably across from me, his hands moving at a practiced pace, lifting and setting down several sheets of white paper with black words. He’s mumbling to himself as he opens the folder across from him, peeks up to see me watching, and flashes that boyish smile that takes several years off his face.

“I apologize, B,” he says, eyes returning to the folders and papers, “I have to work through lunch. This case is insane, and it still feels like I have to prove myself, even after all these years working here.”

It’s late afternoon, and the office is busy. The law firm, Brown, Bloom & Associates, has been a name mentioned in the news a lot as of late. The firm’s staff are defending one of its high-profile clients who is on trial for a laundry list of crimes. 

“Aight. I’m ready.” He claps his hands once. “You got me for about five minutes, before I have to get back to all this shit. So, what’s up?”

And so, I don’t delay.

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Love, Hate & Revenge Chapter 15: “My plan wasn’t to get Rico back.”

Out of all the chapters that appear in stories in my book world, my how I love this one! Book Three in the Love, Hate & Revenge series was the conclusion to events that started in Book One. Most notably, Malika’s story. When we met Malika, she was out with her sisters, informing them she had booked a stay at a hotel that her ex-boyfriend Rico was getting married the next day. Though her sisters had picked up instantly on the coincidence of Malika’s stay with the timing of Rico’s wedding, their hints gave us insight into what was to come in Malika’s story. Well, the moment we’d been waiting for, wanting to understand Malika’s motivation and this plan she’d been hatching out, came to light on a dark and stormy night.

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Archetype Deep Dive: Ayanna Dale

When we first met Ayanna Dale in her short story in Forbidden: An Anthology, our girl was in the middle of a payback. She’d just walked home in the rain to her boyfriend’s apartment, which he shared with his brother, after lending him her car, only for him to leave her stranded at work. Her choices in men were at the very least questionable, and so were her decisions that night. But over time, we got to know other sides of the girl who always walked to the beat of her own drum.

Ayanna, who was once a lover of love, became cautious of it. She isn’t one to do the things her parents want her to do, always looking to march to the beat of her own drum… and unapologetically. 

Ayanna’s curious by nature, always exploring to find her answers. She’s spontaneous and fearless in places most would hesitate more than once to enter.

Ayanna is often unsure and doubts a lot, but she’s always interested in finding answers too.

What is her archetype?

The Skeptic.

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Alternate Story Ending: August & Genesis (Meant to Be)

August and Genesis are that couple I feel need to be spoken about more. Their story is unique, their happily ever after so deserved. And although they’ve gotten at least two updates since we’ve ended their story Meant to Be, I can never get enough of these two. Let’s see what they’ve been up to since they said, “I do.” Enjoy!

AUGUST

My eyes tracked Genesis as she stepped out of the bathroom, her hands in her hair as she scooped her curls to the top of her head.

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The Turning Point: Genesis Garner’s Choice in Meant to Be

Meant to Be was one of the heavier continuations in the Forbidden series. When we first met August and Genesis in her short story in Forbidden: An Anthology, so much was left unsaid. August was deep in grief after losing his wife, while Genesis was just entering hers, faced with the decision to remove her husband from life support.

Even then, the connection between them was undeniable. It went beyond physical. There was something deeper… something that lingered even in a story that leaned into lust.

And in Meant to Be, that depth becomes undeniable. Especially in the moment where Genesis finally confronts the truth, and everything shifts.

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Draft Diaries: Entry #05 – When The Pages Begin

So, I started Polarity last week.

There’s always something interesting that happens when I begin a new story, especially in those first chapters. I can spend months outlining, understanding my characters, knowing what drives them and how they would respond in any given situation… but once my hands hit the keyboard, none of that really matters.

What matters is getting the words on the page.

Those first few words always remind me of a track star hearing the gun go off. It’s time to move. For me, there’s usually a brief stall at the start, but once I’m anchored in a scene, I’m soaring.

And this first chapter soared.

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Seasons of Davenport Ridge: S1E3 – “I Just Wanted to See…

CORI

“Oh,” I said behind Noelle as I dragged the plastic tip of a bottle of Crown & Coil’s Root Revival Scalp Oil between two of her large cornrows. “You removed your wedding rings.”

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Character Q&A: Summer McKoy

We’re tucked inside a café in Manhattan, seated by a floor-to-ceiling window streaked with rivulets of rain. Outside, the city moves in a softened blur… umbrellas passing, taxis gliding through slick streets, headlights reflecting off wet pavement like scattered light.

We had every intention of sitting outside.

But the sky had other plans.

A sudden downpour forced us in, and now we sit across from one another, watching the storm settle into something almost peaceful. There’s something about the rhythm of rain against glass that slows everything down… softens even the sharpest edges.

Summer McKoy sits across from me, polished as ever, but there’s something different now. Still poised. Still confident. But lighter. Less rigid.

She lifts her coffee cup, her manicured fingers wrapped around it, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Our flight to Bora Bora was delayed the day we were flying out for our honeymoon,” she says, setting the cup down gently. “A downpour just like this… but for hours. I was so pissed. We had to stay in a hotel next to the airport, and I just knew it ruined everything.”

She pauses, her smile widening slightly.

“But oh my God… what an amazing night it turned out to be. I realized something then. All I ever need is Jayce… and I swear, paradise is everywhere.”

And just like that, we begin.

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Ebb & Flow Epilogue: “This is our day. We made it baby”

This is definitely a first for me… discussing the epilogue of a book. Usually, epilogues are a way for us to check in on a couple after their happily ever after, after we’ve closed the book on their love story… for now.

But the epilogue in Ebb & Flow was different. It was significant. It was the sunshine after the rain… even though no rain was in sight.

And we couldn’t have a theme like After the Rain and not talk about this final chapter in Nubia and Naazir’s story. And that’s because of the most uninvited wedding guest of all… rain.

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