
Delaney Diamond is the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than 60 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels, and dozens of romance short stories, and the founder of Books by Black Authors, a discovery platform for readers seeking stories by Black authors. When she’s not spinning tales of romantic fiction, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale.
She wrote her first romance novel at the age of 14 and received rave reviews from her friends. She tapped out 89 pages on a typewriter and called it Captured Heart. Eighty-nine pages on a typewriter with no revisions. In 2010, she gave fiction writing a try again, which resulted in her debut novel, The Arrangement.
Born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Atlanta, GA is now her home. She reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of nonfiction. As a diehard foodie, when her head’s not buried in a book, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale.
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It’s difficult to narrow it down to just one place because there are so many beautiful places in the world, and many I haven’t yet seen. I would love to have a home on a beach. I like being near the water. It’s peaceful and relaxing.
Favorite dessert: Choose ONE favorite dessert? That’s almost impossible. Dessert is my favorite food group! Give me any kind of dessert with chocolate; love pound cake; love tiramisu; love carrot cake; love pecan pie. I could go on and on. One thing I’m never without is ice cream. There’s always ice cream in my freezer. My favorite flavors are Haagen-Dazs’s pineapple-coconut and rum raisin; Breyer’s rocky road; Blue Bell’s pistachio almond.
Favorite color: yellow
Favorite city: Paris, France!
Favorite season: spring
Favorite type of hero: Alpha male, of course!
Favorite type of heroine: independent and loving
Favorite car: Jaguar; my dream is to own one in slate gray.
I love to travel. Domestically as well as internationally. I enjoy learning about other cultures. I’m a foodie, too, so experiencing the local cuisines of other cultures is one of my favorite parts of traveling. The best trip I ever took was the summer I spent in Paris. I stayed with a friend of a friend, and he and I are still close. My French language skills improved dramatically. I did plenty of sightseeing and made lots of friends. I visited Dunkerque in northern France, and I had fun at the beach in Marseille. I would love to take another extended trip overseas somewhere.
I’m a hopeless romantic. I love romance and reading about couples overcoming odds to be together and live happily ever after. I suffer through the emotional turmoil with them—anger, pain, sadness, and joy. I wanted to write those same types of stories and give readers the same experience. I have so many stories in my head. I had to get them out. My sincere desire is to have readers enjoy the books as much as I enjoy writing them.
I do experience writer’s block. When I do, I stop writing. I don’t like to force it. I’ve tried that before, but it doesn’t work for me. Usually, if I take a break for a day or so, eventually I’ll get past the block by revising the story, taking out sections—whatever is needed to get my creative juices flowing again.
Pros: Having people read your work and enjoy it. It’s gratifying when someone sends you an email or makes a nice comment about your work.
Cons: Having people read your work and not enjoy it. LOL. I know not everyone will enjoy my writing, but I cringe when I read bad reviews. Then I remind myself it’s one person’s opinion. Another con is having people look down their nose at the romance genre. It’s the best-selling fiction genre, so consumers obviously enjoy the writing and the escapism it offers.
Mostly imagination, but I do incorporate a little bit of what I experience in the world around me. Not just people I cross paths with, but characters I read in books, movies I’ve watched, and television shows.
Learn all you can about writing and the publishing industry. Learn how to write prose that’s grammatically correct and as error-free as possible. Get a critique partner–not someone who’s related to you–or join a critique group to help you catch plot inconsistencies and mistakes (We all know it’s nearly impossible to edit yourself.). Once your manuscript is polished, send it out, but don’t get discouraged when you receive rejection letters. Even bestselling authors get rejection letters. Don’t give up. You’ll eventually find a home for your manuscript.
It’s always nice to be recognized by peers and readers, so allow me to toot my own horn and let you know about some of my writing accomplishments.

2018 Nominee of the African American Literary Award for Romance for my novel, Do Over (book 2 of the Brooks Family series).

2017 Winner 2nd place in the Contemporary Novel category of the International Digital Awards for my novel Good Behavior (book 5 of the Johnson Family series)

2017 Winner of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Book Husband Award, for Xavier in Good Behavior (book 5 of the Johnson Family series)

2017 Winner of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Interracial Romance Award for my novel, More Than a Mistress (book 6 of the Latin Men series)

2016 Winner of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Series Award for the Johnson Family series.

2015 Winner of Romance in Color’s Reviewer’s Award for Just Friends (book 3 of the Johnson Family series) and The Rules (book 4 of the Johnson Family series).

2015 Winner of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Interracial Romance Award for my novel, An Unexpected Attraction (book 3 of the Love Unexpected series).

2015 Recipient of the AMB Ovation Visionary Award. The award recognizes an AA/IR/Multicultural romance author who, through foresight and unlimited effort, has helped add value to the profession by encouraging development, promotion, and networking of authors in their genre.

2015 Nominee of the AMB Ovation Award for Outstanding Author in Multicultural Romance for my novel, Unforgettable (book 1 of the Johnson Family series).

2014 Nominee of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Interracial Author Award for my novel, The Blind Date (book 1 of the Love Unexpected series).

2014 Winner of the AMB Ovation Award for Outstanding Author in Multicultural Romance for my novel, For Better or Worse (book 4 of the Hawthorne Family series).

2013 Winner of BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) Bookclub’s Best Interracial Author Award for my novel, Second Chances (book 5 of the Latin Men series).

2012 Best Contemporary Finalist in The Swirl Awards for my novel, Fight for Love (book 2 of the Latin Men series).

2012 Nominee of The Swirl Award for Best Series for my series, Hot Latin Men.