Diamond's 'out of the closet' Lover
GENRE
LGBT
Core Theme
BEING YOURSELF
TIME PERIOD
2000s
COMPARABLE TITLES
A SECRET LOVE, DISOBEDIENCE, IMAGINE ME & YOU
CHARACTER LIST
DIAMOND: 40S, LEAD, BEAUTIFUL, SUCCESSFUL, SMART, PERSEVERANT
ROBERT CLEAVE: 40S, RICH CARING, INSECURE, GAY, DIAMOND’S LOVE INTEREST
OLIVIA: 40S, SECRETIVE, VOLATILE, IN LOVE WITH DIAMOND AND ALSO DIAMOND’S BEST FRIEND.
BERNARD DAWSON: MEAN, ABUSIVE, DIAMOND’S EX-HUSBAND
LUCIFER: SUPPORTIVE, NAÏVE, OLIVIA’S HUSBAND
Logline
Diamond's 'out of the closet' Lover is about Diamond Pearl Hope, a biracial news journalist, who is facing a midlife crisis. With a twist of fate, Diamond is swept off her feet by a person she least expected to fall in love with.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Female Leaning,Male Leaning,LGBT Leaning
Setting
Palm Beach, Florida
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Publisher: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Year Published: 2017
Starting Description
The story begins with Diamond Pearl Hope picking up her best male pal, Robert Cleave, a gay man, from an airport in Palm Beach, Florida. While sitting inside her old BMW waiting for Robert to exit the terminal, Diamond reminisces about her tumultuous past.
Ending Description
Diamond Pearl Hope and Robert Cleave gets married, and Diamond gets pregnant with twins (a boy and girl).
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
9781548659615
Mature Audience Themes
Information not completed
Plot - Other Elements
Meaningful Message,Happy Ending
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Diamond Pearl Hope
Age: forty-two
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Charming,Confident,Faithful,Educated,Honorable,Religious,Funny,Obedient
Additional Character Details
Name: Robert Cleave
Age: forty-two
Gender: Lgbt
Role: Mentor
Key Traits: Adventurous,Charming,Confident,Decisive,Educated,Visionary,Romantic,Skillful
Additional Character Details
Name: Olivia
Age: forty-two
Gender: Lgbt
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Aggressive,Desperate,Educated,Secretive
Additional Character Details
Name: Ron Peterson
Age: 70s
Gender: Male
Role: mentor
Key Traits: Confident,Engaging,Empathetic,Leader,Masculine,Patriotic,Skillful
Genre
ROMANCE, DRAMA, LGBT
Brief
A biracial journalist struggles to find love only to discover it was right under her nose all along.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: GOOD
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: GOOD
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
Yes, the book profile accurately reflects the book.
Draw of Story
Hoping to get into the nitty gritty of the main character.
Possible Drawbacks
The stilted dialogue and repeating each of the character's name in each new line of dialogue was draining. Also, constantly being taken out of the story to read a detailed "data dump" was exceedingly distracting. Dialogue could be reworked to make it more like natural speech and the textbook style information thrown in should be severely limited and perhaps integrated into the story.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
Watching best friends fall in love is a nice hook.
Fanbase Potential
This would probably have a limited fanbase since it is so character driven.
Awards Potential
This really doesn't seem like an Awards contender. Again, the structure of the story needs to be reworked and the information that is presented should be part of the narrative.
Envisioned Budget
MEDIUM BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
A SECRET LOVE, DISOBEDIENCE, IMAGINE ME & YOU
What’s New About the Story
It was certainly original to put in a lot of explanation and facts into the story. Using the knowledge to enhance character development would be a great way to solve the narrative flow problem make this more unique.
Lead Characters
Being biracial and also the discussion around issues of sexual identity makes the characters stand out.
Uniqueness of Story
Dialogue is really hard thing to master, but working on making to more like real speech could go a long way in improving the appeal of the book.
Possible Formats
Film: Indie
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
As mentioned before the dialogue doesn't follow natural speech patterns and the digression into lecturing on facts takes the reader out of the story.
Tips for Improvement
A general reworking of the book is needed to make this ready for development. As mentioned before, particular attention needs to be paid to dialogue improvement and the arbitrary facts thrown in need to be either removed or fully integrated into the story as plot or character development.
Brief
A biracial journalist struggles to find love only to discover it was right under her nose all along.
What We Liked
The main character is empathetic, smart and positive. The turning on its head of the usual progression of LGBT storylines, is interesting.
Film: A film that focuses on Robert’s transformation and Diamond’s gradual acceptance could be interesting.
TV: Since there are several books in the series, it could be adapted nicely into a television series.
Key points:
1. Strong female character
2. LGBT theme
3. Cultural relevance
4. Conversation starter
5. Franchise potential.
Synopsis
Diamond Pearl Hope, the biracial daughter of a black woman and a white man, struggled with these issues of her lineage all her life. Now as a successful journalist, she is coming into her own. She really wants to be a mother someday and hopes that she will soon find the love of her life.
A failed marriage to her abusive husband Bernard, makes her leery that she will ever find happiness. She soon starts to receive secret love letters. She wonders who might be sending them. Perhaps they could be from her platonic gay friend from college, Robert Cleave.
Robert denies that he is her secret admirer though he does love her dearly. Diamond confides in her best friend, Olivia, and her husband, Lucifer, but they don’t know who could be writing the letters either.
Robert is incredibly successful and wants to share his good fortune with Diamond. He is planning a big trip to Africa for work and he invites Diamond along. She happily agrees to accompany him. As they explore the wonder of the continent together, Diamond realizes that their friendship is turning into something more serious. They both agree that they love each other and are meant to be together.
Diamond soon discovers that it was Olivia who has been writing her love letters. Olivia is secretly gay and in love with Diamond. She desperately wants to be with Diamond. When Diamond rejects her, Olivia gets destructive and Lucifer and Robert have to intervene.
After the trauma of Olivia’s confession, Diamond and Robert are more sure than ever that they belong together. Robert embraces his new found sexuality as a straight man and Diamond manages to understand their love for each other. Diamond and Robert are happily married and soon become the parents of twin babies.