PREVIOUSLY: The Day It Snowed In April: A Memoir by Devin Devasquez

A little late on this (I was waiting to get the above picture), but here is the interview that my brother, James Lott Jr., got to do with Devin Devasquez yesterday, for his “Breaking Into… series on Black Hollywood Live”

Let me tell you that, when I talked to him about it afterwards, my brother raved about Devin. He said she and her husband Ronn Moss, who came to the studio with her and whom James will be interviewing next week, were extremely nice and friendly. And they were impressed with him, as well, and loved the way he conducted the interview. Like myself, James is a life-long avid Prince fan (he’s older than me,  I discovered Prince’s music through him), so he was thrilled to get this chance to interview someone who actually knew him.

I want to take this time to address some criticism that we both have heard about this book. Some folks say this is exploitative, and just cashing in on Prince’s death. On the surface of it, I can understand where that accusation comes from. It’s a woman who dated Prince for less than 6 months about 30 years ago. Put it like that and you think What the heck could she say about Prince that’s worth writing a whole book about?!?

But as someone who has read the book, I can contest to the fact that it doesn’t feel or read as exploitative at all. Prince remained a part of her life, even though they weren’t together, and so as you read her story you see why it makes sense that she would be writing this. Could it have been  written without emphasizing Prince? Yes, sure. As I said in my review, her life story is compelling on its own, as she has been through quite a lot in her life. But it undoubtedly will sell more due to her focus on Prince, so why not use that? It’s a good book and you can tell that she put a lot of effort into writing, it so whatever it takes to make people buy the book, so be it.

And I’ll also point out that she’s giving 30% of the book’s profits to the charitable organization YES WE CODE. So buying this book not only gives you something entertaining to read, it supports a worthy cause!

Now check it out: