BOOKS
1940s southern black communities were rich with African American culture laid against the backdrop of World War II. This black history romance novel, THE DEBT, reveals the life, struggles and resiliency of young people in love whose dreams are forever altered by the intrusion of the war and the need for young black men to fight to free Europe from the clutches of Hitler's military.
Black soldiers World War II were assigned to keeping the ship clean on the voyage from the United States to England as the D-Day plans were coming to fruition. But once D-Day occurred, they were assigned to prepare the site of the new "temporary port" that was essential to bring men and equipment to the newly liberated beaches of Normandy, France.
Book One, THE DEBT, begins with a love story that becomes entangled in the clutches of the war in Europe to become a love story changed and molded to fit life during wartime.
THE DEBT: Debut Novel Series
REVIEWS
This charming story takes us to a world and period known by very few readers---the deep South in the ‘40’s. Even fewer people know anything about the middle class black community during this period. Readers will experience this world through the eyes of a young “colored” woman---a teacher who falls in love with a musician who’s drafted into the segregated Army during wartime. The book provides a great opportunity to think about the complexity of relationships, race, class, and love. It's a wonderful read.
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President Emeritus, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The Debt, is a beautifully written story of love, hope, strength and resilience amidst the dangers and anxieties of life in a small Georgia town. In it, she masterfully brings to life the richness of African American culture, history and wisdom of the 1940s American South, against the backdrop of World War II in Europe and the growing storm of racism here at home. Her salt-of-the-earth characters are filled with the indominable spirit of the ancestors who, through the ages have triumphed even in the worst of times.
Nell Braxton Gibson,
Author: "Too Proud to Bend"
The Debt is a very beautiful, engrossing, and inspirational love story. Within the context of this captivating love story, Brenda Otis has highlighted many of the social and cultural aspects of Black life in 1940s Georgia and the United States. Additionally, she has effectively illustrated the negative and horrific impacts of institutional racism on the daily lives of Blacks during that period and currently.
Maxie C. Jackson,
Michigan State University
The Debt, Brenda Wills Otis saturates your senses with her uncanny gift for detail. She paints a beautiful descriptive picture of the richness, the trials and the beauty of a Southern black family that eerily could be my own. Brenda navigates us on a journey “down home” where she meticulously evokes memories of treasured experiences with loved ones near and dear. The Debt is a gift to cherish as Brenda artfully paints a picture and masterfully frames each interaction.
Patricia Knight Gary,
Professor Emeritus
Northern Virginia Community College
BIO
Brenda Wills Otis is a first-time novelist at this juncture of her life. It is a life which has been and continues to be a journey of exciting and energized careers…focused and freelanced…and, most importantly, unbelievably rewarding. Otis’s professional orbits have revolved around educational, media and corporate spheres.
Brenda is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and a true child of the late 1950’s and early 60’s Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. Otis was a sixteen-year-old graduating high school senior during the Spring 1963. She participated in the protests led by Rev. Martin Luther King in Kelly Ingram Park when Police Commissioner “Bull” Connor sanctioned the use of police dogs and fire hoses. This was the city’s answer to thousands of protesting school children.
Her college days began with three years at Tennessee State University in Nashville. Brenda completed her senior year at the University of Arizona (Tucson) with a degree in English (Secondary Education). Her professional life began as a senior high and middle school English teacher in Arizona and California as the roving wife of an Air Force officer. She garnered professional recognition as an innovative English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor to her many Spanish-speaking students in Tucson, Arizona.
A second, professional stretching-of-the-wings afforded Brenda an eighteen-year career in television---as an on-air public affairs moderator, an Associated Press-winning news producer, a six-year stretch as a news producer at two Washington-DC network-affiliate stations, a co-creator and debut senior producer of ACE-nominated Black Entertainment TV News, and an award-winning programming executive in the PBS system. Brenda was appointed to the PBS National Programming Service Advisory Committee (NPSAC) for two years while the Director of Programming and Production at Howard University’s PBS television station, WHUT.
After early retirement from television news production and programming, Brenda’s focus turned to supporting her husband, Amos Otis, in building a family-owned corporation from a one-man operation into a multi-layered successful business. She subsequently became a member of the Board of Directors of SoBran, Incorporated.
Brenda Otis has been an active member of every community where she has lived. Fairfax County, Virginia has been her home since 1980. This debut author is a mother, grandmother, community activist and a philanthropist. She lives with her husband, Amos, in northern Virginia.
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Upcoming Events
New Signings Will Appear as They are BookedLocation is TBDNew Signings Will Appear as They are BookedLocation is TBD
CONTACT
For any readers, friends or media inquiries, please contact Author Brenda Wills Otis
EMAIL: brendaotis@verizon.net
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