Road Trip: A Memoir

Denise Billings looks back at the dramas, disasters, and decisions that she has survived throughout a lifetime. In her intensely personal story, hard truths are revealed and lessons are learned… sometimes more than once. Her uniquely relatable story is lovingly told with side-eyed humor that smooths the journey. Compassion and empathy for family and friends eases the reader through the everyday skirmishes of a Black woman in America.

A cross country road trip from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 1976 and a trip in reverse decades later led Denise Billings to ponder the life in between. Growing up in St. Louis in the 1950s and 1960s, she enjoyed her childhood unaware that racism colored her world. It manifested in subtle ways that weren't truly recognized until years later. "Road Trip" is a look back on the drama, disasters, and decisions that she survived during her lifetime. This memoir is an intensely personal and candid account of youthful high jinks, drug use, friendship, family, multiple marriages, murder, loss, and joy. Denise confronts her past with forgiveness, shades of enlightenment, and a side-eyed humor that makes an absorbing story for readers from all backgrounds. In her authentic voice, Denise Billings reaches deep into the heart of a young girl to find herself.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Denise earned a B.A. in Psychology at Lincoln University, Missouri. She's been a union representative, a fundraiser for non-profits, and a bookstore owner. Previously, she contributed articles to several publications and an anthology called "Before, During & After the 'C' Word." She has a son, a bonus daughter, and a son-in-law. She lives in Los Angeles with her fourth and final husband, noted actor Earl Billings. Readers can contact Denise at www.denisebillings.com.