The Other Woman

About Tunette Powell

I am an experienced journalist, with a knack for writing feature stories. As a former editorial assistant and staff writer, who spent five years at the San Antonio Express-News, I have chronicled everything from a homeless community’s fight to save their makeshift homes, to an aspiring rapper in San Antonio. When my husband’s Air Force career relocated us to Omaha, Nebraska, I continued my career in communications and continued my writing via blogging. As a blogger for more than two years at the Express-News, my blog, “Tunette’s Baby Steps” was consistently ranked in the top 25 most read blogs by the San Antonio Express-News’ website. In fall 2012, I was offered a blogging position with Momaha, a parenting site offered through the Omaha World-Herald. Since accepting the position, I have become a regular on the World-Herald’s homepage.

In 2012, I earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, making me the first woman in my family to earn a college degree of any kind. Since graduating, I have charged my motivational speaking career into full gear, covering topics that root from my childhood struggles. I have carried my message and testimony across

the country, including education conferences, shelters, women centers and schools.

I have spoken at organizations that cater to young children, teenagers and adults all in an attempt to encourage people to recycle the human life. As a public speaker, I have seen great success. Most notably, in April 2012, I delivered a persuasive speech about the criminalization of addiction that won the Interstate Oratory competition, which is the nation’s oldest speaking competition. I am originally from San Antonio, Texas but now reside in Omaha with my husband, Jason, and two children – Jason Jr. and Joah. In my free time, I coach girls’ basketball and offer writing and speaking classes.

About the Book

The Other Woman is a bold and emotional memoir based on a sixteen-line rap written by the daughter of an addict. In this honest portrayal of addiction, Nette loses herself in the stories of her father's struggles. She vividly recounts his memories of the crack houses and prison cells he once frequented, and openly recalls how that other world stole so many years from Bruce Callis and his family. Bruce, who began selling drugs when he was fourteen years old, first smoked crack cocaine while selling the drug to an attractive woman in a crack house. In the decades that followed, he traded everything - household goods, the money meant to feed his children - to finance his habit. While Bruce wasn't watching, Nette grew up. She faced challenges of her own - being molested as a young child and searching for her father's love in every man she met. But in the process, Nette searches for a way to not only forgive her father, but to understand him.