--- title: 10 Questions for Terry McMillan | TIME description: The author's new book, Getting to Happy, comes out September 7. Terry McMillan will now take your questions canonical: https://time.com/video/1veMXoyB/ og:title: 10 Questions for Terry McMillan og:description: The author's new book, Getting to Happy, comes out September 7. Terry McMillan will now take your questions og:url: https://time.com/video/1veMXoyB/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1veMXoyB/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Questions for Terry McMillan twitter:description: The author's new book, Getting to Happy, comes out September 7. Terry McMillan will now take your questions twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1veMXoyB/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # 10 Questions for Terry McMillan > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 10 Questions for Terry McMillan [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions for Terry McMillan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1veMXoyB.m3u8) (4:52)  _Published 2010-09-03. The author's new book, Getting to Happy, comes out September 7. Terry McMillan will now take your questions_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:04 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [10 Questions for David McCullough](/video/9E3Dy0k7/) ### 10 Questions for David McCullough [10 Questions for Nassim Taleb](/video/zFArI42Z/) ### 10 Questions for Nassim Taleb [10 Questions with Ewan McGregor](/video/I7oM93Cz/) ### 10 Questions with Ewan McGregor --- ## Transcript >> I'm Rebecca Keegan for TIME. Today, Terry McMillan author of bestsellers like Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, taking questions from TIME readers. Her next book, Getting to Happy comes out September 7th. Hi, Terry. Thanks for being with us. >> Hi. Thank you. >> This question comes from Riley Keaton in Chardon, Ohio. Question is, you create strong women characters, are these characters inspired by any role models you had when you were growing up? >> Well, my mother was a strong woman. But I don't really think of them so much as being strong characters. I believe that I don't like writing about victims and I don't like writing about passive characters, I find them boring. So, if writing about women who think for themselves, are willing to take risks and are responsible for their own well- being and happiness. If they're considered strong, then so be it. >> This question comes from Christy Starks in Romeoville, Illinois. What process do you go through when writing a novel? Also, will you and E. Lynn Harris' other friends finish the trilogy he started with his posthumous novel? >> First of all, let me answer that question about E. Lynn. There's no way I can finish someone else's novel. I don't write like E. Lynn. We have completely different voices and I don't know what it would really prove. I have a hard enough time writing my own novels. And my process is I write almost every day. I start a novel with a question and with a problem and I look at it as if it's a photograph and I think what's wrong with this picture. And I sort of align myself with the character who has the most to lose and then I start from there, I go from there. >> The next question comes from Lamont A. Pinckney in Kansas City who asks. Will Stella also make a literary return? >> No, Stella. I'm finished with Stella. No. >> Okay. >> Stella got her groove back once. And that's it. >> No more grooves or something. >> No, no, no, no, no, no. >> The next question comes from Sylvia Forbes in Richmond, Virginia. Much has been said regarding reasons why black women remain single in comparison to whiter hispanic women. What are your thoughts on that issue? >> To be honest with you, I think all women have problems finding a good man. I don't care what your ethnicity is, when you're down to it I think. >> Everybody's waiting to exhale. >> I think now women's expectations are a lot higher than they were, say twenty, thirty years ago. We're not willing to settle for just crumbs when you want the whole cake. >> This question comes from Anahi Gonzalez in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who asks. How do you feel about the label? Women's Literature? >> I get sick of labels. Period. I just do. And I'm hoping for the day that we don't have any on anything, not just literature. But instead of referring to me as a black women's writer. Just refer to me as writer. And that's it. >> This question comes from Tammy Barber in Lawrenceville, Georgia, who asks. Your marriage was applauded by women all over the country and lamented when it came out that your husband was gay. We looked to you, what do you want us to learn from your experience? >> I don't have any regrets for marrying my ex- husband, none what- so- ever. I probably had seven or eight years built of the best years of my life, of my adult life. I think it's a lot healthier to be able to focus on what was good. Because to me that resonates more. >> Are you and he still friends at this moment? >> Well, I have forgiven him. >> Uh huh. >> And he is not my bff but we're friends. >> Uh huh. >> Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I don't-- You know, I mean I used to hate his guts. But you know, I went through something. And you know, after a while anger can kill you. It's like a termite. The bitterness is it can hurt you and it can make it so that you don't allow love to come back into your life at all. And I find that sad and not to give anybody else that much power over your life and your happiness. 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