Terry McMillan - wikipedia Terry McMillan For the country musician, see Terry McMillan ( musician ). For the American politician, see Terry McMillan ( politician ). Terry McMillan ( 1951 - 10 - 18 ) October 18, 1951 ( age 66 ) Port Huron, Michigan Occupation Writer Nationality American Alma mater University of California, Berkeley Genre Fiction Notable works Waiting to Exhale How Stella Got Her Groove Back Disappearing Acts Spouse Jonathan Plummer ( m. 1998 ; div. 2005 ) Terry McMillan ( born October 18, 1951 ) is an American author. Her work is characterized by relatable female protagonists. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Works 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links Early life McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from the University of California, Berkeley. She also attended the Master of Fine Arts program in film at Columbia University. Career McMillan 's first book, Mama, was published in 1987. Unsatisfied with her publisher 's limited promotion of Mama, McMillian promoted her own debut novel by writing thousands of booksellers, particularly African - American bookstores, and the book soon sold out of its initial first hardcover printing of 5,000 copies. She achieved national attention in 1992 with her third novel, Waiting to Exhale. The book remained on The New York Times bestseller list for many months and by 1995 it had sold over three million copies. The novel contributed to a shift in Black popular cultural consciousness and the visibility of a female Black middle - class identity in popular culture. McMillan was credited with having introduced the interior world of Black women professionals in their thirties who are successful, alone, available, and unhappy. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film directed by Forest Whitaker and starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon. In 1998, another of McMillan 's novels, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, was adapted into a film starring Angela Bassett and Taye Diggs. McMillan 's novel Disappearing Acts was subsequently produced as a direct - to - cable feature, starring Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan and directed by Gina Prince - Bythewood. In 2014, Lifetime brought McMillan 's A Day Late and a Dollar Short to television audiences, starring Whoopi Goldberg and an ensemble cast featuring Ving Rhames, Tichina Arnold, Mekhi Phifer, Anika Noni Rose, and Kimberly Elise. McMillan also wrote The Interruption of Everything and Getting to Happy, the sequel to Waiting to Exhale. Personal life McMillan married Jonathan Plummer in 1998, the inspiration for her novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back. In March 2005, she filed for divorce. On July 13, 2012, she sold her 7,000 - square home in Danville, California, before moving to Los, Angeles, California. McMillan has one child, a son, Solomon. Works Mama. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1987. ISBN 978 - 0 - 547 - 52404 - 7. Disappearing Acts. Penguin Group US. 1989. ISBN 978 - 1 - 101 - 65772 - 0. Breaking Ice : An Anthology of Contemporary African - American Fiction. Penguin Books. October 1990. ISBN 978 - 0140116977. ( Editor ) Waiting To Exhale. Viking. May 1992. ISBN 978 - 0 - 670 - 83980 - 3. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Viking. 1996. ISBN 0451209141. A Day Late and a Dollar Short. Penguin Group US. 2001. ISBN 978 - 1 - 101 - 20938 - 7. It 's OK if You 're Clueless : and 23 More Tips for the College Bound. Viking Adult. March 2006. ISBN 978 - 1419397332. The Interruption of Everything. Penguin Group US. May 2006. ISBN 978 - 1 - 101 - 20981 - 3. Getting to Happy. Penguin Group US. 2010. ISBN 978 - 1 - 101 - 44294 - 4. Who Asked You ? Viking, September 2013. ISBN 978 - 0670 - 78569 - 8 I Almost Forgot About You. Crown, New York. 2016. ISBN 978 - 1101 - 9025 - 78. References Jump up ^ Williams, Andrea ( September 17, 2013 ). `` SO WHAT DO YOU DO, TERRY MCMILLAN, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ? ''. Mediabistro. Retrieved October 15, 2014. Jump up ^ Mama, Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Jump up ^ Max ;, Daniel ( 1992 - 08 - 09 ). `` McMillan 's Millions ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 22. Jump up ^ `` It 's Not Right But It 's Okay ''. Jump up ^ `` ABC News : ' Stella ' Inspiration Breaks Silence ''. ABC News. 2005. Retrieved May 14, 2008. Sources Nishikawa, Kinohi. `` Romance Novel. '' Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey Jr. ( eds ), The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2005. pp. 1411 -- 15. External links Official Web Site Terry McMillan at the Notable Names Database Interview with Terry McMillan on the Tavis Smiley Show. Terry McMillan on IMDb Terry McMillan at the African American Literature Book Club Michigan Women 's Hall of Fame 1980 -- 1989 Harriette Simpson Arnow N. Lorraine Beebe Mamie Geraldine Neale Bledsoe Elizabeth Margaret Chandler Mary Stallings Coleman Wilma T. Donahue Grace Eldering Josephine Gomon Martha W. Griffiths Dorothy Haener Laura Smith Haviland Mildred Jeffrey Pearl Kendrick Helen W. Milliken Rosa L. Parks Anna Howard Shaw Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Sojourner Truth 1984 Helen J. Claytor Caroline Bartlett Crane Marguerite De Angeli Emma Genevieve Gillette Icie Macy Hoobler Magdelaine Laframboise Martha Longstreet Elly M. Peterson Jessie Pharr Slaton Mary C. Spencer Bertha Van Hoosen 1986 Patricia Boyle Elizabeth C. Crosby Gwen Frostic Elmina R. Lucke Marjorie Swank Matthews Marjorie Peebles - Meyers Mary Chase Perry Stratton Helen Thomas Marion Isabel Barnhart Patricia Hill Burnett Ethel Calhoun Georgia Emery Betty Ford Rosa Slade Gragg Clara Raven Louise L. Brown Ethelene Crockett Marcia J. Federbush Fran Harris M. Jane Kay Nugent Agnes Mary Mansour Helen Martin Sarah Goddard Power Clara B. Arthur Anna Sutherland Bissell Alexa Canady Anne R. Davidow Bernadine Newsom Denning Isabella Karle Jean Ledwith King Olga Madar Mary Anne Mayo 1990 -- 1999 Emily Helen Butterfield Erma Henderson Dorothy Leonard Judd Elba Lila Morse Fannie M. Richards Emelia Christine Schaub Mary P. Sinclair Merze Tate Delia Villegas Vorhauer 1991 Rachel Andresen Mary Beck Jan BenDor Janet K. Good Jo Jacobs Virginia Cecile Blomer Nordby Dorothy Comstock Riley Edith Mays Swanson Cora Brown Mary Lou Butcher Sarah Emma Edmonds Violet Temple Lewis Luise Ruth Leismer Mahon Gilda Radner Martha Romayne Seger Ann M. Shafer Sylvia M. Stoesser Lucy Thurman Charleszetta Waddles Edith Vosburgh Alvord Catherine Carter Blackwell Jean W. Campbell Katherine Hill Campbell Lenna Frances Cooper Roberta A. Griffith Bina West Miller Jeanne Omelenchuk Sippie Wallace Edna Noble White Irene Clark Woodman Virginia Allan Marie - Therese Guyon Cadillac Ruth Carlton Flossie Cohen Bertha A. Daubendiek Genora Johnson Dollinger Flora Hommel Sarah Van Hoosen Jones Aleda E. Lutz Helen Walker McAndrew 1995 Yolanda Alvarado - Ortega Irene Auberlin Hilda R. Gage Lucia Voorhees Grimes R. Louise Grooms Odessa Komer Laura Freele Osborn Jacquelin E. Washington Carrie Frazier Rogers - Brown Anna Clemenc Waunetta McClellan Dominic Margaret Muth Laurence Claudia House Morcom Betsy Graves Reyneau Shirley E. Schwartz Joan Luedders Wolfe Ellen Burstyn Marion Corwell - Shertzer Four Sisters of Charity Della Goodwin Alice Hamilton Nancy Harkness Love Maryann Mahaffey Sharon E. Sutton Matilda Dodge Wilson 1998 Connie Binsfeld Hilda Patricia Curran Marie Dye Eleanor Josaitis Dorrie Ellen Rosenblatt Ella Merriman Sharp Martha Jean Steinberg Ruth Thompson Lily Tomlin 1999 Patricia L. Beeman Olympia Brown Doris DeDeckere Margaret Drake Elliott Elizabeth Homer Eleonore Hutzel Ella Eaton Kellogg Emily Burton Ketcham Ardeth Platte 2000 -- 2009 2000 Lillian Mellen Genser Loney Clinton Gordon Katherine G. Heideman Dauris Gwendolyn Jackson Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy Marjorie J. Lansing Chaun - Pu Lee Marilyn Fisher Lundy Katharine Dexter McCormick Kathleen N. Straus Clarissa M. Young Cora Reynolds Anderson Lucile E. Belen Theresa Maxis Duchemin Aretha Franklin Francie Kraker Goodridge Marian Bayoff Ilitch Mary Ellen Riordan Joesphine Stern Weiner 2002 Hortense Golden Canady Julia Wheelock Freeman May Stocking Knaggs Naomi Long Madgett Lucille Hanna McCollough Lana Pollack Martha Louise Rayne Muriel Dorothy Ross 2003 Mary Agnes Blair Verne Burbridge Nellie Cuellar Alice Scanlan Kocel Joyce Lewis Kornbluh Eliza Seaman Leggett Ida Lippman Marion ' Babe ' Ruth Bernice `` B '' Steadman Pamela Withrow Ruth Zweifler Geraldine Bledsoe Ford Jennifer Mulhern Granholm Lystra Gretter Florine Mark Cathy McClelland Constance Mayfield Rourke 2005 Margaret M. Chiara Eva Lois Evans Georgia A. Lewis Johnson Lida Holmes Mattman Olivia Maynard Deborah Stabenow Caroline Thrun Margaret Sellers Walker Elizabeth Weaver 2006 Cynthia Yao Mary Esther Daddazio Margery Feliksa Nancy Hammond Viola Liuzzo Marge Piercy Dora Hall Stockman Martha Strickland Clark Helen Hornbeck Tanner 2007 Mary Brown Gertrude Buck Emma Cole Haifa Fakhouri Carolyn Geisel Jane Briggs Hart Abigail Rogers Kathleen Wilbur Woman 's Hospital Association ( charter members ) 2008 Carol Atkins Patricia Cuza Carol King Vicki Neiberg James Johnston Schoolcraft Leta Snow Mary Francilene Van de Vyver 2009 Carol Atkins Grace Lee Boggs Margaret Chandler Ruth Ellis Edna Ferber Glenda Lappan Kay Givens McGowan Elizabeth Phillips Jessica Rickert Betty Tableman Marlo Thomas 2010 -- 2019 Mary Aikey Laura Carter Callow Augusta Jane Chapin Sandra Laser Draggoo Annie Etheridge Sherrill Freeborough Dorean Marguerite Hurley Koenig Terry McMillan Edith Munger Cynthia J. Pasky 2011 Lois A. Bader Jumana Judeh Marilyn Kelly Valeria Lipczynski Edelmira Lopez Kary Moss Rose Mary C. Robinson Patricia Saunders 2012 Gladys Beckwith Patricia Caruso Mary Jane Dockeray Judith Karandjeff Les Meres et Debutantes Club of Greater Lansing Serena Williams L. Anna Ballard Eva McCall Hamilton Mary E. McCoy 2013 Elizabeth W. Bauer Judith Levin Cantor Paula Cunningham Joan Jackson Johnson Gladys McKenney Marina von Neumann Whitman Con - Con Eleven Elizabeth Eaglesfield Harriet Quimby 2014 Elizabeth Lehman Belen MaryLee Davis Jeanne Findlater Dorothy A. Johnson Julie Krone Mary Carmelita Manning Barbara Roberts Mason Marylou Olivarez Mason Andra M. Rush Mary Ellen Sheets Lucille Farrier Stickel 2015 Jocelyn Benson Maxine Berman Sue Carter Janet C. Cooper Mabel White Holmes Candice Miller Esther K. Shapiro Maggie Walz Myra Wolfgang Linda M. Woods 2016 Elizabeth Sparks Adams Anan Ameri Daisy Elliott Faith Fowler Evelyn Golden Olivia Letts Mary Free Bed Guild Diana Ross Lou Anna Kimsey Simon Charlotte Wilson 2017 American Legion NUWARINE Post 535 Ella Mae Backus Clara Bryant Ford Elizabeth Denison Forth Mary Kay Henry Curtis Hertel Jr. Verna Grahek Mize Bernice Morton Rosie the Riveter Rosemary C. Sarri Elizabeth Wetzel VIAF : 84546714 LCCN : n86098656 ISNI : 0000 0001 1827 688X GND : 119332884 SUDOC : 029323584 BNF : cb120974301 ( data ) SNAC : w6hj9m19 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terry_McMillan&oldid=824746594 '' Categories : 1951 births Living people 20th - century American novelists 21st - century American novelists African - American novelists American women novelists People from Port Huron, Michigan University of California, Berkeley alumni Novelists from Michigan 20th - century American women writers 21st - century American women writers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni African - American women writers American Book Award winners Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from June 2013 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia تۆرکجه Deutsch فارسی 日本 語 Polski Português Tagalog Edit links This page was last edited on 9 February 2018, at 06 : 24. 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Question: who wrote the book how stella got her groove back
Answer: Terry McMillan