- Terry is the oldest of five children  Born on October 18 th, 1951 in Port Huron, Michigan.  Terry’s father suffered from tuberculosis  She got her first job shelving books in a local library

 When McMillan turned seventeen she moved from Port Huron to Los Angeles, California.  She took a course in literature  McMillan was introduced into African American writers during the course.  McMillan’s first poem was about love due to a failed relationship.

 After McMillan graduated with a bachelor's degree from Berkeley, she left California and moved to New York City  Based on her own life, Mama (1987) explores the grim and humorous situation of an African American family in a large city. Set in Point Haven, Michigan, and in Los Angeles, the novel revolves around the lives of Mildred Peacock and her five children

 In 1990 McMillan edited Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Fiction, a collection of stories by other African American writers.  Her third novel, Waiting To Exhale (1992), describes the lives of Robin, Bernadine, Gloria, and Savannah, four educated African American women living in Phoenix, Arizona, who have an ongoing discussion about their problems in finding and keeping lovers

 Waiting to Exhale was McMillan’s first book which turned into a movie.  Although she received lots of success from the Waiting to Exhale movie & book.  McMillan’s next book “How Stella got her Groove back”  The book sold 800,000 copies.

 McMillan divorced her husband Jonathan Plummer because he confessed to her about his homosexuality.  Plummer stated that McMillan constantly harassed him after he came out of the closet,  Plummer stated that McMillan changed his password in his phone to “ILUVMEN”

 McMillan filed a $40 million dollar lawsuit for embezzlement  McMillan’s book “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” was based on her love story with Plummer.  Later she stated that it was all just a “fairy tale” 

 McMillan is currently working on a part 2 to “Waiting to exhale”  She states she wasn’t looking for a part 2  She was wondering and processing thoughts and here she is with updated stories of the four ladies.