Terry Mcmillan

It's hard to believe that it's been only nine years since Terry McMillan started what amounted to a reading and publishing revolution. It was 1992 when her seminal novel, "Waiting to Exhale," struck its first blow among single women who identified with that book's four female protagonists and their search for love. The novel spent more than six months on various bestseller lists and spawned a virtual sub-genre of fiction, the "girlfriend" novel, that influenced everyone from E.

BOOKS Terry McMillan In her 1992 breakout bestseller, "Waiting to Exhale," Terry McMillan celebrated the power of female bonding, long before "Sex and the City" was but a twinkle in Darren Star's eye. The author has returned to Savannah, Gloria, Robin and Bernandine, now navigating life in their 50s, for her sequel, "Getting to Happy. " Eso Won Bookstore, 4331 Degnan Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Also, Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Wed. MOVIES "Take 100: The Future of Film" A panel discussion featuring the Duplass brothers ("Cyrus")

Terry McMillan's first clue that the movie version of her book, "Waiting to Exhale," was going to be big was her fax machine. It was spewing out tons of news stories, columns, requests for print interviews and TV appearances--but especially reports of parties, lots of parties.

Compiled by Grace Krilanovich MONDAY Nancy Brinker : The author of "Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer" will present and sign her new book. Vroman's Bookstore 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Free. (626) 449-5320. Tiphanie Yanique : The author of "How To Escape from a Leper Colony: A Novella and Stories" will read and sign her new book. Book Soup 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free.

Terry McMillan is late. Several hundred fans, mostly black and female, are shoehorned into Marcus Bookstore on a recent Saturday night. Several hundred more form a line down the block and around the corner. The reading from her new novel hasn't begun because McMillan is greeting those who couldn't squeeze inside. "She's been walking the line," announces Blanche Richardson, whose family owns the store, one of the nation's largest and oldest African-American bookstores. The crowd cheers.

They do make an odd couple. He's as mild-looking as they come, a smooth, unflappable man in the comfy, anti-style wardrobe of a National Public Radio talk-show host, complete to the beard and horn-rim glasses, the cardigan sweater, the open collar and the well-broken-in shoes. She's who she is, dammit, and she doesn't care who knows about it or what they think. In cowboy boots, black leather jeans, a black velvet blazer and a white lace turtleneck, she's a woman no man would mess with.

In a suit that could affect virtually anyone who writes fiction in this country, a former lover of novelist Terry McMillan has filed a $4.75 million defamation suit against her. Leonard Welch's suit claims that he is recognizable as the model for the central character in McMillan's novel "Disappearing Acts" (Viking, 1989), and that the book defames him. The suit also names Penguin USA, the parent company of Viking, and Simon & Schuster, which published the book in paperback, as defendants.

'Now girl, this is the part when Angela brings the young boyfriend from Jamaica home to the barbecue to meet the family at Suzzanne Douglas' house." Publicist Anna Fuson leans into her whisper as if telling tales out of school--blacktop rumor at its best. October rages on above us --all sun and humid hubris so below the raised wooden deck is cluttered with undulating, flip-flop shuffling and tank top-clad folk.

To Terry McMillan ("Looking for Mr. Right," June 19): The article that I read was somewhat disturbing to me as a single black male. The minute we stop looking for Mr. or Miss Right, the better off we will all be. Have you ever seen Mr. or Miss Right, that person perfect for us? I haven't. But speaking from a man's point of view, there are plenty of eligible men looking for women willing to commit and raise a family. I think you and your readers should look to yourselves for the answers as to why you have not found suitable companionship.

Author Terry McMillan has filed for divorce from the man who inspired the 1996 novel "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," which chronicled the romantic adventures of a 40-ish woman who falls for a guy half her age. In papers filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, McMillan, 53, says she decided to end her 6 1/2 -year marriage to Jonathan Plummer, 30, after learning he is gay.

Novelist Terry McMillan is suing her former husband for $40 million, alleging that he tried to smear her reputation during their highly publicized 2005 divorce. McMillan, 55, filed the complaint Wednesday in Contra Costa County (Calif.) Superior Court against Jonathan Plummer, 32, who inspired her bestselling 1996 novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

Welcome to the spin cycle: a week in the life of a middle-aged woman. On a typical day, she's working part time at a crafts emporium, taking care of her live-in mother-in-law, fielding calls from grown children (pregnant or in love), trying to determine over the phone whether her mother has Alzheimer's, sending money to her crackhead sister and worrying about whether her sister's young children (200 miles away) have eaten in the last few days.

That groove that Terry McMillan got back on her tropical vacation, when she met the hot young Jamaican stud Jonathan Plummer, who rearranged all her atoms into a new transcendental orbit? Who inspired the bestseller "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"? Which became the box-office sensation with Angela Bassett and a torso-writhing Taye Diggs? Gone. Worse, gone down low.

Author Terry McMillan has filed for divorce from the man who inspired the 1996 novel "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," which chronicled the romantic adventures of a 40-ish woman who falls for a guy half her age. In papers filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, McMillan, 53, says she decided to end her 6 1/2 -year marriage to Jonathan Plummer, 30, after learning he is gay.

1 THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Putnam: $25.95) A ghostwriter uncovers her family's anguished past in China as her mother struggles with Alzheimer's disease. Last Week: 1 Weeks On List: 8 2 SILENT JOE by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion: $23.95) A young sheriff's deputy, his face horribly scarred, uncovers his mysterious past when he hunts the killers of his adopted father. Last Week: - Weeks On List: 1 3 1st TO DIE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $26.

It's hard to believe that it's been only nine years since Terry McMillan started what amounted to a reading and publishing revolution. It was 1992 when her seminal novel, "Waiting to Exhale," struck its first blow among single women who identified with that book's four female protagonists and their search for love. The novel spent more than six months on various bestseller lists and spawned a virtual sub-genre of fiction, the "girlfriend" novel, that influenced everyone from E.

Novelist Terry McMillan is suing her former husband for $40 million, alleging that he tried to smear her reputation during their highly publicized 2005 divorce. McMillan, 55, filed the complaint Wednesday in Contra Costa County (Calif.) Superior Court against Jonathan Plummer, 32, who inspired her bestselling 1996 novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

BOOKS Terry McMillan In her 1992 breakout bestseller, "Waiting to Exhale," Terry McMillan celebrated the power of female bonding, long before "Sex and the City" was but a twinkle in Darren Star's eye. The author has returned to Savannah, Gloria, Robin and Bernandine, now navigating life in their 50s, for her sequel, "Getting to Happy. " Eso Won Bookstore, 4331 Degnan Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Also, Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Wed. MOVIES "Take 100: The Future of Film" A panel discussion featuring the Duplass brothers ("Cyrus")

Good vibes danced with anticipation at a casual September lunch at HBO's Century City headquarters before a screening of the urban love story "Disappearing Acts." But as director Gina Prince-Bythewood and others associated with the film settled into their seats to watch the rough cut, the anxiety level rose.

'Now girl, this is the part when Angela brings the young boyfriend from Jamaica home to the barbecue to meet the family at Suzzanne Douglas' house." Publicist Anna Fuson leans into her whisper as if telling tales out of school--blacktop rumor at its best. October rages on above us --all sun and humid hubris so below the raised wooden deck is cluttered with undulating, flip-flop shuffling and tank top-clad folk.