Reinvention is the theme of Terry McMillan's latest book, "I Almost Forgot About You." There's a reason for that.

“I never in a million years thought I would feel the way that I do, look the way that I do, act the way that I do, think the way that I do at 64,” says the award-winning author of such era-defining books as "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Mama."

In "I Almost Forgot About You," published last month, a twice-divorced optometrist named Georgia learns about an old friend's death, which moves her to make peace with the past. It also inspires her to break free of her professional obligations and find something more fulfilling.

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Both Georgia and McMillan remind us that reinvention offers us several gifts, most importantly, freedom.

“I’m not old," McMillan says. "And, I realized that there is still a lot of time left to do a lot of exciting and interesting things. And, so that was what made me want to create a character that was questioning that about her life."

That doesn't mean that Georgia is a stand-in for her creator.

"Most of the characters that I create don’t necessarily share my beliefs," she says. "Sometimes we have the same moral constitution, but for the most part I give them different personalities, otherwise I would just be writing non-fiction and a memoir."

Like McMillan, Georgia resists the notion of getting older.  It’s that attitude that motivates McMillan and spurs the character to life.

“Georgia Young becomes a real person," she explains. "I’m not even in the story. I’m not Terry McMillan writing about Georgia Young. I become Georgia Young. So her fears and anxieties and desires and frustrations become mine when I’m sitting in front of that computer. I’m not sitting there on some lofty ledge or pedestal thinking, 'I’m looking down trying to portray this character to do and be.' She is not my puppet.

“I wanted her to be my friend. She was my friend for two years."

Looking at language

Examining her narratives, linguistically and in the silences, readers will notice McMillan using Black English, or “dropping it down” a level or two.

“These are very intimating settings where these women are together," she says. "So when I’m writing this, I’m trying to be honest and accurate and this is how we women talk to each other when nobody is watching. When we can drop it down ...  a notch and we can go there, and sometimes we need to go there, and that is what my characters do. But they are not going to work and talk to their clients or their patients (like that)  because they don’t have to. This is an unwritten code that we have as Black people when we know we can drop it down, and that is the beauty of it to me. It is almost a way of saying that we have forgotten where we came from even if it was 40 or 50 years ago."

When it comes to the fortitude of the "sheros" in her novels, specifically, the predicaments Georgia and her friend, Violet, and daughters Estelle and Frankie find themselves in, McMillan emphasizes, “I don’t write about victims. I write about women who may have been victimized but they are not going to stay there … I write from where we (Black women) are. I’m not trying to impress anybody. I’m not trying to prove anything about us in being Black women. We know who we are.“

McMillan’s characters are lifelike, almost turning the pages with you. They are having an out-loud conversation with you while you indulge all your senses in the narrative and then close the book in disbelief.

“I try to make my characters three-dimensional," she says. "And in doing so, it just so happens that my characters are African-American and some of the problems that they have may have to do with race or them being women or both or none. I don’t know until I tell the story. But, it is the characters that drive it. It is not Terry McMillan trying to make some political statement or whatever. My character lives are political and socio-economical.”

Similarly, she doesn't write with any particular readers in mind.

“I don’t write for a Black audience or a White audience or a Latino audience or men or women under 30," she says. "I don’t tell my stories thinking about my audience. My stories are character driven.”

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No labels

McMillan's books sometimes are categorized as chick lit or pop literature. Both those terms do the author a great disservice.

“It’s a very elitist term that mostly White men and women critics use to distinguish fiction that is meant to be taken seriously and the other type, which is, you know, frivolous," McMillan says. "And, the bottom line is ... I’m not trying to be Virginia Woolf. I don’t use a whole lot of alliteration and the fancy-schmancy language. Like I said, my stories are character driven, and I give my characters carte blanche to tell it the way they want to tell it ...  I don’t let anybody define me, period. And, especially my work."

She continues.

"If you tell a lie and you tell a story, it’s called fiction ...  I don’t even understand what is the difference between fiction and literature. I’m not interested in writing beautiful sentences that add up to nothing except beauty. I think the terms 'chick lit' and 'pop fiction' are both insulting."

According to McMillan, the takeaway in reading in fiction “is to help you question your own humanity, who you are as a human being. So you juxtapose it next to what someone is going through.”

While she shares her philosophy on literature, McMillan says that her pen doesn’t discriminate. She has taken up the assignment of writing about recent race incidents.

“I do write an occasional essay and I’ve been writing one about what’s been happening this past week (recent incidents involving police officers). I read a couple of other editorials, because years ago I wrote one for the New York Times on Rodney King. I was across the street at my White neighbors at a  barbecue and all this was going on, it was happening then. And I get home, go across the street and I have message from the New York Times asking if I was aware of what was happening. I was like, yeah, and do I have any thoughts. I was really angry and I wrote it.

"So now here we are again — and, you know — it’s just been happening too much."

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'I Almost Forgot About You' 

By Terry McMillan (Crown Publishing Group, $27).