Terry McMillan is a seasoned novelist with a number of bestsellers—including Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, both of which had film adaptations that were box office smashes—but the experience of publishing her most recent book was a new one.

That novel, It’s Not All Downhill From Here, came out on March 31, 2020—right after nationwide lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To her disappointment, McMillan had to cancel plans for a book tour and other appearances, and couldn’t interact with her fans. “It was definitely a learning experience about how lives can change, without us having anything to do with it,” McMillan says.

The book, too, is about unexpected change: The world of protagonist Loretha Curry, 68, is upended by a sudden loss. For McMillan, who is 69, it was important to show that aging does not have to mean losing one’s lust for life.

“I don’t feel old. I’m still having so much fun, and life is still interesting, and there’s a lot to look forward to—including the present moment,” she says. “You can’t worry about how things are going to end. Enjoy what you’re doing right now!” Key to enjoying the present, for McMillan, is accepting what you can and can’t control. It’s no coincidence that the novel she’s currently writing, which she began during the pandemic, will be called Safety.

“Being isolated makes you think about things you hadn’t paid as much attention to. That’s when I started feeling I had more control. You’re either going to suffer or going to survive, and I chose to survive,” she says. “To some extent it’s comforting that we’re all in this together.” McMillan is hopeful about the months to come, and hope will be a prominent theme of her new book. While readers wait eagerly for its publication, they can turn to her recommended summer reads.