Rose McGowan, the former actor who is now an activist against sexual assault, has a new memoir, Brave, in which she details being attacked by Harvey Weinstein (an accusation the movie executive denies), her unconventional upbringing and her years “suffering from a mental disorder called Hollywood.” McGowan spoke with TIME writer Belinda Luscombe upon the book’s publication. TIME: When did you start writing Brave? McGOWAN: Three years ago, but in a lot of ways I’d been formulating it my whole life. How did the cascade of accusations against [former movie executive Harvey Weinstein] the person you call the Monster change what happened with the book?