discountchiapet | RIP - Octavia Butler

I am so broken up by her death. It's so sad.

I adore Octavia Butler. She was so groundbreaking with strong women of color lead characters in her novels.

I first read Dawn when I was 11. This was a huge moment in my life because my older cousin lent me her copy, but she taped a piece of newspaper over the cover. When I finished she asked me what race the main character Lilith was, and I answered "Black, why?" She removed the paper, and there Lilith was helping people out of pods, as a white woman. I was so digusted and angry, 1. writers have no choice on cover design usually, 2. she was black! Thankfully in the reprints, she's black.

I have been hooked ever since. It's so hard to find women (and women of color) who write science fiction. It's also hard to find strong female protagonists and feminist SF. Please reccomend me some!

She was the first science fiction writer to get the MacArthur Foundation's genius grant.

This really is a great loss.