“Childfinder” and “A Necessary Being” to be Published in June:
The internets are buzzing with the news that two new Octavia Butler stories will be released in June. The exciting news is highlighted in a press release today from Open Road Integrated Media. The press release joyously announces that two short stories: “Childfinder” and “A Necessary Being,” will be published together and sold under the title “Unexpected Stories.” The book will include an introduction by Walter Mosley and is set for a June 24, 2014 release date. The two tales will be published together as an eBook.
The stories were discovered by Butler’s literary agent Merrilee Heifetz among a collection of Butler’s works now housed in San Marino, California’s Huntington Library. According to staff at Open Road Integrated Media, the stories were penned in the early 1970’s (Open Road, 2014).
For a brief plot description of “Childfinder” and “A Necessary Being,” visit the Unexpected Stories Preorder page. The title will be available from Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound. The best price I currently see listed is $3.19 from Amazon. Open Road notes “Childfinder . . . was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous VisionsTM.” It is my understanding that “Childfinder” was the second story ever sold by Octavia (Unexpected Stories, 2014). How cool is that? Reading “Unexpected Stories” will be like taking a trip back in time to drink from Octavia’s early wellspring of inspiration.
Octavia worked extremely hard to achieve her status as a celebrated science fiction author. She was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California. Octavia died on February 26, 2006 at the age of 58. One of my favorite Octavia stories concerns a memory she relayed to the journal “Black Scholar” regarding a Sci-Fi movie she watched titled “Devil Girl from Mars.” Octavia thought the movie was absolutely horrible. In her words: “I decided that I could write a better story than that. And I turned off the TV and proceeded to try, and I’ve been writing science fiction ever since (Beal, 1986).”
After attending The Open Door Workshop of the Screenwriters’ Guild of America; and The Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop (1969-1970); Octavia sold two stories but was then not published again for 5 long years. Octavia worked through that difficult five years of rejection slip after rejection slip. It was a tough time for Octavia, but she believed in herself and persevered through the long dry spell. Octavia is known for her “Patternist” series of novels, “Kindred,” “Lilith’s Brood,” the “Parable series,” and the novel “Fledgling (Wikipedia, 21 April 2014 ).”
I have placed my pre-order and I am really looking forward to reading the new stories that are scheduled to be released in June. In addition to being a very talented writer, Octavia had a great personality. In parting, I leave you with a quote from a “brief conversation” the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America had with Octavia in 2004:
SFWA: Who is Octavia E. Butler? Where is she headed? Where has she been?
Octavia: Who am I? I’m a 56-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer. I’m comfortably asocial — a hermit living in a large city — a pessimist if I’m not careful; a student, endlessly curious; a feminist; an African American; a former Baptist; and an oil and water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive (A Brief Conversation, 2004).
Text Sources:
A brief conversation with Octavia E. Butler, (2004). Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers
of America. Retrieved from here.
Beal, Frances M., (Mar.-Apr. 1986). Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler:
Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre, Black Scholar 17.2, 14–18.
Octavia E. Butler, (Last Updated 21 April 2014 at 17:28). Wikipedia. Retrieved from here.
Open Road Media to Publish Uncovered Stories from Award-Winning Fiction Author
Octavia E. Butler, (2014). Open Road Media. Retrieved from here.
Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler, (2014). Open Road Media. Retrieved from here.
Photo Credit:
“Wild Seed”
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