Growing up, I didn’t think there were any Black women writers of Science Fiction. I didn’t discover Octavia Butler until I was an adult, and I wish I had discovered her much sooner. My uncle, a fellow reader, writer and blerd (Black nerd) told me about one of Butler’s books, Kindred, and I knew I needed to read it.

Kindred blends several elements, and its almost hard to simply classify it as a Science Fiction novel. Dana, the main character, experiences racism, white supremacy and slavery…by traveling back in time. And, none if this is by choice. She doesn’t climb into a time machine and visit the pre-emancipation era on purpose; her travels are random and against her will. She never knows when she will return or if she will return. And what’s worse, each trip seems to last longer and longer.

This was one of those stories I found impossible to put down. It was published in 1979, and it’s Butler’s fourth book. It was adapted into a series for FX (I haven’t seen it yet but I hope they did the book some justice). I have to say, reading it encouraged me to write The Witch of Fulton Lane. Other Black women writers have given us Science Fiction, such as N. K. Jemison and Nnedi Okorafor, but I feel like Octavia Butler was the first to the way. Sadly, she is no longer with us, and all we have are her amazing books. If you’ve never read Butler’s work, I highly recommend it.