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Science Fiction Writer Octavia Butler.

Science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Because she is black and female, she's considered an atypical science fiction writer. She's won the Hugo and Nebula Awards, science fiction's two most prestigious awards. Butler often describes her work as "speculative fiction" rather than science fiction. She says, "Science fiction, extrasensory perception, and black people are judged by the worst elements they produce." Her main characters are usually black women, and the fictional world they inhabit are racially diverse. Butler has written nine novels. Her tenth one is the new "Parable of the Sower," (Four Walls Eight Windows).

23:15
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Other segments from the episode on December 14, 1993

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, December 14, 1993: Interview with Octavia Butler; Interview with Charles Kolb; Review of Pearl Jam's album "Vs."
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16:07

Charles Kolb on the Bush Administration.

Former Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy in the Bush Administration, Charles Kolb. He's written a new memoir about what went wrong with the Bush administration, how they dropped the ball on "gains" made by the Reagan administration. It's called, "White House Daze: The Unmaking of Domestic Policy in the Bush Years." (The Free Press).

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Novelist Terry McMillan Discusses "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

Novelist Terry McMillan. The film adaptation of her 1992 novel, "Waiting to Exhale" was last year's box office hit.The book sold nearly 4 million copies. McMillan has recently completed her fourth novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Viking) which is available in bookstores this week. It tells the story of a 42-year old career woman on vacation in Jamaica who falls in love with a 20-year old unemployed resort worker. According to McMillan, "it's as close to autobiography as I've written in a long time".

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