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A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and "MacArthur Genius" Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe -- how to be in the world. This book is about the creative process, but not on the page; its canvas is much larger. Author Lynell George not only engages the world that shaped Octavia E. Butler, she also explores the very specific processes through which Butler shaped herself -- her unique process of self-making. It's about creating a life with what little you have -- hand-me-down books, repurposed diaries, journals, stealing time to write in the middle of the night, making a small check stretch -- bit by bit by bit.