During the 1980s, Butler wrote his first five books: West of Hollywood (1980), Hawk Gumbo and Other Stories (1982), The Kid Who Wanted to Be a Spaceman (1984), Jujitsu for Christ (1986), and Nightshade (1989).
While at the College of Santa Fe, he published two more books: Jack’s Skillet: Plain Talk and Some Recipes From a Guy in the Kitchen (1997, a cookbook) and Dreamer (1999).
Publishers Weekly said Dreamer "...reads like a dream, in fact, intensely vivid, brimming with portent, serendipity and meaning.
But it's as discursive and confusing as a dream, subordinating classic thriller elements to a semi-associational flow of events.
"[2] Since his retirement as a teacher, Butler has published a fifth novel, Practicing Zen without a License, and a young adult sci-fi novel, Christmas on a Distant Planet.