book cover launch

Virtual Book Launch

Community

Please join me in celebrating my soon-to-be-released book by Palgrave titled Women’s Agency in the Dune Universe: Tracing Women’s Liberation through Science Fiction at a virtual book launch on Monday, December 20 at 1pm PST / 4pm EST / 6pm BRT / 9pm GMT / 10pm CET. I will be joined in conversation with co-host Dr. Russ Sloan from Doc Sloan’s Science Fiction Station. Register on the event page or click below! This book is the first major study of female characters in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series and takes a historical approach to exploring the representation of the women of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. More information will

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Dune cinnamon spice cookies in front of orange lettered book

Dune Spice Cookies

Community

Imagine you’ve somehow entered the science fiction universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune and you’re on the planet Arrakis… What does it smell like? What does the precious spice or ‘melange’ on which so many things depend taste like? Cinnamon. At least ten references to the odor or taste of cinnamon appear in the book. When Duke Leto and Paul are checking out the spice mining operations and open the door of their ornithopter, “Immediately, their nostrils were assailed by the odor of cinnamon—heavy and pungent.” When a sandworm pursues Jessica and Paul in the desert, “Cinnamon yelled in their nostrils.” Infused with melange, coffee

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Newspaper headline for interview on Frank Herbert's Dune

Newspaper Interview and Illustrations

Criticism

My first newspaper interview on my research on Frank Herbert’s Dune series has hit the press, including a preview of some of my book’s illustrations: “What makes a world work? Exploring the groundbreaking universe of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’“. Thanks to David Herkt and the Sunday Star Times for the opportunity to share some of my work with the public.

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Gertrude Bell with King Faisal and company at picnic in 1922

Gertrude Bell and Jessica of Dune: Influencers in the Halls of Power

Criticism

The parallels between the life of Gertrude Bell, British archaeologist and writer, and the character Lady Jessica in Frank Herbert’s Dune make for an interesting study of how women can successfully carry themselves in unfamiliar territory and exert influence. Although T.E. Lawrence (1888 – 1935) is more well-known, in no small part due to the popular movie based on his time in the Middle East (Lawrence of Arabia (1962)), Gertrude Bell (1868 – 1926) was a significant Western figure in the Middle East in the 20th century and arguably more extraordinary in terms of her influence. Known as a queen or daughter of

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