In Episode 4 of Writers & Worlds, host Madam Lether is joined by acclaimed British author Tim Lebbon, whose career in horror, science fiction and fantasy has spanned more than three decades.

Best known for works including The Silence, The Last Storm, Eden and Alien: Out of the Shadows, Tim has spent over 30 years creating terrifying creatures, unforgettable landscapes and extraordinary worlds.

In this episode, Tim and Madam Lether explore the realities of writing as a full-time career, how the creative process changes over time, and what it means to dedicate your working life to storytelling. They reflect on Tim's evolution as an author, the lessons learned across three decades of publishing, and the ways his relationship with writing has developed throughout his career.

The conversation also ventures into the importance of nature, wilderness and landscapes in fiction, and how the environments we create can become just as significant as the characters who inhabit them.

From the challenges of making a living through writing to the joy of discovering new stories, this is a conversation about creativity, perseverance and a lifetime spent building worlds.

About Writers & Worlds

Writers & Worlds is a PrideXtra Original podcast hosted by horror author Madam Lether. Bringing together authors and creators from horror, fantasy, science fiction and speculative fiction, the series explores the stories we tell, the worlds we build and the people behind them.

Production Credits

Hosted by Madam Lether.

A co-production between PrideXtra, part of Reading Pride UK, the Library of Shadow Studios, and ChapterCast Originals.

© Madam Lether 2026. All rights reserved.

AI Disclosure

This episode was created, recorded, edited and produced by people, without the use of generative artificial intelligence. No AI-generated voices, interviews, music or creative content were used in its production.

Listen to Writers & Worlds

New episodes released fortnightly.

Writers & Worlds is an independent PrideXtra Original production, celebrating creativity, storytelling and the voices behind the worlds we love.

In Episode Three of Writers & Worlds, Madam Lether sits down with Dr Ama Josephine Budge Johnstone, speculative writer, artist, curator and pleasure activist.

Their conversation moves through queerness, ecology, Black identity, climate and speculative fiction, looking at the ways our identities and experiences shape the stories we tell and the futures we imagine. Ama speaks about her own Black and queer identity, and how race, queerness and our relationship with the natural world intersect throughout her writing, art and wider creative practice.

Madam Lether and Ama also talk about finding your voice as a writer, creating speculative worlds, representation, ecology and climate, and the freedom that comes with working across different forms of storytelling.

Rather than centring on one particular piece of work, this episode takes a wider look at Ama's creative world, from writing and speculative fiction to art, research and activism, and the ideas and experiences that continue to shape everything she creates.

🎙️ Writers & Worlds with Madam Lether
Episode Three: Dr Ama Josephine Budge Johnstone: Queerness, Ecology & Speculative Worlds

A PrideXtra Original.

What happens when your experience with death becomes thething you write about?

In Episode Two of Writers & Worlds, Madam Lether sitsdown with writer, designer and former funeral professional Cecil Fenn.

Originally from New York, Cecil apprenticed in embalming andworked in the funeral industry before moving across the Atlantic and retrainingin theatre. Their work continues to draw heavily on those experiences,exploring grief, death, the body, illness, queerness and the strange ways wetry to make sense of being human.

The conversation also dives into Cecil's debut novel, TheRestorative Artist, a contemporary gothic novel following an accomplishedembalmer whose own illness and grief begin to unravel his relationship with hiswork, his past and the dead he has built his life around.

Madam Lether and Cecil talk funeral work, writing from livedexperience, our relationship with mortality, creating horror from the body, andwhat it takes to turn all of that into a debut novel.

The Restorative Artist is out now from Lucent Dreaming.

Writers & Worlds with Madam Lether

A PrideXtra Original.

The Restorative Artist is out now. Pick up your copy usingthe links below:

⁠The Restorative Artist by CecilFenn (Preorder Paperback, 2026) – Lucent Dreaming⁠

⁠The Restorative Artist a bookby Cecil Fenn - Bookshop.org UK⁠⁠The Restorative Artist:Amazon.co.uk: Fenn, Cecil: 9781916632240: Books⁠

Music Notice: All music contained in this episode consistsof original recordings created for Writers & Worlds and released by MadamLether. Music featured includes “Writers & Worlds – Main Theme” and“Between the Pages: A Writers & Worlds Theme,” composed by TheodoreBathhouse & Madam Lether. No third-party commercial music is used in thisepisode.

AI Notice: No generative AI was used in the creation,writing, recording, or production of this episode.