Writing Worlds: Conversations About World Building – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to the first episode of The Writing World Podcast with our regular presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   Writing Worlds is aimed at writers and those who love to hear about the process of designing and describing imaginary worlds in fiction.  We'll talk to writers, drama makers and those on the periphery of world building who bring these worlds to life.  Each week we'll introduce new topics and guests and introduce regular features and games.   The show will be formally launched at the Cymera Festival in Edinburgh on June 7th (find out more about Cymera and buy tickets here https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/   Emily Inkpen is the award-winning writer of The Dex Legacy audio drama as well as an author of novels and short fiction. She has written in the games industry and for medical organisations. As well as a writer she is a drama director, voice actor and podcaster. https://www.emilyinkpen.com/   Chris Gregory is an audio producer, director, composer and sound designer. He founded the production company Alternative Stories which produces the global chart-topping audio drama The Dex Legacy as well as Wasteland, Burnout and Spec Fic Radio Theatre.    You can find links to all our audio drama productions and other podcasts via this link. https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories   You can follow us on social media via the links below Emily:  https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social     Chris and Alternative Stories:  https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch to suggest a topic to cover or guest for the show or simply to say helllo., we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us via email at office@alternativestories.com   Learn about our writing workshops and courses at our Eventbrite page here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175     Support the show https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Writing Worlds, a podcast about the art of writing worlds and settings in sci-fi, fantasy and horror. In this short trailer you can hear our presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory introducing the show. Listen out for a full-length preview episode coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   In this episode, recorded live at the Cymera Festival in Edinburgh we speak to speculative fiction writer Lyndsey Croal about her approaches to world building in her short fiction, novels and audio drama.   We would like to thank Lyndsey Croal for being our guest on this episode, Ann Landmann and her team at Cymera for hosting us and our live audience for playing along with the games and general silliness during the recording.  You can read a transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ahQ2AP1UtFZkjoYx0woJMOeWvjID6lAT/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true   To find out more about Lyndsey Croal and her work please go to https://linktr.ee/lyndseycroal  You can follow Lyndsey on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/lyndseycroal/ And BlueSky here https://bsky.app/profile/lyndseycroal.bsky.social   Find out about the Cymera Festival here https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/   In this episode we heard from audience member Lindsey Stirling and you can find out more about Lindsey and her books by visiting her website here. https://lindseystirling.uk/   Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via office@alternativestories.com   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   In this episode Emily and Chris are in conversation with Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Find out more about Adrian and order copies of his books by visiting his website here https://adriantchaikovsky.com/ Follow Adrian on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/aptshadow.bsky.social If you'd like to hear more from Adrian Tchaikovsky please listen to the Starship Alexandria podcast which he co-hosts with another science fiction writer Emma Newman.  Listen to Starship Alexandria on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AsMgIimhmFkWxZcDLHq7J?si=0fc1c21e20c741b1  You can read a transcript of our conversation here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1js5Vu2rAcvfXpXayy9MoX9aAWPm5PO3v/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true     Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories.  Find and listen to all of our audio drama productions here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via office@alternativestories.com   Follow us on Eventbrite for details of upcoming live events, writing workshops and courses https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Chris and Emily chat with novelist and short fiction author Premee Mohamed about the concept and processes of terraforming. Visit Premee's website here https://premeemohamed.com/ Follow Premee on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/premeesaurus/ And on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/premeemohamed.com Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠office@alternativestories.com⁠    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  ⁠https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we chat with novelist, short story writer and teacher Zoe Gilbert about her magical realist worlds in her acclaimed novels ‘Folk’ and ‘Mischief Acts’. A full transcript of this episode can be found here  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iyXLmA6ePQ0WKTpX6kqeDHwD5IrsvzCf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true  You can find out more about Zoe and purchase copies of her books by visiting her website here https://zoegilbert.com/ Visit Zoe's page at Bloomsbury, her publisher https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/zoe-gilbert/  Zoe is co-founder of London Lit Lab alongside memoirist Lily Dunn.  London Lit Lab run a range of writing workshops including many on writing the folkloric and fantastical led by Zoe.  Find out more here  https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via office@alternativestories.com    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we chat with actor, writer, director Nicholas Briggs about his work on Doctor Who both on BBC TV and in audio drama versions published by Big Finish. You can read a transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_etg3gGotMSEAwfhlscQB85tOhELaoDn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true   Find out more about Nicholas Briggs and his work by visiting his website here https://nicholasbriggs.com/  You can listen to Nick's work with Big Finish here https://www.bigfinish.com/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories.  Find and listen to all of our audio drama productions here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠office@alternativestories.com⁠   Follow us on Eventbrite for details of upcoming live events, writing workshops and courses ⁠https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175⁠   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  ⁠https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories   In this episode we feature the author of the urban fantasy Rivers of London series Ben Aaronovitch You can find out more about Ben and his world by visiting his website here https://www.benaaronovitch.com/ Follow Ben on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/benaaronovitch.bsky.social    Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories    Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via office@alternativestories.com    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ In this episode we feature authors Kaitlin Felix and Joshua Gillingham for a conversation about Norse-inspired writing and world-building. You can find out more about Kaitlin by visiting her website https://katifelix.com/ Follow Kaitlin on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kfelix_writes/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/kaitlinfelix.bsky.social Find out more about Joshua by visiting his website https://www.joshuagillingham.ca/ Follow Josh on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joshuagillingham.bsky.social   You can listen to Kaitlin Felix's audio drama "The Seeing Trees" which was recently featured on our new Spec Fic Radio Theatre Podcast here https://pod.link/1812026298/episode/bd55616f99f641d35ad86ee2ac82dbfb   You can hear Joshua Gillingham on our Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast here https://pod.link/1470495562/episode/950476f020f8fd834a778ca6936f471f Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠office@alternativestories.com⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join our Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/AltStories In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist Joanne Harris. We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to Joanne for taking the time to record this episode with us. You can find out more about Joanne by visiting her website https://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/ Follow Joanne on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joannechocolat.bsky.social And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/joannechocolat You can read a full transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eswme-QRDSWy_sk-JVLNqqmXGONIi39J/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true In this episode we mention the book An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski. Find out more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Actor_Prepares We also mention the Penguin Book of English Folk Song in which you can find out more about the Child Ballads https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/179200/the-new-penguin-book-of-english-folk-songs-by-bishop-steve-roud-and-julia/9780141194622 Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠office@alternativestories.com⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices