This isn’t exactly productivity, though Tanith Lee was no shirker when it came to work: she reportedly wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories – and two television episodes. Guess which of that output I interviewed her for.

It was two years ago, I was researching a book on Blake’s 7 and because it was a phone interview I can do three things now: I can tell you it was 18:00 on 13 April 2013, I can tell you the call was 50’44” long and I can listen to her as I type. It is eerie and upsetting to listen to someone sounding so enthused and lively. I’ve learnt today that she died after a long illness; I don’t know if she were ill two years ago but she didn’t sound it. She sounded great and I was conscious that I felt lucky having an excuse to talk to her.

Her two television episodes were both in Blake’s 7 and they stand out. The first because it is mesmerising and the second because it was good when others around it were not.

But one of her 90+ novels is sort-of related to Blake’s 7: at least, she told me she is forever being told that she wrote a novel using characters from the show. She was entertaining about it and afterwards sent me a copy of the book so I could see for myself. I’m embarrassed to tell you that I haven’t read it yet.

You haven’t read my Blake’s 7 book because it isn’t out yet. The moment the publisher gets me a date I can tell you, I’ll tell you. But in the meantime, here’s just one tiny part of the interview. I mentioned that I thought ‘Tanith Lee’ was a fantastic name for a writer, it just felt right for one and she said:

When my mother was 15, she said when – when, not if – I have a daughter I’m going to call her Tanith. And so when she was 37 and had one, she did call her Tanith. It’s crazy, you probably know, but it’s the name of a lunar goddess. It was terrible for me when a child, it was wonderful for me as a young woman. As a middle-aged woman it was a bit worrying. But now I’m old, it’s great. It’s perfect, you know, the lunar goddess, absolutely.