Levene was educated at Clare College, Cambridge. After graduating, she worked for a Labour MP. Levene then applied for a job at Virgin and began as an assistant to Peter Darvill-Evans working on the New Adventures. She later took over as editor of Virgin's Doctor Who lines, a period seen by many as a high point for Doctor Who prose fiction. She also worked on other projects at Virgin, including their Judge Dredd series and their gay erotica line, Idol.

Along with other Virgin alumni including Gareth Roberts and Lance Parkin, she became a storyliner for television soap Emmerdale for a period. Subsequent TV work included on Sky One's Is Harry on the Boat? She has also continued to work with Roberts on comedy projects for TV since, including the comedy sketch show Swinging. They had a sitcom optioned, but never produced by the BBC.

Her first novel, the post-Doctor Who New Adventure Where Angels Fear, was co-written with Simon Winstone, her deputy and successor on the New Adventures. More recently, she has written for publisher Black Flame, including a Strontium Dog novel Bad Timing and a Final Destination novel End of the Line. She has written for Big Finish, including Doctor Who short stories and a Tomorrow People audio drama. An eighth Doctor novel for the BBC, Freaks, was announced, but Levene pulled out of the project. She has also written for Doctor Who Magazine and for newspapers.

In recent years, she has written several books for Abaddon Books, including a new series for them called "The Infernal Game".

Levene has often written under pseudonyms, including as Evan Pritchard for BBC Books' Doctor Who short story collection Short Trips, and as Carla Marks for SFX.

Books published include:

• Bernice Summerfield New Adventures
• Where Angels Fear, with Simon Winstone

• Black Flame:
• 2000 AD:
• Strontium Dog: Bad Timing (June 2004, ISBN 1-84416-110-2)
• Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Massacre (January 2006, ISBN 1-84416-110-2)
• Final Destination:
• End of the Line (June 2005 ISBN 1-84416-176-5)

• Abaddon Books:
• The Afterblight Chronicles: Kill or Cure (April 2007, ISBN 1-905437-32-3)
• Tomes of the Dead: Anno Mortis (November 2008, ISBN 1-905437-85-4)
• The Infernal Game: Cold Warriors (February 2010, ISBN 1-906735-36-0)
• The Infernal Game: Ghost Dance (July 2010, ISBN 1-906735-38-7)

• Poker for Beginners (2006, ISBN 1-845972-75-9)