Dougal MacLeod wasn’t originally supposed to die.
Echoes of the Imperium started as a fun writing exercise, with Nicholas and Olivia upending some of their least favourite fantasy tropes. Along the way, we added several requests from our friends and family: a grandmother ne’er-do-well, a teenager who isn’t whiny, and happily married gay husbands who do not tragically die, just to name a few.
Partway through the book, however, Nicholas lost his grandfather. Not long afterwards, his grandmother passed as well. After this, the book took on a new angle: It was a way of confronting and working through grief. Eventually, William gets his closure and discovers that he’s able to enjoy Dougal’s memory. Finally publishing Echoes of the Imperium is now a kind of closure for Nicholas, too.
We owe thanks to many people for their help with this book, which has been several years in the making. We’d like to thank Laura Elizabeth, Julie Golick, Ric Bellino, Allison Oleynik, Lore, and Sylvia for their alpha reading over several changing drafts, and Amanda for being our most wildly enthusiastic beta reader on the story this turned into. Thanks to Ailbhe for tweaking both Dougal’s and Aesir’s Scottish accents, to James Nettum for contributions to Mr Samuel Méndez, and to Vivekanand Ian Gurudata for suggestions on Kumari Varma and the province of Aarushi. We also owe thanks to Anaya Walker, who supplied half of our sensitivity reading, and to our other anonymous sensitivity reader, who brought an incredible perspective on the intersection of empire and its minority populations.
Nicholas is also eternally grateful to his incredibly patient, brilliant, and amazing co-author and wife, Olivia, who turned his slapdash adventure into a shared, nuanced journey.
And finally, an endless, overwhelming thank you to everyone else on our crew. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. We hope you’ve all enjoyed the adventure so far.