Welcome to Lightspeed Magazine! We’re honoured to share your story “Death Echoes Overlapping” with our readers. Can you talk a bit about how this story took shape and what inspirations fed into it?

I got the idea to write a story about several different alien planets in their last few days of existence before the apocalypse. I thought it would be interesting to explore snapshots of these alien societies in their final days. Eventually, I got the idea to connect them through some kind of psychic anomaly that brings them together in their moment of death. Three wildly different civilizations, who could never even begin to comprehend each other’s existence, suddenly forced to experience each other’s lives just before they are wiped out.

It’s not often that I see stories begin with purely descriptive historical prologues like this one. Why did you approach it in this manner, and what advantages do you think that style of introduction comes with?

I wanted to frame the story in a way that would set up the plot and also be thematically appropriate for the beginning and the end of the story. The Tau Andromeda civilization existed millions of years before the events of the story. The people who lived there had no idea that Earth, Autura, or Lalesh ever existed or will exist. But their stories still intersect across the millennia, which I like to think gives a sense of the vastness and emptiness of the universe, as well as the interconnectedness and shared experience that exists between sentient intelligences, even if they will never cross paths.

When I tried to pick out a theme that ran through here, I was left with the importance of being satisfied with what is, rather than chasing impossibilities. Is this an idea you were thinking of while writing this, or was there something else entirely you had in mind?

Yes, I definitely think the importance of being focused on the here and now is an important theme in this story. I also think this story is about the beauty of life and sentient thought. Life may not be easy, but in some ways it’s an immense gift to have the ability to think, to be aware of yourself, to have a complex inner life, to philosophize and to imagine. I wanted this story to convey the joy of existence even in the face of oblivion.

I found it interesting that this story focuses entirely on characters that are acted upon. What led you to build the narrative around people whose roles are to witness—or, in the Lonely Wisp’s case, to not be witnessed—rather than act?

No one in this story has the ability to change the course of events. From the very start of the story, the reader is told upfront that these three worlds are going to end. This story is an exploration of these people in the days leading up to their deaths, and how this strange crossover of psychic energy between these three planets affects their final moments and broadens their horizons just before the end of their lives.

Is there anything you’re working on that you’d like to talk about? What can our readers look forward to seeing from you in the future?

Look out for my debut science-fantasy novel The Archaeology of Falling Worlds! Pitched as Cyberpunk 2077 meets Spirited Away, it’s full of weird world-building, bizarre creatures, existential dread, and cosmic horrors. It will be published in early 2027 by Daphne Press (UK & Commonwealth), Bindery Books (North America) and Bolinda (audiobook)!

Apart from that, I have three other short stories slated for publication in 2026. My SF story “In My Time of Dreaming” will be published by khōréō magazine. My fantasy story “To Atone for Evil” will be published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Lastly, my supernatural mystery story “Office Party” will be published in the Speculative Detective Agency anthology, edited by Matthew David Goodwin and Richie Narvaez and published by Diversion Books.