I first read Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure years ago in University, and it has bothered me ever since. Somehow, a romantic comedy about rape, harassment and executions didn't quite work for me. Then Fifty Shades of Grey spinoffs and all the Alpha Billionaire Romances started to take over Wattpadia and it hit me that Shakespeare was just four hundred years ahead of his time.
The writing of Alpha Incorporated was inspired by the Hogarth Press' publication of the Hogarth Shakespeare Series, where today's best authors were commissioned to retell their favourite Shakespeare plays. Jeanette Winterson, Howard Jacobson, Anne Tyler and of course our friend MargaretAtwood, among others, have all contributed to this excellent series that honours the four hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and the timelessness of his work.
I would like to thank my early Beta readers outside of Wattpad, in the legal profession, tech sector and literary community for their input into the story.
maxinedonner once again provided me with flawless line edits, in spite of the fact that she gave birth during the course of this endeavour, while holding down a few professions and trying to save the world from Donald Trump. Help her out on election day please.
lesliemcadam was kind enough to lend me the use of her characters Amelia and Jake, as well as allowed me to sample her voice, providing the legal advice for my novel. Leslie is now a bestselling author of sexy romances, so buy her books on Amazon and you'll learn what Jake looks like naked.
Lucy face designed the excellent cover as part of a WattmagMagazine cover makeover. She is a consummate design professional and was a pleasure to work with.
Of course, this wouldn't be possible without the support of my partner in life, who was stuck making lunch for the past year while I was working for Alpha Incorporated.
And, thank you to my faithful Wattpad readers, those of you who stuck with this since its first serialized release on April 20th, 2016 and waited patiently for chapter updates. If not for your votes, comments and support, I would have likely abandoned this project long ago. This is for you:
@victoriaakhoury, @thewordismightier, @rosemarietoo, @Smitmus, @comet_, @jteach311, @sabedacat72390, @redbone365, those who I have missed and all those silent readers who I know are out there. Let's spread the love.
- B.G. Davies