Lucy Autrey Wilson was the Director of Publishing for Lucasfilm. Wilson had the initial inception for the Shadows of the Empire project, during a dinner with Bantam Spectra's Lou Aronica, who suggested that Lucasfilm's multiple licensing deals would make it easy for them to create a multimedia project that could tell an over-arching story throughout multiple mediums. After George Lucas approved the concept, Wilson and Howard Roffman wrote a brief outline of the premise. Wilson has a relationship with a Portuguese named "Xico" and loved the initial sound of the name; Prince Xizor's name was created by Wilson, who combined the Portuguese pronunciation of the letter X (sh-) with the second syllable of the English word "razor." Xizor's official pronunciation was established in the Shadows of the Empire novel and Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption as "shē'zōr".
She initially came up with the idea of a multi-book story arc going beyond a trilogy, an idea which eventually was used in The New Jedi Order series.
The appearance of the character Mahd Windcaller in Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood was based on Wilson.
- The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition
- Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition audiobook