Hi everyone! In future Felix Ever After reprints, there will be two key changes:
First, Ezra Patel: I learned that Patel is a Gujarati name, not Bengali. I’m sorry for the harm this has caused.
In future reprints Ezra’s description of “part Black, part Bengali” will be cut. I’ve also made a donation to Samababona, a transgender advocacy group in West Bengal, and to Parivar Bay Area’s GoFundMe for Save Indian Trans ALLINDIA Lives.
A quick explanation: when looking up Bengali surnames for Ezra’s character, I came across a site that said Patel was Bengali. I should have done more to ensure this was accurate and hired a Bengali authenticity reader. I’ll do better to make sure mistakes like this don’t happen in the future so that readers aren’t harmed.
Update: As someone has kindly shared, the lack of acknowledgment that Ezra was specifically part Indian-Bengali was also a harmful misrepresentation to Bengali Bangladeshi communities. I'm sorry for this harm I've caused as well. For the sake of accountability, I've also donated to a GoFundMe for helping trans communities in Bangladesh.
Second, Harry Potter: my publisher and editor were gracious enough to allow me to make changes and to cut all mentions of Harry Potter from the text. I hope that this can help Felix Ever After feel safer and more celebratory for trans readers.