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.
As someone from India, i'm pretty used to the misrepresentation and didn't even mind that much, but the fact that you cared enough to change it says a lot, and thank you. Don't worry over it, i understand and don't mind at all, but thank you for changing it, you're like the first author to actually care over these differences. Also, as for supporting and donating to those, thank you again- Trans teens in india face a lot of problems (depending on the region (some regions are very accepting and have known to have trans gods and are inclusive, others have become very transphobic after the british invasions, just a little tidbit of info)) and the fact you cared enough…
Oh my goodness. The Harry Potter references were like a kick to the stomach. Every time it comes up in the copy I'm reading, it destroys my concentration.
I love this <3 I recently read the e-book version of the book though and it still had all the references to HP? Was it just the paperback that was changed?
You know. I think that error is human. As writers, we delve into so many topics in our stories that it can be difficult to keep track of all the things we might need second opinions for, even after we've done research. I think it's great that you are taking such a step as making edits for the future print runs of your book — a lot of authors would have just shrugged — but I hope you don't feel anxious or guilty.
We keep on learning, learning means making mistakes.
Coincidentally, I'm sending my manuscript for sensitivity reading today. That's just for the intersex rep aspect. I know I should probably get some more reading for a few more…