A racist by any other name???

Đoàn ăn Giáp, also known as Don Van, and Asian, is arguably the most essential character in the Unlived trilogy. He doesn't have a book named after him, as do Raymond and Shelly, but he is, in various forms, at the center of their stories, and will be as well in Reckoning.

Before publication, a younger beta reader, who identified herself as being Asian, politely suggested that Raymond should not refer to Asian as 'Asian'. She said this, having read some but not all of Raymond's story.

"If you don't change that, you will sound racist to some readers."

I thanked her and said I looked forward to all she would have to say once she had finished the entire story.

A week or so later, she sent me her full review, including three full pages of suggestions. Her first comment was that she now understood why I identified Asian as I did throughout most of the story.

I won't disclose my reasons for doing that in this post. Doing so would compromise an essential part of the ending for those of you yet to finish The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn. And for the same reason, I ask those of you who have read it not to do so either.

Speculative question for today.

Writers create characters. Do you ascribe what characters say and do to the author, or do you separate characters from the authors who created them?