Hello my name is Harry – used to be known as HRF Keating. As those who knew me in my terrestrial life will remember I was not very skilled at what was then called the new technology but I have recently become aware that it is sometimes possible to have a dialogue with those of you who are fortunate enough still to be alive and kicking. I have also recently been made aware that I can, occasionally, gain access to some stories written about in your newspapers. My attention was drawn to one such concerning a highly regarded novelist and screen-writer who has been advised by an American publisher not to include a black character in his next book on the grounds that ‘it is inappropriate for a white writer to create black characters.’ Can this be so? My astonishment leads me to ask the question of that publisher – would you have advised me not to create Inspector Ghote on the same grounds? My many friends on the sub-continent led me to believe that far from being outraged they were delighted to have an Indian detective rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Sherlocks, Poirots and Alex Riders of this world.
