Hiya!
So we haven't had any authors notes for this book yet, but I feel this needs to be very properly addressed so here is the first authors note of this book. A genuine new chapter will come out soon, but I felt like I just had to greatly clarify something before we even continue.
I recently got a comment on an earlier chapter of this book concerning why Uma was an antagonist in this book, the commenter was concerned that with Uma being a woman of color, making her an antagonist wasn't a fair choice. Now, I did already write the commenter back explaining why Uma's character is the way it is in this book, however I do not take concerns like this lightly.
So, first things first, the reasons why Uma is an antagonist in this book:
As a lot of you know from my previous books, Uma is nothing always a bad guy. This is the first book that she is such a character, in the other books she's either a hundred percent the good guy or is just very misunderstood before she gets her happy ending. For this story, it's mainly about the way someone can be so cold hearted and can make a huge turn around when given the proper tools to do so. How is that? Well the main character the book is named after for being cold hearted is nonother than Harry Hook who is supposed to be just that, cold hearted. But with the help of a certain doe eyed individual, he can come out of being in such a way and find light and happiness.
But he isn't the only character that has a "cold heart" per se, in this book let's say I made Uma a good character from the beginning, why would Harry be such a desperate guy in the beginning? The reason Harry kidnaps Elena which basically kickstarts their eventual friendship is because he wants a friend, he wants someone. If Uma were a good guy, then why would Harry feel the need to go to such drastic measures to have a friend? That's why Uma's a bad guy, if she wasn't a huge chunk of the story wouldn't make sense.
Now for how I write my books:
In the beginning of the writing process, I always wipe away everything I have when it comes to rewritten characters. Everyone gets a revamp, their character is completely changed each time not just to fit the storyline I want, but to avoid being repetitive. What if Mal per se was always a disagreeable person who always seems to hurt things rather than help? Well as the reader I can imagine seeing that constant rhythm would become boring, and that's the last thing I want my books to be. If I always made Uma a good guy, someone who is there for all of her friends all the time and always has an opinion that aligns with the main character, that would simply become boring.
Lastly, what matters in my mind when it comes to how I choose antagonists and protagonists:
I just want to set this very straight, the fact that Uma is a woman of color has absolutely no impact on how I write her character. What I look at when deciding who are the antagonists and who are the protagonists include the main characters character and situation, the situation of the preexisting characters, what their core beliefs are, how these characters will meet, how the characters interact and if they like each other, and what is the storyline I'm looking to achieve. The storyline for this book for example is absolutely riddled with characters having extreme trauma from their past, even Elena the ultimate protagonist has extreme trauma. The difference is how the characters can deal with this trauma, and yes, Uma is one of the characters with extreme trauma.
I haven't talked about Uma's past yet, but she has one that involves a lot of the things Harry had to go through, what's the difference between them? Harry had determined that he simply wanted to be happy from finding a friend and someone to be with while Uma went for the power hungry route. But why did they turn in such drastic ways? And why did Uma become the power hungry one? Well, Harry had one thing Uma never had, his mom was around for some of his life and his dad wasn't always a jerk. Uma's mom was around but was absolutely awful and she never even met her dad, she had no one to go to or look up to besides her mom... catch my drift? And why did Uma never meet her dad? Well her dads Poseidon, and seeing as Poseidon isn't on the Isle like Hades is we can assume Ursula got pregnant before being sent to the Isle where she gave birth to Uma, but this ripped the family apart which may also be a reason why Ursula is the mother that she is... the one who made Uma the way she is.
I absolutely adore Uma's canon character, she's one of my favorite characters in the original Descendants universe, but that doesn't mean I get to give one character special treatment when it comes to how I write them. I am all about writing certain things for big reasons, making Uma an antagonist had a big reason for it just as making Mal as manipulative and horrible as she is in "The Queen and Her King" was just as necessary, it has absolutely nothing to do with the race, gender, or even sexuality of the character.
I do not tolerate any form of discrimination towards anyone whatsoever. I strive to make a community that makes everyone feel not just included, but safe. So I just want to say this straight up, racism, homophobia, and any other form of discrimination or hatred towards any group of people is absolutely unacceptable in my community. That is simply not okay, and it never will be.
I know this has a super serious tone to it which is a little unusual for me, but this is a serious topic with serious concern so it would be massively improper to treat it otherwise. As soon as I saw the comment expressing this concern I knew I wanted to write a full chapter about this because it is a real issue, racism very much exists and I really appreciate the commenters concern because speaking up when you feel something even may be off is a very valid thing to do. And as the author, I can very confidently say that those ideologies that are filled with so much hatred are not tolerated here by any means.

Now that that's been clarified, I'll be updating this book soon I promise. I had a pretty bad horse related accident yesterday and am on the mend now so it may take an extra minute. Thank you all for your patience :)
Remember to stay hydrated and to be kind to yourself today you absolutely beautiful human being :)
-Brooke