A Mistake found After Publishing

Hello Dreamers.

There is nothing more cringe than finding an error in your book once its been published, and is out there for the world to see. Its why recording the audiobook version of my books can be a sad experience - any spelling, grammar, punctuation or formatting errors missed are found right as I am articulating the words on the page.

The Error

Course, its one thing to misspell a word, or forget to italicise a thought. In writing "Beakening from the Stars" I found a lore error in "Whispers of the Abyss" and now I feel really bad.

The problem is in the math. Chapter 1 establishes that Abigale is 28 years old. Chapter 9 establishes that Martin was 16 when he went missing in 1995. Abigale and Martin are suppose to be about the same age, meaning either:

• Abigale is closer to being 44 years old

• Martin assaulted a newborn.

Both of these make no sense.

Course, its in the wild now, meaning I can't simply rewrite and it becomes a mistake no more.

Do I Hope No One Noticed?

That I'm fretting over fridge-logic? That you wouldn't have known if not for me bringing it up? Its not like someone's eyes changed colour, or travel time got miscalculated. How old a character is effects how they look at the world and how they would behave. Even if it was, one of the downsides of writing sci-fi and fantasy is you get a pool of readers who will find something like this and never let you live it down.

How about some 'writer's eye' pseudo head cannon I could pull out of my butt to justify this? How does one defend Schrodinger's age?

Alright, So Maybe Either One Of Those Options is the Real Canon.

Except, if Abigale is actually 44, and has lived with her uncle this whole time? Worked in the library this whole time? With an 80 year old bat? Nevermind her behaviour would be very immature for a 44 year old. Middle-age people tend to not be that easily seduced.

Ok, so instead she would have been about 1 or younger when Martin assaulted her? That he told ghost stories by a roaring bonfire to a newborn? That she told some of her own? Not to mention flashback lines like "The hockey team would love to run a train through this hot body of yours" becomes nonsense. What, the hockey team are all paedophiles?

So Just Why Not Just Fix It and Republish a New Edition?

Are you insane? You remember all the hate George Lucas got for doing exactly this with his own films? When he had Greedo shoot first because it didn't look clear enough that Han was acting in self-defence? Or to have Darth Vader shout "No..." as he chucked the emperor into the reactor core because he seemed too blase about what was happening in front of him?

The Only Solution?

So, it appears that the solution would be for me to find a way to explain this in the sequel. Someone, somewhere, would have to reconn the error. Maybe something as simple as a typo in the missing person's poster, or that Abigale has a learning disability. I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something. What you all think? Am I overthinking this? It is a sign that I'm being careless?