Five things you don't know about me - the author.

I'm a writer. The lives of writers are supposedly different from those of the average Jane Dow so for your amusement here are some things you don't know about me.

1.  What my writing desk looks like.

My clean tidy desk - allegedly a century old former Fleet Street London journalist's roll-top oak desk - ready for nanowrimo and the creation of a new novel. It already has dents from blocked writers foreheads hitting the wood.

       2.

I'm the kind of botanical nerd who can tell you what this flower is and the name of the tree it is on - and if you can eat the fruits of this tree. 

So what is it? A New Zealand species of tree Fuchsia. It has papery reddish brown bark which has been used as notepaper and could probably be used to make hand made books if you cared to collect enough of it. 

The ripe greenish red berries are delicious if you beat the birds to them. If you eat enough your tongue may feel numb for a while.

      3.  As well as loving creating books I am also a practical engineer and help in our Harmonic Damper Remanufacturing business making rubber parts in jigs like this. These rubbers are for 1950s Buicks.

     4.  My ideal cafe scene includes my journal - currently this hand crafted notebook with the cute textured knitting effect for the cover, coffee and a sweet cake - like crunchy Ginger Crunch - if I can find some made with crunch and not squidge.

     5.  What my ancestors look like. I often wonder what it was like for Mr and Mrs Reid when they arrived in Akaroa, New Zealand in 1835. My earliest migrating ancestors must have had a hard life in the remote South Island of New Zealand. A land of birds - unfamiliar birds with no animal life at all. Thickly forested, rugged and with little food and only the furniture and medical supplies the early settlers took with them, their lives must have been unimaginably hard.

Kiwi Liaison Book Bundle Launched

Hello everyone, we proudly announce the launch of our Kiwi Liaison book bundle.
Catherine and her friends - what lovely looking people they are too - shot the cover, modelled for it and also made the cover design for us.
PJ made it into a steamy 3D hot pool experience.
AJ is the worker in the engine room, he does as he is told so you don't need to know what he did. Shovelled some coal, most likely.

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Below is a list of the books we included in our book bundle for your enjoyment complete with cover art and blurbs.

 Mistress Z - A compilation new work and poems from published collections Restraint and Absence.

“Restraint sends wave after wave of unrushed, sensual ideas and images over the reader, who is transported into a realm of deep sensuality, passion and desire.” Jess C Scott, Author

“A breathtakingly eloquent collection of verses and prose. They take the mind and the body to magical and vulnerable places that only few can get to on their own. A truly seductive read for one, but best shared with two.” -Ms. Quote, author and blogger

Seeking Angel - Detective Bull Protettore seeks Angel, missing; believed to be in the company of a secretive bi-sexual Dominatrix. Discover how Angel is the clue which leads Bull and his partner Tommy to the serial killer who is terrorizing NYC. Bull and Tommy are in a race against time to unravel the twisted ropes of the truth to exact justice and revenge.

“I truly enjoyed reading this book mainly because the characters weren't perfect. They all had their own little quirks and issues that made them seem so real. It actually felt like they could walk off the page and shake your hand. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.” Amazon 5* Review

Avocado

Dawn and Stuart, each running away from the past meet in the Bay of Islands, a NZ tropical beach paradise. They flirt but the past keeps them apart until Stuart uses his shaman skills to bring them together. Or was it the way Dawn uses the avocados from the tree growing beside the house which broke the ice?

“This book contains some of the most well written, sexy smut I've ever read, the characters and the story can stand on their own. I absolutely love this book, and whilst I rarely openly profess to enjoy such saucy literature, I regularly find myself recommending this book to friends. It's moving, emotionally and sexually. Enjoy!” Amazon 5* review

“So many genres collide here to extreme effect. Romance, erotica, family, culture, place and more. It makes for an intensely human book. The characters don't arrive, they feel like they have been there forever. If you don't know your cultures, Kiwi, Aussie, Indian, Rastafarian, this will encourage you too read about them. The sex scenes are tender & endearing,and no I'm not going to tell you about the avocado. I admire the way the author gets into the skin of her characters, really making them flesh with a combination of reality and myth. This is educated erotica, superb.” Amazon 5* review

The Finest Line

When potential Olympic gymnast, Mairead Kavanagh wakes up in an Australian hospital after a drug and alcohol binge, her ordeal has only begun. The police are waiting to interview her over the death of her friend Joshua Mason who has plunged to his death from the balcony on which she was found.

Frightened and a long way from her home in New Zealand, she has no one to turn to until the arrival of the one man who has intimidated and infatuated her more than any other.
James Vaughn has been her chauffeur and body guard for five years and the only person who has been able to subdue her. An ex soldier of the British Army, James is composed and disciplined, unlike his boss’s daughter who seeks constant excitement which sometimes can prove dangerous.

Forced together until he can get her home, the barriers of their relationship begin to break down. Mairead fears her attraction to him stems from the strange desires that she has fought to suppress. As their relationship blooms, her happiness is short lived because of another man who knows a terrible secret about Mairead. Now she must choose between the two men, one whom she loves and the other who can destroy her life.

“The Finest Line by Catherine Taylor is the first in a truly excellent and authentic trilogy exploring myriad facets of domination, discipline and masochism while never departing from a heart-warming and deepening love story.”- Kindle Book Review

“I really enjoyed this book. It was very interesting and kept drawing me back to it every time I put it down. The writer does a wonderful job with the characters, you fall in love with them and hate them too. Very well written. Highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a romance with a little spanking twist!!” Kindle Book Review

About the Authors

PJ Bayliss has been writing poetry within his personal memoirs for many years, but has only recently turned his attention towards creative writing. Following the success of his Kindle poetry books he plans to publish two poetry books in print editions before he releases a series of romance novels under series title "Chemical Romance" in early 2015. @PJBaylissAuthor on Twitter

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Catherine Taylor has a passion for the art of telling a good story, whether it be in film or book. Her life has revolved around theatre and movies, through acting, production and scripting for both. Much of her life has been devoted to social work, but she has pursued other ventures, including a business in Gothic merchandise. These days she prefers to spend her days writing and spending time with her husband of thirty years, their four children and two grandchildren. @NZEroticAuthor on Twitter.

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A J Burton is a retired policeman, harness horse trainer, gibstopper and small block farmer. "I have loved reading since I can remember. I have owned horses, dogs, and cats since I was twelve years old. I enjoyed the bush, surfing, snorkeling, rugby, and judo and now in my retirement I enjoy fishing on the family boat. I am married with four boys and one gorgeous grand-daughter." Follow @bullburton on Twitter

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Christine Leov Lealand is a keen 'prepper' and ‘burner’ (Burning Man) loves the outdoors, is a blue water sailor, historian, belly dancer, adventurer and lifelong reader. At five years old she decided she had to be a writer. Christine is CEO of Quintessence Publications and finds it takes up all of her time. Too frequently she has to stop editing, writing and book cover buying to hurriedly feed her husband, Zulu the cat and three fat chickens. @loveleov on Twitter

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Which kind of English do we choose to write our novels in?

Upon waking this morning I noticed a comment on my blog. It was an unpleasant opinion about my writing quality and grammar from a fanfic writer somewhere in the Colorado Mountains.
Now lots of people have opinions about grammar and rarely are those opinions expressed in a positive way.
However this comment illustrates the problems that authors face today when writing fiction for an international audience.
Which kind of English do we choose to write in?
US usage is very different from English usage elsewhere in the world yet American Grammar Nazis no doubt believe that their grasp of their language is the only valid option - particularly if they have never travelled outside the USA.
UK English speakers and writers think similarly, yet their grammar usage and spelling is very different from US usage. US vs UK usage
Europeans, South Americans, Indians and Africans all have local customs when it comes to English expression and how to write the language.
In the US there are reports that English is diversifying, rather than consolidating as a language. Personally I love the languages of Baltimore MD, but I'm sure if we were able to read a book written in this sub-dialect few people would think it was spelled well, demonstrated excellent grammar or was especially understandable - 'ain't nuthin' is one of the memorable phrases I came across there.
In New Zealand we have our own well established idiom and slang which is different from everyone else. There is even a large NZ English dictionary. Australians who are our closest neighbours geographically and linguistically have different ways of using slang and English and a more American way of spelling. Fiona Lake's excellent take on Australian vs US English

AJ and I went to a lot of trouble to write The Secret Empire in US English. Which is our very general understanding of US English given that we are not native speakers, nor have we spent a great deal of time on US soil learning the language as spoken and written. Our understanding was supported by MS Word which has it's own opinions on US English usage.
No doubt the offering at http://www.grammarly.com/ could assist us as it checks grammar ONLY in US English.
However creative writing is not catered to by 'for business' grammar checking facilities. Try putting one of Robert Frost's poems through grammarly!

My current work in progress I'm writing in UK English - a language I feel more confident using.
Are these efforts to write in English from other places on the planet a waste of time?
Am I guaranteeing that I'm going to be 'wrong' all over the world?

My erotic novels are best-selling novels originally published by Penguin and written in NZ English which people here seem to enjoy. Would it be best to stick with our language - since it is what we know best and to hell with the rest of the world and how they use English?

There seems to be a tendency for US English speakers to critique writers whatever their nationality and declare that those writers use the 'wrong English' whilest ignoring the fact that the rest of the world don't have the opportunity or indeed the desire to learn US English usage.

I think that the dismissal of 'Indie Authors' as people who don't edit their novels could be in many cases a lack of understanding of the differences in English usage worldwide.

Personally I enjoy diversity in language and embrace all dialects of English with tolerance. I'm not going to critique someone because they don't write in my dialect.

Which English language dialect do you think works best for international novels?