Monday, March 30, 2015

BONJOUR! Please welcome French m/m romance author Alex C. Clarke!!

Aloha and Bonjour or Adishatz everyone! I am so thrilled to have Alex C. Clarke with me today all the way from France!! Alex comes from the Southwest of France in the Bearn area. Their neighbors are the Basque if that gives you some idea. Alex says that Bearn and Pays Basque had a kind of friendly hate between them :-)  A wee bit like the Kiwis and Aussies. LOL. Like all fabulous food from France, it often comes from a particular region. Alex's area is the home of the Bearnaise Sauce ~ that particularly fabulous French sauce similar to a Hollandaise but flavored with herbs. Yum!!  
Alex says the cartoon says: "Hey, what if we changed our capital city too?" It's means we're proud of our nice part of the country! The Parisians often forget us. :D (And we have this blog in English and French!! After the book blurb and cover is the French translation or is this the English translation :-) )

This is the beautiful little town that Alex lives in. :)

The flag of Bearn


Alex's town in real life. :-)

From Wikipedia: 

Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and white wine vinegar and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a "child" of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire. The difference is only in their flavoring: Béarnaise uses shallot, chervil, peppercorn, and tarragon, while Hollandaise uses lemon juice or white wine. Its name is related to the province of Béarn, France.
In appearance, it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy.
Béarnaise is a traditional sauce for steak.

History

The sauce was likely first created by the chef Collinet, the inventor of puffed potatoes (pommes de terre soufflées), and served at the 1836 opening of Le Pavillon Henri IV, a restaurant at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, not far from Paris. This assumption is supported by the fact that the restaurant was named for Henry IV of France, a gourmet himself, who was born in the Béarn region, a former province now in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in southwestern France.


In the Southwest of France, Alex says they have a local language, le béarnais. She doesn't speak it much but can say hello and goodbye (same word) so "Adishatz"!!!! from Alex. I love having someone from France here and especially from outside Paris. I love her accent! Please read her interesting answers with a French accent for the full impact. :-) Welcome Alex!! 


First I would like to thank you for hosting me. I’m a quirky 32 year-old French author of m/m romance and it’s pretty brave of you to ask me to come here ;).

No bravery needed on my part. I am so thrilled to have you here! And not only do we have Alex's terrific answers in English. Further down, we also have them in French too. :-) I love this :-)

Tell our readers a wee bit about yourself. What are 5 things you wished you’d done, have done or are still to do, on the Bucket List? J

1. The first thing on my bucket list is traveling a lot more, especially visiting the US. I have a thing for Boston and for a moment I thought I was going to live there. But I chickened out!

The Church is Holy Cross, in Boston. The story takes place right in front of it. There is an actual bar and a 5-story building right where I planted my own bar.


Boston's Back Bay Brownstones

2. I’m a very social person. I like people and I do want to see more of them. As I have several friends around the world, it would mean more trips so I guess this is still a part of my first wish ;) I especially want to visit my dearest friends in England <3

3. Traveling… No, I’m kidding ! I wish I had begun to write a lot sooner sometimes. Because I’ve got people talking in my head for a long time now and I should have understood earlier that I was not crazy (hmm… yes I’m a bit crazy!), but that these people wanted their story told :D On the other hand, maybe it was just time for me now to write these stories…

4. I’m blessed in life. I’ve got a wonderful family, especially two wonderful kids, an awesome job (I’m a translator for m/m romance English to French) and even more awesome friends. My 4th wish is to carry on like that until death.



5. The only thing that I can think of as a 5th wish is earning more money with my translations and my books so I can feel free to travel whenever I want ;) (no, I’m not obsessed at all with travels… )

Nantucket Island

Tell us about the genre you write, why do you love it and how did you get into it?

I write men on men love stories. I’ve been sick a few months ago (last September) and was forced to stay bedridden because of my back. That’s when I read my first gay book. It was Lover At Last (The Brotherhood of the Black Dagger series) by JR Ward. I will never forget how I felt about this story. It was so hard, raw and tender in the same time. I wanted more.

So I tried to find more m/m books translated in French. But I couldn’t find a lot. So I tried to read directly in English. It was hard at first. I read it on my iPad with Google Translate opened and went back and forth to try to understand better. Oh my God ! It was really hard. My first in English was Forgiving Thayne by JR Loveless. I had read the first of the series in French and couldn’t wait to read the follow-up. Impatient girl ;)

What I love in this genre is that in each book you can identify in one or the other character. In m/f stories, if you’re a woman, you tend to identify to the female character. You don’t have to choose in m/m books. I haven’t stopped reading m/m romance in English ever since.

What’s your most favorite restaurant in the world? Where, why and the best dish/es they make?

There is a great little restaurant in Laas, France (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) called L’Auberge de la Fontaine. They make wonderful soufflés and Salade au frois gras.

I know how you like food so here are some pics ;) (Meg: Merci Alex! I am mad about food pics LOL) 

Salade au foie gras

Souffle - au Grand Marnier (I personally LOVE a good souffle and am glad to see them making a come back here. Fabulous!)

Remember those ads for Expedia (if not, just play along) that asked, ‘If you could go anywhere in the world, but have to go right now?’ Where would you have gone and would you have said to YES to right now? What pulls and entices you to that country?

The States, obviously (see my 1st, 2nd and 5th wishes ;) ). It’s a young country, unlike the Old Continent where I live. But there is a diversity there, so much different kinds of people, doing so much different things. When I said I loved “diversity” the other day (as a caption under a photo showing a man cross-dressed and saying “Too sexy for gender norms”), someone told me they wanted to check out I wasn’t talking about the political meaning of this word.

So I’d like to add my answer :  Diversity is not thinking as a sheep and follow the others. It's being who you are and be proud of it. I've had a pretty sh#tty day, having someone narrow-minded giving me sh#t about my own "diversity". So this photo to me means "be who you are".

That’s what I like in the US, this kind of diversity. But I wish some people to be more open-minded…I’m aware that things can look pretty cool when you don’t live there. Maybe how I picture this country is not really conform to the reality. That’s what I would like to know.

What parts of you, are incorporated into your characters?

A lot and not so much :D I share little things, like the job of my best friend in real life for a secondary character, or some names. What they like to do as a hobby, …. That kind of things. But it’s more about my environment than really about myself.

Favorite male hero/public figure you admire in the world, dead or alive, and why?

It’s a tough one because I admire a lot of people. But, as I have to choose one, Victor Hugo it is. He was a French poet, a writer and a political figure, born in 1802 and deceased in 1885. He made great changes at his time. I know several of his poems by heart, learned them when I was a kid and still know them :D




Favorite female heroine/public figure you admire in the world, dead or alive, and why?

Every woman who dares to rise her fist in the air and tells what she thinks is unfair and does things to change situations. Every woman should be proud of being a woman, nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve seen too many times shame on pretty faces. If I had to choose one, it would be Rosa Park.

Have you ever had a character just “do their own thing?” Have you ever had an argument with one of your characters? Or anything else odd happen?

I often dream about them and very very often, they do things in my dreams that I write the day after. I have a little notebook at the head of my bed for this purpose. That way, I don’t forget what they whispered during the night ;)

What’s your passion in life?

I have several. Obviously, reading/writing/reviewing which could be summed up as BOOKS !!! I always find some good books to read on Goodreads and on the blog Bike Book Reviews. (http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr)

I also like DYI, transforming things like pallets into furniture, painting (preferably on walls – murals are so fun to do !), playing with my kids.
And food. I’m allergic to a lot of things so I have to be careful but I love good food of every countries.


What’s your writer’s routine? Do you write whenever or at certain times? Are you a pantser or plotter? Where do you like to write?

Before having this job, I used to get the kids to school, sit and write until it was time to go get them back. My average was around 3K words a day. Now that I work fulltime as a translator, it’s a bit tricky. I work whenever I can, mostly at nights. I published one story for now, called Un Nouveau Rêve, which is written in French. It’s published for free for now on Wattpad. I’m still editing it to publish it “for real”. I want it to be really perfect so it takes some time!

As for the story itself, I take a lot of notes, when I stop dreaming about it but also whenever comes the idea. I have a folder on my browser where I put every info about the city where it takes place, bars where they’re supposed to go… I do a lot of research. When I have what I want, I write a storyline. I have another folder for the names of the characters I will use and the connections between each others. I name each chapter so I keep track of discarded names, just in case. I try to be thorough because I don’t want to forget I talked about something. I don’t want to confuse the reader.

If you could pick a past life, what time period would appeal to you and why? Would you be male or female? Rich or poor?

I would be a gay man, not too rich, not too poor, now. Or a beautiful Lady in England, 1300. Pick the one you prefer ! lol


How do you come up the names for your characters? Do they just pop in ‘out of the blue.’ Or do you have to really think about them and research them?

For my MCs, no research. They just came out as David and James. No need to think about it too much. The secondary characters are more difficult to choose. Some are names of my real friends, some are Facebook friends (Chris, the hero of the #2 in the Rêves series). But no real research for that either.


James looks like this guy, just imagine him a little older and more muscled. 

Huge Grant is the closest Alex can find for her muse for David - YUM!!
What new things are you working on?

I’m working on editing Un Nouveau Rêve, on the translation in English because a lot of people asked for it and on Chris’s story.


I would like to add some random details:

Jay Aheer has made my cover and she’s just awesome. If you need someone to help you out finding really what you want when you don’t know it yourself, she’s the one. http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com

I would love to have a cat and play it Hemingway-like.

I’m a total geek, easily distracted by shiny new toys and drool in front of the last iPhone/Pad/Pod (pick one!)

I collect mugs with Jay’s art on it but also with covers of my favorite authors. I just bought one saying “Sage Marlowe rocks!”. I love him <3

I would like to make people realize that being different is a chance, not a burden. I’ve always been different. Always read a lot, been the geeky kid, been bullied a lot for that. When you grow up, you realize that being different is kinda cool. You’re not a sheep. Even if you’re the black sheep, take the bright light out of you and shine, baby! Special people rocks! (I would love to buy a mug with that message!!)

A house in Bearn



Bearn

Contact Alex:  



I mostly repost things there. But you always leave me a message. :D




Wattpad : to read my book for free in French  (for the moment ;) ) http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-rêve


Un Nouveau Reve



David was married until three years ago when they were involved in a car accident. His wife didn’t make it and he woke up after a coma with guilt the size of Texas.
After three years mourning, feeling guilty and slowly retreating into depression, he decides to leave France for Boston. He’s going for a complete life makeover as a manager in a bar. On the plane, he meets James who turns out to be the co-owner of the bar.
David has never been with a man but finds himself very attracted to James.
James is a former Marine, a very gay one—tattooed, muscled, yummy. The problem is, David would like to explore this new thing he feels for his boss and soon has strong feelings for James.
But James doesn't do feelings. At all. Like, never.
Well, never say never…
EN FRANCAIS

D'abord je voudrais te remercier de me recevoir. Je suis une auteur française de romance m/m de 32 ans, un peu fofolle, et c’est plutôt courageux de ta part de me demander de venir m’exprimer ici :p

Dis-en un peu plus à nos lecteurs à propos de toi. Qu’elles sont les cinq choses que tu aurais voulu faire, a fait ou voudrais encore faire, sur la liste des choses à faire avant de mourir ? J

1. La première chose serait de voyager beaucoup plus, notamment aller aux Etats-Unis. J’ai une faiblesse pour Boston et pendant un moment j’ai cru que j’allais m’y installer mais je me suis dégonflée !

2. Je suis une personne très sociable. J’aime les gens et j’aimerais aller les voir un peu plus. Comme j’ai beaucoup d’amis autour du monde, ça veut dire plus de voyages et donc, retour au point numéro 1 !!! Je voudrais tout particulièrement visiter mes très très chers amis en Angleterre. <3

3. Voyager…. non je rigole ! J’aurais aimer avoir commence à écrire plus tôt parfois. Parce que j’ai des personages qui parlent dans ma tête depuis des années maintenant et j’aurais dû comprendre plus tôt que je n’étais pas folle (enfin si en fait ;) ) mais que ces personnes avaient juste besoin de m’entendre raconteur leur histoire. D’un autre côté peut-être que je n’étais pas prête et que ce n’est que maintenant que je suis assez mûre pour ça…

4. Je me sens bénie dans la vie. J’ai une famille merveilleuse, tout particulièrement mes deux adorable enfants, j’ai un super boulot ( je suis traductrice anglais-français pour des romans m/m) et j’ai des amis encore plus géniaux. Mon quatrième voeu serait de continuer comme ça jusqu’à la mort.

5. La seule chose à laquelle je pense comme cinquième voeu serait de gagner plus d’argent avec mes traductions et mes histories pour povoir voyager plus où je veux ;) (non, je ne suis pas du tout obsédée par les voyages !!!)

Parle nous du genre de livres que tu écris, pourquoi tu aimes ça et comment tu en es arrivée là ?

J’écris des histories d’amour entre homes. J’ai été malade il y a quelques mois (en septembre dernier) et j’ai dû rester allongée à cause de mon dos.C’est à ce moment là que j’ai lu mon premier roman m/m. C’était le tome 10 de la Confrérie de la Dague Noire de JR Ward. Je n’oublierai jamais ce que j’ai ressenti dans ce livre. C’était si dur, si brut comme sentiments et si tender à la fois. J’en voulais plus. Alors j’ai essayé de trouver d’autres romans en français. Mais j’ai vite été limitée. Alors j’ai essayé de lire directement en anglais ! C’était vraiment très dur les premiers temps. Je lisais sur l’iPad et je faisais les allers-retours entre l’appli Kindle et ma page Google Traduction. Seigneur, Jésus, Marie, Joseph !!!! C’était incroyablement long et difficile. Mon premier en anglais c’était Forgiving Thayne de JR Loveless. J’avais lu le premier tome en français et je n’avais pas la patience d’attendre la traduction ! Je suis très impatiente ;)

Ce que j’aime dans ce genre, c’est que dans chaque livre on peut s’identifier à l’un ou l’autre des personages. Dans les romans m/f (male/female), en tant que femme on est un peu obligée de s’identifier au personages feminine. Là on n’a pas à choisir.
Je n’ai pas arête de lire des m/m en anglais depuis lors.

Quel est ton restaurant préféré dans le monde ?Où, pourquoi et quell est le meilleur plat qu’ils font ?

Il y a un petit restaurant à Laas, dans les Pyrénées L’Auberge de la Fontaine. Ils font des soufflés incroyables et une salade au foie gras à tomber.

Je sais comme tu aimes les bons petits plats alors viola à quoi ça ressemble, pour te mettre l’eau à la bouche !!

Salade au foie gras

Souffle ~ Grand Marnier

Tut e souviens ces pubs d’Expedia (si ce n’est pas le cas, fais comme si) “Sit vous pouviez aller n’importe où dans le monde, où iriez-vous ici et maintenant” ? Qu’est-ce qui t’attirerait dans cet endroit.

Les Etats-Unis bien sûr (voir mes voeux 1, 2 et 5 ;) )C’est un jeune pays, contrairement au Vieux Continent. Mais il y a une certaine diversité qui m’attire là-bas. Tellement de gens different, faisant chacun des choses très différentes les uns des autres.

L’autre jour, en parlant d’une photo d’un jeune home qui portrait des collants et des chaussures à talons avec la mention ‘Trop sexy pour les normes sexuelles’, j’ai dit que je n’aimais pas les normes et que je préfèrais la diversité, on m’a demandé de préciser si je parlais de diversité au sens politique (et hypocrite). Alors j’aimerais préciser ma réponse en ajoutant ce que j’ai dit ce jour là : “La diversité c’est ne pas penser comme un mouton. C’est être qui tu es et en être fier. J’ai eu une assez mauvaise journée car quelqu’un m’a fait des réflexions désagréables sur ma propre “diversité”. Alors pour moi cette photo signifie “sois qui tu es””.

Je précise que le problème de diversité par rapport à moi était lié à une photo que j’avais posté d’un couple d’hommes s’embrassant. J’avais gagné un concours sur Facebook avec cette photo et mon nom apparaissait partout à côté d’elle….

C’est ce que j’aime dans les Etats-Unis, cette sorte de diversité là. Mais je souhaiterai simplement qu’il y ait moins de gens étroits d’esprit pour que cette diversité puisse s’exprimer… Je suis consciente que mon image mentale de ce pays n’est peut-être pas conforme à la réalité. C’est ce que j’aimerai verifier !

Quelle part de toi peut-on retrouver dans tes personages?

Beaucoup et pas tant que ça à la fois ! Je partage de petites choses, comme le boulot d’un de mes meilleurs amis dans la vraie vie pour un caractère secondaire, ou des noms de personnes, ce qu’ils ont comme hobbies. Ce genre de choses. Mais c’est plus une affaire d’environnement global qu’à propos de moi.

Ton héros/personage public masculin préféré, mort ou vivant et pourquoi?

C’est une question difficile car il y a plein de monde que j’admire. Mais s’il faut choisir je dirai Victor Hugo. C’était un poète français, un écrivain et une figure politique. Il est né en 1802 et mort en 1885. Je connais encore plusieurs de ses poèmes par coeur, les ayant appris dans mon enfance.

Ton héros/personage public féminin préféré, mort ou vivant et pourquoi ?

Chaque femme qui ose lever son poing et dire ce qu’elle pense des injustices et qui fait des choses pour changer les situations difficiles. Chaque femme devrait être fière de qui elle est, il n’y a pas de honte à être une femme. J’ai trop souvent vu la honte sur leurs jolis visages. S’il fallait en choisir une, ce serait Rosa Park.

Est-ce que tu as déjà eu un personage qui fasse sa propre vie ? Est-ce que tu t’es déjà disputé avec un de tes personnages ? Ou n’importe quoi de bizarre ?

Je rêve souvent d’eux et très très souvent, ils font des choses dans ma tête que je retranscris dans l’histoire le lendemain. Je garde un petit carnet à la tête de mon lit pour ça. Comme ça, je suis sure de ne rien oublier de ce qu’ils m’ont murmuré pendant la nuit !

Qu’elles sont tes passions dans la vie ?

J’en ai plusieurs. Evidemment, lire/écrire/faire des critiques de livres ce qui pourrait se résumer en un seul mot : LIVRES !!!!Je trouve toujours de bons bouquins à lire sur Goodreads et sur le blog de Bike Book Reviews. (http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr)
J’adore aussi tout ce qui est le DYI, transformer des obejst, comme les palettes de bois, en meubles, peindre (particulièrement les fresques murales, c’est tellement marrant à faire !!!) et jouer avec mes enfants.

Et les bons petits plats. Je suis allergique à des tas de choses alors je dois faire un peu attention mais j’adore essayer des nouveaux plats du monde entire (hmmm… peut-être pas les insects grilles…)

Comment se déroule ta journée d’écrivain ? Tu écris n’importe quand ou seulement à certains moments de la journée ? Tu prévois tout ou tu laisses filer l’histoire ?Qu’aimes-tu écrire ?

Avant d’avoir ce boulot, j’amenais les enfants à l’école, je rentrais et m’asseyais pour écrire jusqu’à ce que les enfants rentrent. Ma moyenne était de 3 000 mots par jour. Maintenant que je travaille à temps complet dans la traduction, c’est plus compliqué. J’écris quand je peux, la plupart du temps le soir. Je n’ai publié qu’une histoire pour l’instant, Un Nouveau Rêve, en français, disponible gratuitement sur Wattpad. Je suis encore en train de faire les derniers changements avant de le publier” pour de vrai” sur Kindle. Je veux que ce soit parfait alors ça prendre vraiment longtemps !

En ce qui concerne l’histoire en elle-même, je prends énormément de notes, quand j’ai fini de rêver d’eux mais aussi quand vient l’idée. J’ai un petit dossier dans mon navigateur internet où je mets tout ce qui concerne la ville dans laquelle se passé le livre, les bars où ils sont senses aller… je fais beaucoup de recherché. Quand j’ai suffisamment de materiel, j’écris une trame. J’ai un autre carnet où je garde tous les noms des personages que je vais utiliser et les connexions entre eux. Je nomme chaque chapitre et je garde un trace des titres que j’ai rejetés, juste au cas où. J’essaie d’être vraiment consciencieuse car je ne veux pas oublier à un moment donné que j’ai déjà parlé de tel détail. Je ne veux pas que les lecteurs soient confus.

Si tu pouvais choisir une vie antérieure, quelle période serait-ce et pourquoi ? Serais-tu un homme ou une femme ? Riche ou pauvre ?

J’aimerais être un homme gay, ni trop riche, ni trop pauvre, maintenant. Ou une merveilleuse dame en Angleterre dans les années 1300. Celle que vous préférez !!

Comment choisis-tu les noms de tes personnages ? Est-ce qu’ils arrivent comme ça, par l’opération du Saint Esprit ? Ou est-ce que tu dois beaucoup y réfléchir et faire des recherches ?

Pour mes personnages principaux, il n’y a pas eu de recherche du tout. Ils sont juste arrivés comme David et James. Je n’ai pas eu besoin d’y penser, c’était évident. Les personnages secondaires, c’est plus compliéqués. Parfois ce sont les noms de personnes que je connais, parfois ceux de mes amis sur Facebook (comme Chris le héros du second tome de la série Rêves) mais il n’y a pas non plus de recherches intenses.

Quels sont tes projets futurs ?

Je travaille sur la révision d’Un Nouveau Rêve, ainsi que sur sa traduction en anglais car beaucoupd de gens me l’ont demandé. Je travaille aussi sur le tome 2 de la série Rêves, avec l’histoire de Chris.


Je voudrais ajouter des détails aléatoires :

Jay Aheer est l’artiste qui a fait la couverture de mon livre. Elle est juste extraordinaire. Si vous avez besoin de quelqu’un qui vous aide à trouver ce que vous cherchez ce que vous voulez, c’est elle qu’il vous faut. http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com

J’aimerais trop avoir un chat et me la jouer à la Hemingway!!!

Je suis complètement geek, très facilement distraite par de jolis jouets brillants et je bave devant les nouveautés iPhone/Pad/Pod (choisissez en un  !)

Je collectionne les mugs qui portent les illustrations de Jay mais aussi avec les couvertures de mes auteurs favoris. Je viens juste d’acheter celle qui dit « Sage Marlowe rocks ! » Je l’adore ;)

Je voudrais que les gens réalisent qu’être différent c’est une chance, pas un fardeau. J’ai toujours été différente. J’ai toujours beaucoup lu, moi la geek de service, on m’a harcelé à l’école pour ça. Quand tu grandis, tu réalises que c’est cool d’être différent. Vous n’êtes pas des moutons. Et même si vous êtes un mouton noir, faites sortir la lumière qui est en vous et brillez, mes chouchous !!! Les gens spéciaux, c’est trop de la balle ! (je devrais me faire faire une tasse avec ce message !!!)

Les liens !



Ici je fais suivre les posts des autres surtout mais vous pouvez toujours laisser un message. :D  


Goodreads : c’est là où j’écris mes critiques ( en anglais ;) https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/37403361-ladyc---mm-bookworm

Wattpad : pour lire l’histoire en français gratuitement (tant que je ne publie pas sur Kindle) http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-rêve


Monday, March 16, 2015

**HAWAIIAN LEI** releasing St Paddy's Day ~ How to speak like a Kiwi!

Aloha and Kia ora everyone,

In light of my new book coming out tomorrow on St Paddy's Day ~ Hawaiian Lei ~ the first book in The Hawaiians series, I thought it might be fun to talk about a subject fellow Muse It Up author, Ken Hicks suggested. He asked whether “flat tack” was a Kiwi or Hawaiian phrase. Then Monya Clayton, another Muse author contributed the “flat out like a lizard drinking” Australian saying. Thanks Ken (a Yank) and Monya (an Aussie.) J

We Kiwis and the Aussies avoid using proper words AT ALL TIMES. LOL.

No, we New Zealanders are not named after the small, round, brown, fuzzy fruit. J We’re named after our national bird, THE Kiwi. A small(ish,) round, brown, fuzzy bird. It’s about the size of a chook (chicken,) flightless, and riddled with fleas! As national symbols go, it’s not up there with the mighty American eagle, but we’re terribly proud of it anyway.



It represents New Zealand’s uniqueness well. Stuck at the bottom of the world, largely cut off for years, we’ve developed our own language and culture. We’re similar to the Aussies, but not quite the same… Like New Zealand, their culture is largely influenced by immigrants from the UK but also Europeans that came out in large numbers in the fifties and sixties.

New Zealand though has a native New Zealand Maori background, giving us a Polynesian mix in our culture. It’s only recently that Australia has started to give more acknowledgement to the native people of Australia—the Aborigine and it hasn’t influenced the culture as strongly.




So, our national symbol—THE Kiwi bird is as unique as we are.



It has external nostrils on its long bill to sniff out food. Belonging to the ratite family, it’s the smallest member which includes ostriches and emus. Its eggs are HUGE and the male does most of the incubating and egg sitting. Despite a stroppy (volatile, pissed off) relationship between them, Mum and Dad Kiwi bird are monogamous and live in pairs, mating mostly for life. But the woman bird wears the pants—she’s bigger and dominates the male. No wonder New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote!



Our culture and character is unique and I bring these differences to my books when I write my Kiwi and American characters. I recently started a part-time job where I’m on the phones helping customers. Because I’m learning, I often have to put them on hold to ask my supervisor what the hell I’m doing. LOL. And unbeknown to the poor customer, I can hear their comments in the background, while I’m fossicking around (trying to work out where the bloody info is I need.) (Fossick – find.)

They like my accent, but can’t always work out where it’s from. I’ve heard I’m sexy, cute, Irish, Australian… “She says wee.” “She said, ‘Just a tick.” When a customer manages to hit New Zealand, I think I should give them a special prize. LOL. It’s also made me acutely aware of how strong my accent still is and how many Kiwisms, idioms, phrases and words I use without being aware of it.




Monya reminded me we all use “flat out” but they also use “flat out like a lizard drinking,” and “flat strap.” :-)

Flat out like a lizard drinking:

Extremely busy, at top speed. Working hard. This is a word play on two different meanings of the standard English “flat out.” The literal sense is to lie fully stretched out (like a lizard,) and the figurative sense means as fast as possible. The phrase also alludes to the rapid tongue-movement of a drinking lizard. It is sometimes shortened, as in “we’re flat out like a lizard trying to meet the deadline.”



Yes, how that is shortened, I’m not sure. It’s one of those weird idiosyncrasies of Australasian English. We like shortening words and if we can’t do that—we lengthen them instead. J We have convos, bizzos, arvos and cuppas.

“So, I said, look mate, if you want to have a decent convo about this bizzo, too right. We can have a cuppa this arvo, then have some tea down the pub. Ring bugalugs and see if he’ll be around. Last time I saw him, he looked like he’d been pulled through a gorse bush backwards. He might’ve have been a wee bit crook. We can put the jug on and rustle up some biccies too if you’re lucky…”

Right. So I hope you were all keeping up with that conversation. The number of times I use expressions and everyone looks blankly at me is quite funny.

What was just said:

“I said, look mate (friend or just a general male person,)
if you want to have a decent (good)
convo (conversation)
about this bizzo (business, matter to be discussed,)
too right. (I agree.)
We can have a cuppa (cup of tea)
this arvo, (afternoon,)
then have some tea (dinner, not the stuff you drink and we only drink black tea generally with milk and sugar)
down the pub, (at the hotel or bar).
Ring bugalugs (general name for someone, could be a friend or just a general person) and see if he’ll be around.
Last time I saw him, he looked like he’d been pulled through a gorse bush backwards. (He looked unkempt, or scruffy.)
He might have been a wee bit crook. (unwell, ill.)
We can put the jug on (electric kettle to boil water. The moment you walk in the door in anyone’s house in NZ, they say, “I’ll just put the jug on.” You’ll be expected to have a cup of tea or coffee.)
and rustle up some biccies (short for biscuits, which are cookies) too if you’re lucky…”




Here's a Kiwi slang page. https://englishlanguagehelp.info/kiwi-slang/kiwi-slang-f/. Change the letter at the end for the rest of the alphabet. 

As well as talking nineteen to the dozen—we talk very fast! We then have short vowel sounds or arbitrarily miss some out altogether. Our accent marks are in different locations sometimes. LOL.

Batteries for the Americans are Batt-ter-ries. We say Batt-ries.

Pro-duce in the States is prod-uce in New Zealand.

To-may-to, To-ma-to… let’s work the whole thing out. J



On top of this incomprehensible list of sayings, we have a distinct accent. Yes, we do sound like the Aussies (and that’s Oz-zees… not Oss-sees) but our accents are subtlety different. J The Australians have a more nasally sound while ours is flat and monotone.

They say feesh and cheeps. We say fush and chups.




Yes, we do get a bit “thingee” being mistaken for Aussies even though we are similar. But no we don’t hate them—only when they beat us in rugby. And especially if the All Blacks—our international rugby team—are playing. It’s our national religion in New Zealand and is taken very, Very, VERY seriously. However, if the Wallabies (the Aussie international rugby team) are playing against the English or Springbok, (the South Africans) we support them. It’s terribly complicated. J  



The New All Blacks do a Maori haka before every game, as do most Kiwi sports teams now. :-) It's a challenge to the other team. Ka mate, ka mate, roughly means "to the death" and variations of dying. It means they will fight to the death. 


There's a lot of good-natured ribbing back and forth between the two nations. Not all our words are the same though. One that's different is “dag.”

If you say someone's “a bit of a dag,” in NZ, it means they're funny, a bit of a character. 

In Australia, it means they're not that nice or a bit of a drongo. (Idiot) Dags are the fecal matter that sticks to sheep's wooly bums. (backsides, butts) Not that complimentary if you think about it. Lol. You'll also hear "rattle your dags," in Australia, meaning to get a move on. 

Whereas our dag comes from a comedian in NZ called Fred Dagg who took the mickey out of farmers and farming things. He was a scream. 





Right… so I hope you’re all keeping up! There’ll be a quiz at the end of this blog. J We “take the mickey” (tease or rib) out of all sorts of things. We’re quite irreverent and anything is fair game.

On my first trip to Australia, I insulted lots of the Aussies. When someone asked me, so what do you think of so and so. I'd say, "Yeah, they're a bit of a dag."

The Aussies would look a bit startled. "Really? You really think so."

And I'd enthusiastically say, "Yes, yes, a real dag."

Thus making things even worse… I couldn't work out their puzzled looks. It wasn't until I got to the end of my trip (of course) that I realized I'd insulted half of Australia when my uncle explained the two meanings.

Oops. Sorry!! :-)

So, back to our original thing Ken asked about. Flat out…

It's suggested it came from the dawn of the motor car where you had your foot “flat out” to the floorboards and you’d be going “like the clappers.” (very fast.) Or a horse race where the rider lies flat against the horse, cutting down the aerodynamic effects. Possibly that's where flat tack comes from. Flat to the tack?? (Horse tack or tackle possibly.) Not sure. 

You can be flat out racing. “Going like the clappers.” (Fast).

Flat out broke. Not a cent to your name.

Flat out indignant—absolutely indignant. 

It tends to heighten what is going on. Flat out brilliant—really brilliant.



We used to tell people "ladies a plate—men a crate." The men would bring beer that used to come in big bottles in a crate. Many a poor woman turned up with an empty plate—not realizing it meant bring something yummy to eat on a plate to share, often baking.  


The New Zealand Meat Pie or Poi! Yum. Flaky or puff pastry filled with meaty goodness. And the classic 'sausie roll.' Sausage meat encased in pastry... yum... Steak and cheese, mince, curried mince, peppered steak - these can be brought at any service station or dairy (gas station or 7/11 type convenience story)



Jandals can be worn year round in New Zealand, even when it's bloody freezing. Elsewhere in the world they're called flip-flops (US), thongs (Aussie) slippahs (Hawaii)


The New Zealand lolly cake. Made from sweets called Eskimos and really really good. :-) 


Our national dessert - the Pavlova! Now the Aussies reckon it's their dessert. They DID name it. It was named after Anna Pavlova the ballet dance. BUT fierce and intensive NON-BIASED research suggests the Kiwis made it first as a 'Meringue cake.' The Aussies will kill me for this. :-)


Afghan biscuits—Butter, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and cornflakes. Always topped with choccie icing and a walnut which people either love or hate. (the walnut) Not a fan myself. :-) 


The Custard Square, which the Aussies call a Vanilla Slice. Made from thick custard, sandwiched between layers of flaky pastry and topped with white icing. Yum!! 


Choccie Fish - pink marshmallow encased in thin chocolate. The traditional way to eat one is to bite one end and stretch the marshmallow, before snapping it off. So good!!


Hokey Pokey is a New Zealand institution. Honeycomb candy that it put in everything we can think of. Fabulous in ice cream!! I love it!





Pineapple Lumps—pineapple flavored marshmallow coated in thin choccie. Great in the fridge or freezer, when you bite into them they snap or crunch. Yum!! :-)


New Zealand whitebait fritters! A delicacy in NZ. They are the young fry of the inaga fish, translucent wriggles of things that are cooked into omelettes. 


"Kiwi Ingenuity" is a unique part of our culture. It means we can fix just about anything "with a piece of number eight fencing wire." We are young European wise and still have a large pioneering spirit on board. Being on the other side of the world, far from anywhere (even Australia - 3 and 1/2 hours away by modern aircraft) we had to "make do," often making things ourselves out of what was available. 
The car that is featured in this artwork is the Morrie Minor. My best friend had one called Costa (cos it Costa-lot) and we used to go EVERYWHERE in it. :-) It was made in 1958 and was a bullet nose Morrie. :-) We used to drive incredibly ancient cars in New Zealand until Japanese imports came in. :-) My other best friends mum is Gurty (short for Gertrude, a popular car name in New Zealand) and she has the Tiki Tour plate on her car here in the States. :-) 
(New Zealand slang) 
1. a sight-seeing journey with no particular destination in mind. 
2. taking the scenic route to a destination. 
3. to wander aimlessly.
The rellies came over for a visit and I took them on a tiki tour of the city. 


We took a wrong turn at Huntly and had to tiki tour through the wop wops to make it back to Hamilton.

The rellies are the relatives, friends and family.
The wop wops are rural, the back of beyond, miles from civilization type thing. The Boonies I think it would be called in the States. :-) 

Our Kiwi culture includes lots of funny wee sayings.

If you're doing anything for Africa, it means you're doing a lot of it. "She was shopping for Africa.” "They were partying for Africa." It's applied to all sorts of things. :-) 

They’re “a wee bit feral.” (Often refers to someone’s 'darling' offspring) meaning they’re out of control and a wee bit on the wild side.

If someone is “as mad as a meataxe.” They’re bonkers (slightly nuts, not dangerous, but just slightly unhinged or odd.)

And if something is “as silly as a two bob watch.” That refers to something that’s a wee bit ridiculous. A two bob watch was something pretty cheap and nasty and cost two bob, (in old currency before we went to metric, dollars and cents.) Given it was so cheap, it was unreliable and did silly things like not keep time correctly, slowing down or speeding up.

Some of our sayings have deep English, Scottish and Irish roots and you’ll hear them in the American South as well. “As slow as a wet week” (it’s taking ages and is dragging) or “like a month of Sundays.” (A very long time.)

My speech has the Scottish “wee” in it as all Southern New Zealanders do from the South Island. When the Scottish immigrated to New Zealand, they brought their delightful accent with them. They started out in Dunedin in the far south of the South Island and the wee has spread up the whole island for some reason. Even my dad who’s an Aucklander and Northerner originally, uses the wee now in his speech.

We get stroppy when we’re angry. And throw wobblies and berkies. (temper tantrums.)




We swear a lot more than Americans and are a largely secular country—using words like god, Christ, good lord has no real religious meaning. It’s just a set of words that gives emphasis.

We use bloody and bugger a lot—in all sorts of circumstances. They’re mild inoffensive swear words, that have multi-purpose meanings. It’s like saying damn or darn in the States.

“That bugger of a mongrel ate the bloody leg of lamb for tea.”

(“That darn dog ate the damn leg of lamb for dinner.”)

Things can be buggered (they don’t work.)
“Well bugger me!” (An expression of surprise.)
“Bugger, Bob.” (I’m annoyed with Bob.)
“I buggered up the paperwork.” (I made a mess of the paperwork.) 
“Bugger!” (Darn, that’s a shame.)
“I’ll bugger off home then.” (I’ll go home.)



In my new book Hawaiian Lei which is out tomorrow, I have a glossary of words used at the end of the book. I also have words lists on my website at www.troikaromance.com.

Under Kiwiana are words from Henry and Isolde ~ due out soon in spring from Muse It Up Publishing. http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-ana.html

And the Kiwi and Polynesian Dictionary from Hawaiian Lei releases tomorrow from Loose Id Publishing. http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-and-polynesian-dictionary.html

I’m as pleased as punch to have my new book coming out. It’s a sensuous, heartfelt male/male gay romance set in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands.

I’m born and bred in New Zealand but my American home state is Hawai’i. Combining these two special cultures into one story has really called to my heart and soul. I’ve lived in the States for 20 odd years now and have become a hybrid of both New Zealand and America. I received my citizenship in the courthouse over in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i. It 's the perfect blend of the Polynesian Pacific Island culture which sings to my soul, combined with the convenience of the American lifestyle I’ve become used to. I am happiest at home in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. J

All my stories are ultimately about soul deep relationships, the intense love and connection we all crave with another human being. The core need to be accepted just as we are.

Thanks to Ken for originally suggesting this blog. It’s been a lot of fun to write :-) I hope you enjoy our Kiwiana and enjoy the new book Hawaiian Lei. I loved writing using my Kiwi and Hawaiian voices. It's lovely to showcase my own countrymen and the gorgeous aloha state of Hawai'i. :-) The gorgeous cover is by Syneca Featherstone! :-) The book will be available on Tuesday the 17th March, St Paddy's Day on Amazon and Loose Id websites. 


My muse for Beau Toyama. Beau has long hair and is slightly older, but just as gorgeous. 


My muse for Mattie Quintal who is slightly darker in skin tone, has blue eyes and slightly longer hair, but this is Matties build, energy and look. The lovely eyes and smile. :-) 



Mahalo and aloha Meg. :-). 

Hawaiian Lei



Two stunning Polynesian men, each experiencing existential crisis, meet and fall in love. They find healing against the beautiful backdrop of the mystical Hawaiian Islands.

* * * *

Beau Toyama, a 'mixed plate' Hawaiian/Japanese/Tahitian man is a flight instructor on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s a lovely, gentle, shy soul from a dysfunctional island family and was married for a long time. One day his wife Mikey said, “I love you, babe, but this isn’t working. I need a really good man…” she’d paused, “And so do you.”​

Matt Quintal, a New Zealand painter with a Norfolk Island and Maori background has been living the ‘gay scene’ in LA for a year and knows it’s a crock. Feeling the need to escape the scene, his Polynesian soul is drawn back to the Pacific. He visits his sister Rach in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, where his spirit is always more connected.

When Matt’s heart is drawn to the sound of the radial engines of a Stearman bi-plane overhead, his life is about to change. There’s an instant soul connection between Beau and Matt. Unbeknown to them, Beau’s mom Tehani, who has passed on, has guided Matt home to her son Beau.

They both bring things to the relationship which get triggered. Family dysfunction, abuse, redemption, healing, trust and love come to light, as Beau and Matt work together. They need to reveal their deep emotional vulnerabilities to heal. What they want is a loving relationship, allowing their hearts and souls to open and trust.

  

EXCERPT ~ 



  

The Stearman biplane that Beau flies over the Big Island of Hawai'i. :-) 

TO CONTACT ME: 


Meg Amor

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Hawaiian Lei ~ Sensual m/m gay romance ~ The Hawaiians Series ~ Loose Id Publishing 
~ 17 Mar 2015 Release
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Henry and Isolde ~ Troika Love Series ~ Book 1 of Trilogy 
~ Spring 2015 release
Saint Nicholas ~ a beautiful heartfelt m/f love story AMAZON
Dark War ~ a committed Troika/poly relationship. AMAZON
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The Mystic Manifestor ~ Spiritual/Self-Help 
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"Everyone lives a thousand lives, but only one life to remember ~
Will this be yours?"