Reading my work and seeing a typo? Stop and read the passage again.
Is it a typo, or are you reading British English?
The famous Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw said, “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.” In some ways that’s true. There are differences between the American and English language, but I see neither one wrong or right.
Being born, and still living, in England, I wrote my book series, Shadows of a Phoenix, in British English because of the location of the main story being the UK and the characters.
But if my series was about a location in the US and my characters were American, would I still write in British English?
To that question, I would probably say “No.”
I truly believe that to write in the mindset of where your characters are based, gives an authentic aspect to a novel. Now I’m not saying that this is a law to follow. Having a unique take on things is healthy. But for me and my characters in my series, they are British, so I write in my native tongue.
Here is a handy guide by SkillYouNeed.com about some of the differences of written English between the US and UK
