Genre
I've noticed that a lot of people write fantasy - whether it be traditional, urban, speculative, steampunk... or even horror, sci-fi. It's very popular. So I was wondering if there's anyone out there that likes writing general fiction. Slice of life type things. Vinigettes... is that the word? I'm interested in boring old life, relationships, not necessarily romance, but more... characters. People. Is anyone else? Is anyone currently writing something along these lines? And, is there even a market for this kind of fiction in New Zealand?
I write stuff along these lines (albeit with twists) and pretty much 90% of NZ fiction published is about ordinary life.
It's the speculative fiction (fantasy, horror etc) that has trouble getting published.
All good :)
Do you read much NZ fiction - there's a bunch of slice-of-life stuff out there, ranging from stuff set in small town NZ (can't recall the guys name, but he writes lots of stuff set down South) through to contemporary urban (Chad Taylor, Charlotte Grimshaw) and the 'Bill Manhire' school (Emily Perkins, Catherine Chidgey, Sarah Quigley etc).
Check your local bookstore's NZ section you'll be surprised at what is out there and it will give you a feel for what's been published and what publishers might be looking for.
Also the now defunct Hazard Press published lots of cool titles; the catalog is here: http://www.hazardonline.com/catalog/
There's also the NZ Book Council writers info page here: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Information/Introduction.htm
Reading what other people publish, especially within NZ is a really good way to learn more about your own writing.
I've gone through my stages of what genre I read. Once I got to fantasy, well let's just say that was 8 years ago...and I'm still in it! In fact it was running out fantasies to read that compelled me to start writing my own :)
I've been reading a lot of Urban fantasy lately and really enjoying it - but it isn't my cup of tea. I like to create my own world!
The beauty of the internet means that these days (thankfully!) we don't have to limit ourselves to publishing within New Zealand. While I think every kiwi writer would love to publish here, sometimes it's just not the right market for it (or, that's what they tell us anyway 
).
I'm guilty of not reading a lot of work by NZ authors, but then mostly what I read is withdrawn books from the library that I buy for 20cents a pop (otherwise I tend to rack up the late fees...), so hardly contemporary stuff either.
There is a market out in the world for just about every kind of book, it's all about finding it, and then finding the right way to break into it. Good luck!
Oh, I didn't know. Sorry.