I've been encountering these problems from the other direction: I'm from northern Canada and it's a little disorienting to read so many post-CotW stories written by Americans, Brits, Aussies and other Europeans (or other Canadians) set in a culture very few people are familiar with or have experienced first-hand. Some of the subtlies in culture, weather and common expression escape a lot of writers because there are little-to-no resources available on those aspects of life in northern Canada beyond municipal websites, a few books and the occaisonal blog. And, obviously, no one in the fandom would notice except me and perhaps troyswann.

I don't think it would be appropriate to correct authors (except in cases of grievous error or misrepresentation) because usually it's something small and hardly worth correcting, something that only a person native to the region would even pick up on. And I'd hate to niggle over tiny details when the story is excellent in every other way. Just as an example, one of the ds_aprilfools stories referenced my hometown (Fraser and Ray were living there) and I had mentioned that tidbit in my feedback for the story (which I loved). This made the author a little nervous because she hadn't expected anyone familiar with the area to be reading the story.

I suppose my question would be, would authors want me to comment on this material if it's only slightly incorrect? Or would my small niggling distract from how the story as a whole is operating? I know this would probably come down to individual preference and an author's commitment to realism vs. what would best serve the needs of the story, but how should those of us with first-hand experience to offer conduct ourselves when we notice small inconsistencies?