Writing Excuses 8.17: Microcasting

You love 'em, we love 'em, and there's never a shortage of questions so here's another another fast-paced Q&A. Here are the questions that we field in this episode: * How do you prepare to write? * How do you write stories that are important without being heavy-handed? * Magical realism vs. Fantasy -- what's the difference? * Do you have recommendations or techniques for serving as a beta reader? (Here's the promised liner-note bit from Mary.) * Is it possible to do a serial with short stories and novellas all in the same setting? * Why do publishers say they want crossed-genre books, but they're not publishing crossed-genre books? * Picture books and books for beginning readers: can you 'cast on this for us? (Answer: not until we've got an expert guest in that field. If you want that info, go to SCBWI.org) * Can you do a 'cast on reading aloud? (Answer: yes. This is not that 'cast.) * What is the primary thing you've learned from reading Literary Fiction that has informed your Genre Fiction writing?