Writing Excuses 8.50: Q&A with Mercedes Lackey

Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes the stars align and serendipity is made manifest. And sometimes Mercedes Lackey happens to be hanging around at the same convention you're recording podcasts at, and sits herself down to answer questions with you. Or rather with us. Here are the questions. You'll need to listen to the podcast for the answers: * (For Mercedes) How do you stay relevant through the numerous changes in the industry? * How do you go about creating a title for a project? * Is blending 1st-person and 3rd-person viewpoints cheating? * (For Howard) Should marketing research be done before launching an online story? * When, where, and how do you end chapters? * How can you tell if you're overusing narrative language? * How should a young writer balance their writing time against other activities? * What are the parts of being an author that you hate (specifically the non-writing parts)? * (For Mercedes) What advice do you have for finding alpha & beta readers? * Is it distracting to write out a character's accent?