Northwest Passages: ‘Cozy fantasy’ author Travis Baldree found success by mixing in personal experiences

Colfax’s Travis Baldree, author of the bestselling “Legends and Lattes” series, discussed his third book at the Montvale Event Center on Monday night, “Brigands and Breadknives.”

Released Nov. 11, the “cozy fantasy” novel details the self -discovery of the anthropomorphic rat, Fern, along with the adventure she shares with a sporadic goblin and a sword-sure elf.

The previous two books in the series largely follow the story of the people (or creatures) behind a coffee shop and a book shop, the latter of which was owned by Fern. Despite the “cozy” label carried over from these, Baldree said in a previous interview with The Spokesman-Review that “’Brigands & Breadknives’ is honestly not a terribly cozy book.

“Fern is a bit of a mess and doesn’t know where she’s going at all. She’s casting about for the answer to a problem she doesn’t even understand.”

The talk with Baldree Monday was part of The Spokesman-Review’s Northwest Passages book club. He said that Fern’s learning to say no and learning to disappoint people she cares about is really at the core of the story, which uses fantasy to explore “mundane” topics that people experience in the real world.

After trying to write books throughout his life, Baldree only realized that the secret ingredient to a good book was including pieces of his actual experience. It was yearning for a calmer fantasy story in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic that inspired “Legends and Lattes.”

“People often say ‘write what you know,’ and I always discounted that because my life didn’t sound very interesting,” he said. “But all of the books I attempted to write before didn’t really include me in them.”

Yet, the plot of “Brigands and Breadknives” closely mirrors a yearslong adventure of his own: Fern’s leaving her bookstore and moving to a new town and finding new people reflects his previous career as a video game software engineer turned audiobook reader and author.

Despite being a core component to the success of his writing, Baldree, a self-identified straight male, also makes it a point to bend the fantasy conventions in favor of inclusivity. The majority of the characters in all three of his books are women, and the first featured a queer relationship.

“I have a rule, which is that all characters are female unless there’s a reason for them not to be, because in the fantasy genre that I write in, it’s often the opposite,” he said. “It’s just the fact that everybody is a person, and if you write about people you should be able to write about anyone.”

In addition to writing, Baldree is a full-time voice actor, recording audiobooks for other authors. His experience reading aloud gave him a strong inner voice to work with for writing, he said.

It was through his reading audiobooks that mother and daughter duo Lisa Hall, 47, and Arabella Hall, 12, stumbled onto Baldree’s work. Audiobooks are the way to go with how often they’re in the car, Lisa Hall reasoned. The pair fell in love with the first two of Baldree’s books and traveled together from Wenatchee for the Monday event, purchasing meet-and-greet tickets. About halfway through “Brigands and Breadknives,” Arabella said she is glad that Baldree releases audiobooks for his own stories right away.

Arabella’s favorite part of the book so far is the so-called ‘hazferou’ – a particularly dangerous, chicken-like creature.

Michele Attwood, 70, took her granddaughter Lila Becker, 14 to the event. Attwood is halfway through “Legends and Lattes” and has been enjoying the fantasy genre – a step outside from her usual historical fiction picks. Lila – a much bigger fantasy fan – hasn’t yet read the books.

Baldree read out a passage of “Brigands and Breadknives” in his audiobook voice as a grand finale to the night, highlighting a conversation between the main cast and a pair of talking knives.

Currently, Baldree is taking a “detour” from the “Legends and Lattes” universe to write a book in the literary role-playing game genre, which he describes as being fantasy with a more solidified world mechanic than usual, including specific numbers, names or systems that “feels relatable in a way that’s very different from normal fiction.”

Readers can expect a book of “Legends and Lattes” short stories next year called “Tales of the Territory.” Baldree said that he will “probably return and write another book when I know what I want to write about.”