Spokane’s ‘Legends & Lattes’ author Travis Baldree releases third installment in series; he talks what’s next

“Brigands & Breadknives” is fantasy author Travis Baldree’s third book in the “Legends & Latte” series, this time starring Fern, the potty-mouthed bookseller originally introduced in “Bookshops & Bonedust.” Baldree will take the Northwest Passages stage Monday at the Montvale Event Center, where he will discuss this latest publication.

Here’s more about the new release from the Spokane-based writer:

How does your background as a game developer inform the way you tell stories?

Probably in ways you wouldn’t expect – I wasn’t a writer for video games, but a software engineer and sometime artist. As a result, I write stories the way I wrote code – in an organized way that has to remain stable until the end. For me, that means that when I finish a draft, it’s usually solid and not that different from the final version, and my editorial pass is primarily cleanup.

How does your voiceover work influence how you write dialogue?

As an audiobook narrator, and after reading thousands of hours of other people’s books aloud, I have a very developed interior voice. I know exactly how I will sound when I speak a sentence, and I also know exactly what a character will sound like spoken aloud – that really aids in writing dialogue, and helps keep it naturalistic. Most authors will tell you that one of the best ways to edit dialogue is to read it aloud, and I get to do that before I write it in the first place.

What has been your experience being able to follow characters over several books? Do you know their trajectories from the beginning, or is that something you find out along the way?

For me there’s a lot of discovery. I mostly think about books only within the bounds of themselves, and I like standalone stories that connect into something larger. I’m constantly finding new things out with each book, but at the same, I do know who the characters are and the rough shape of their past and future.

Which of your characters in Brigands & Breadknives feels closest to who you are, and why?

Fern doubtless feels closest – her struggles in “Brigands & Breadknives” mirror my own, as the main characters so far always do. Learning to say no, learning to disappoint people you care about … that’s me.

You once said that you started this series during the pandemic, when doing something like going to a coffee shop and socializing was a fantasy. Your books deal a lot with community and chosen family. How does that message speak to our present day?

I think it’s still as relevant to me (and others) now as it was during the height of isolation. We live in an era where we often communicate purely online through texts or other asynchronous communication. How often do we sit down with someone we know and have a real conversation that isn’t filtered through the lens of social media?

Fern has a bit of a foul mouth, and the book actually starts with a certain four-letter word. She’s also dealing with aging while trying to figure out her life. What was it like to write her character in the most recent book? How did it feel different from Bookshops & Bonedust?

“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 other two books follow Viv, who, while she may have questions or troubles, is a more confident character with a more concrete plan. “Brigands & Breadknives” is more of a road novel overall.

Which characters are you planning to explore in your next book? When can readers expect it?

The next book I’m writing is actually set outside the “Legends & Lattes” world, which isn’t to say I won’t come back. But it’s quite different, and in a genre that I narrate often, which is commonly called Gamelit or LitRPG. I’m not sure of its exact release date. I’m still writing, but hoping to wrap the first draft this spring.