Interview With Travis Baldree, Author of Legends & Lattes

I recently had a chance to host an interview with Travis Baldree on his debut novel, Legends & Lattes, a cozy fantasy about an orc mercenary who decides to hang up her sword and start a coffee shop. Legends & Lattes might be the most unconventional fantasy book I’ve ever read so I was so excited to have a chance to ask the author a few questions.

Interview With Travis Baldree

1 – Tell me about your debut, Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes is a low-stakes fantasy novel about discovering that the decisions we make early in life don’t have to define the rest of it, and about how much the people we surround ourselves affect our perception of the paths we choose. Also, it’s about food, and building montages, a little bit of magic, and the fact that most people are more relatable than we might initially expect. Also, obviously, coffee. Lots of coffee.

2 – What inspired you to write a cozy, slice-of-life fantasy novel instead of a story that aligned with the genre’s conventional plotlines?

As a narrator I tend to get a lot of genre fiction in a similar mold – the young white guy between the ages of 16-32 who must confront a WORLD ENDING THREAT. And there are a lot of fun and wonderful books in that mold. But I read a LOT of that. I wanted something different, as far away from it as I could get while still being ‘genre fiction’. I set myself the task of making a fantasy novel that still moved along and kept me interested without anyone or anything dying past the first paragraph. No swords are swung after the first sentence. Also, the idea of being able to go to a coffee shop and hang out and see the faces of friends I know seems like real fantasy right now-so it’s the perfect form of escapism for me.

3 – Legends & Lattes contains an overarching theme of self-reinvention. Have there been any periods in your life that reflect this theme? 

Very much so. I pretty quickly I found that there was a lot of me in Viv, and my own recent experiences were bleeding into the story. I made video games for decades, and nearly two years go set it all aside to switch careers to full-time audiobook narration. The change that had on me was pretty profound, in terms of my own mental health, and the wonderful community I found myself a part of. It’s hard for me not to draw a lot of parallels to Viv’s story. And here I am again, switching things up, and writing a novel. It’s pretty liberating to be able to say to yourself “it’s OK, I can have more than one career. I can have more than one kind of life. Everything doesn’t have to be the same forever.” It’s so hard to see that when you’re in the thick of things, and it often seems impossible that your life could ever be anything but what it is at this particular moment.

4 – Your descriptions of coffee and pastries are incredibly lifelike. Almost… magical? Can you tell me about what went into these descriptions?

They were honestly pretty effortless to write. I like food a lot – and I have a really strong sense memory for smells and tastes. I didn’t have to fuss over them at all. I find that a lot of my memories are anchored by scents.

5 – Who was your favorite character to write?

Cal, easily. I love a good curmudgeon. Although Laney is a close second. I love ALL my characters though. They feel like friends. Except for that one guy.

6 – Before writing a book you worked as a game developer and an audiobook narrator. How do you think these experiences affected your writing?

I find that there are all sorts of interesting skills or approaches that carry over from one kind of work to the next. Game development gave me a solid ability to work alone and self-directed, and my engineering background meant I was able to write some software I use every day in my recording work. When it came time to manage publication and editing and cover design, a lot of my experience outsourcing artwork and providing concept notes and feedback were extremely useful. Narration means that I’m deeply analyzing writing every single day, and responding to what’s there – what works, what doesn’t, what translates well to audio. It has definitely helped me refine my idea of what I specifically want to read in a book, and as an extension, what I want to write.

7 – You’ve posted about your recording and editing process for audiobook narrating. Did any of these strategies help you when writing Legends & Lattes?

It was certainly useful when narrating the audiobook version! The result of narrating so consistently is that as I’m writing, I can pretty clearly hear the audible version in my head, which for me solves a lot of problems, and also makes dialogue easier to write. As I narrate, I also get a very strong mental movie in my brain, and I’ve found that that transfers over to the writing process as well.

8 – You mentioned in your interview on FanFiAddict that your favorite book tends to change quite frequently, so what would you say is your favorite book right now?

Oh, this is still SO HARD. Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy consistently bubbles up. As far as recent favorites, I’ve really enjoyed The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Ring Shout, and also Sisters of the Vast Black. Ha! None of those are cozy at all!

About the Book

Title: Legends & Lattes
Author: Travis Baldree
Genres: adult fantasy, cozy fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 316
ISBN: N/A
Content Warnings: fire/fire injuries, sexual harassment, mentions of blood/murder

Blurb

High Fantasy with a double-shot of self-reinvention

Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.

However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.

A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.

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If you want a book that will make your heart happy, I cannot recommend Legends & Lattes enough. It’s the perfect feel-good fantasy novel.