Former mercenary Viv discovered a new way of life thanks to bookseller Fern, one that led her to eventually open her own coffee shop in Travis Baldree’s bestselling debut novel, Legends & Lattes. Now seeking a change herself, Fern decides to open a bookstore next to Viv’s cafe, but things quickly go awry—soon, the diminutive bookseller is on an honest-to-god adventure alongside a famous warrior, her talking knife and a fiendish goblin.
Before you became an author, you designed indie video game favorites like Torchlight and Rebel Galaxy. What made you want to jump from designing video games into writing books?
It was a bit of a two-step process—I’d always wanted to write novels, but never managed to succeed. Instead of leaping directly to writing, I retired from game development to narrate audiobooks, which is sort of writing-adjacent. That was really the tipping point and through a combination of happenstance, reimmersion into words and meeting the right people, I found my way to actually writing full time.
“I wanted to write someone who was a bit of a hot mess.”
What have you taken from designing stories for games like Rebel Galaxy into writing books?
Oddly, most of my development experience is software engineering and art related. I only really wrote toward the very end of my gaming career for the Rebel Galaxy games, and only because I didn’t have the resources or time to hire a writer (although I did try for the second in that series). A lot of the skill set I’ve brought over from games has more to do with time management, working independently on a creative project with a deadline and threading the needle between caring about my audience and caring about what pleases me—and trying to find the places where those two things overlap most strongly.
Found family and “friends you pick up on the way” are a core theme of all three of your books. Why have you made these bonds such a crucial part of your plots?
A lot of it is wish-fulfillment—it’s so hard to make friends in your 40s! And when you do, you realize how rare and valuable they are. People matter, and connections matter, so if I’m writing something remotely hopeful, it’s hard for those not to figure in.
Fern is an interesting choice of a character for a more traditional fantasy adventure. What made you want to pivot away from Viv, the protagonist of your previous two books
In large part, I don’t want to mess up Viv’s happy ending just yet—if ever. She just found her peace, and I don’t want to disrupt it simply to give her another book. That was part of the logic behind writing a prequel in Bookshops & Bonedust. And I don’t want to write the same books over and over; Fern was primed to have a different sort of journey and to provide a different sort of contrast. I like seeing people you don’t expect in situations you don’t expect, and Fern is a great fit for that. I also wanted to write someone who was a bit of a hot mess, since I felt like a hot mess at the time. Viv doesn’t really fit the bill.
“I don’t want to pretend that small business ownership is the cure for everyone—or even MOST people.”
Both of your previous books were about Viv leaving the adventuring life behind, whereas in Brigands & Breadknives, Fern abandons her bookshop to go on a quest. Was there a particular inspiration for flipping your pattern?
They’re both effectively adventures: Viv is moving into a new world where nothing is familiar, and it’s a little scary, and Fern is doing the same. It all gets down to who they were before. And we all need different things, and at different times. I don’t want to pretend that small business ownership is the cure for everyone—or even MOST people.
I personally found Fern more relatable than Viv (must be the cursing and feeling old). Is there anyone you feel she is most like in your life?
I mentioned Fern being a hot mess a few answers ago, and that it was very much me at the time. I struggle with disappointing people I care about. I find it very hard to say no. I’ve tricked myself in the past into recasting that as being nice or virtuous—but it’s simply destructive, not just for me, but for the people around me. Fern is wrestling with the same issues.
Sentient weapons are such a fun trope. How did you come up with the idea of Breadlee the talking knife?
I really liked the idea of a weapon with little-dog syndrome. We always see magical weapons that are very impressive. What about the ones that aren’t?
Read our review of ‘Brigands & Breadknives’ by Travis Baldree.
Without spoiling too much, did you know how Fern’s story was going to end when you started writing? Why did you choose to end it that way?
I did. I’m a fairly heavy outliner. Without saying too much, I think it’s possible to have personal successes that other people might not recognize from the outside. They might even seem like missed opportunities, or failures. My hope is that people who have struggled to achieve that sort of interior success will recognize this, and it’ll make them feel seen. Those successes matter. What has value to you doesn’t have to have obvious value to everyone around you.
What books (or video games) are you enjoying these days?
I would really, really like to find the time to actually finish The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
And I would really, really like to find the time to read something that I’m not narrating.
My hope is that I’ll get to do both as soon as I wrap this new book! Or on book tour come November—I’m hoping to get a chance to read The Devils by Joe Abercrombie and also Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab.
Photo of Travis Baldree courtesy of the author.
