How Spokane-based audiobook narrator and veteran game developer Travis Baldree's cozy fantasy novel became a breakout bestseller

click to enlarge How Spokane-based audiobook narrator and veteran game developer Travis Baldree's cozy fantasy novel became a breakout bestseller
Young Kwak photo
Travis Baldree never imagined his novel writing challenge would become a bestseller.

At first, Travis Baldree just wanted to see if he could actually do it: Write a novel.

After numerous failed attempts over the years to end November's National Novel Writing Month challenge with a 50,000-word, book-length manuscript, Baldree decided in 2021 that he was serious this time. He and a friend agreed to help each other reach the goal.

What he didn't intend, however, was that the resulting story — a "cozy" fantasy novel about an orc adventurer named Viv who retires from her violence filled-career to open a peaceful coffee shop — would be a breakout success. In fact, the seed of the book began as more of a lighthearted joke.

"Because we had both failed to do [National Novel Writing Month] before, we decided to do something that had no stakes for us, where it was not going to be the greatest idea in the world so that we wouldn't be disappointed if we didn't finish," Baldree says. "All the previous times we'd attempted it, it was like if you were going to take the time to write a book, it had to be the best thing — it had to be world-shaking. So [this time] we just chose silly things."

Initially self-published in early 2022, Baldree's Legends & Lattes — to his utter surprise — landed on The New York Times bestseller list. Earlier this year it was also nominated for both a Hugo and Nebula award, two of sci-fi and fantasy literature's top accolades.

While Legends & Lattes didn't win either prize, Baldree himself was honored last month with the Hugo's 2023 Astounding Award for Best New Writer. That recognition came only a few weeks before the author's follow-up novel, Bookshops & Bonedust, which arrives in bookstores on Nov. 7. A prequel to Legends, it's set a few decades before Viv opens her coffee shop. The day before Bookshops & Bonedust comes out, Baldree makes the journey to Auntie's Bookstore for a community celebration.

"I had a really good time writing it," he says. "I actually like it better than the first book."

click to enlarge How Spokane-based audiobook narrator and veteran game developer Travis Baldree's cozy fantasy novel became a breakout bestseller
Young Kwak photo
Viv, an orc, is the books' protagonist.

In Legends & Lattes, Viv hangs up her trusty sword after one last quest and heads to a midsized town where most residents have never even heard of — let alone tasted — coffee. After renovating a run-down building into a cozy cafe, Viv's new acquaintances slowly bloom into trusted friendships. Deep down, though, she still doubts she's deserving of all this good fortune — is her success genuine and earned or only happening because of the magical artifact she's buried under the cafe's floor?

"Weirdly, I thought it was going to be a bit more of a joke because the concept sounds a bit ridiculous," Baldree says. "But then I ended up writing it kind of in earnest and about halfway through I realized that it was a story about someone in their 40s who had done the same job for most of their life, retired because they didn't like it anymore, and moved to a new city and started a new career, and met this whole community of people in their new career who turned out to be really essential to them."

As it turns out, Viv's journey pretty closely mirrors her creator's. Baldree and his wife relocated from Seattle back to Spokane in 2019 (he's originally from the Colfax area). Their family was just getting settled when COVID hit, and initial efforts to socialize and make friends in their new hometown were suddenly cut short. Thankfully, Baldree was able to do his day job — audiobook narration — from his home studio. This remote setup also allowed him to stay virtually connected to fellow writers, including many clients-turned-friends.

While his professional career thus far includes stints as a video game developer — Baldree's the creative force behind the Torchlight series — these days, most of his work is audiobook narration with a focus on sci-fi and fantasy genres. Books by authors who hire him tend to feature young male protagonists tasked with saving the world. (He's narrated series by Will Wight, Kyle Kirrin, Nicoli Gonnella and many others.)

"I [narrated] a lot of high-stakes, action-adventure stuff, and I was joking and said, 'You know what I really want is just a Hallmark movie set in a fantasy world,'" Baldree recalls.

So when he sat down to write what would become Legends & Lattes, Baldree went that direction. The result is a low-stakes, breezy read with a queer romance, and an overarching theme about self-acceptance and friendship.

"That is not my normal genre, and I would never in a million years have expected to write this. And beyond that, have anybody read it or respond to it in any way." he says. "If you had told anyone that this is what I was going to write, they probably would have said you were crazy because it just doesn't seem obvious for me to do.

"I wanted it to be about somebody doing brave things, like switching jobs or moving to a new town, or trusting people when you didn't before," he continues. "And ultimately, for Viv, she takes a friendship that's really strong, and she risks it to find out if it's something more than that at the end. And that was just the sort of thing I wanted to write about."

After being self-published in February 2022, Legends & Lattes almost immediately caught readers' attention thanks to a tweet of its colorful cover art shared by Seattle author Seanan McGuire, Baldree says. From there, word of the book widely began spreading via book reviewers on TikTok (aka "BookTok") and other social media.

As the year wore on, Baldree saw Legends & Lattes appear on the shelves at Barnes & Noble and then, Auntie's Bookstore. That summer, he was contacted by a literary agent and inked a deal with Tor Books to re-release Legends and write several new titles.

With National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) back again, Baldree says he's currently not planning another attempt — after all, he wrote Bookshops & Bonedust in about a month this spring using the same process — but he does have some valuable insight to offer fellow writers. This month, he's leading a few workshops for NaNoWriMo with Spokane Public Library (find details at spokanelibrary.org).

"My realization was that a simple idea is plenty worthy of your time, and that when I sit down to come up with a book idea, it doesn't have to have four POVs and an epic plot line and all of these twists and turns," he says. "I can just choose a simple idea with a basic human struggle or realization at the core of it, and that's enough of an engine for it to go." ♦

Travis Baldree: Bookshops & Bonedust • Mon, Nov. 6 at 7 pm • Free • Auntie's Bookstore • 402 W. Main Ave. • auntiesbooks.comtravisbaldree.com

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Chey Scott

Chey Scott is the Inlander's Editor, and has been on staff since 2012. Her past roles at the paper include arts and culture editor, food editor and listings editor. She also currently serves as editor of the Inlander's yearly, glossy magazine, the Annual Manual. Chey (pronounced “Shay”) is a lifelong resident...