Inspirations For Fantasy Novella Tavern Tale

If you don’t know, let me catch you up quickly. I have a fantasy sapphic romance novella releasing! This is my first solo tale so I’m very excited to be debuting this fun adventure. Tavern Tale is set in picturesque autumn of the fantasy continent of Trelvania. It has some of the cozy vibes of Legends and Lattes but where the side quest might turn out to be the main quest.

The preorder will go live in June as part of the campaign for Space Wizard Science Fantasy (the publisher). Follow the BackerKit landing page for updates around when the campaign is coming out.

The Origin of Tavern Tale

I forget if it was a Writers of the Future contest or another call for submissions which prompted me to start writing but it was meant to be a short story and I wanted it to be set in the fall. And since I can’t do anything small I realized the story couldn’t be told in less than 8,000 words. I set it aside after quickly writing down my thoughts of where it was going and waited for the end of the year holidays before picking it up again.

But how did it all start? Some writers, myself included, start with an idea, a scene, or a character. Some start with what the ending will be. There are many ways to write.

Inspiration from Other Creators

For Tavern Tale, I was inspired by Quincy’s Tavern on TikTok. I had this vision of a tavern worker thunking down a chest and knowingly winking at the main character.

“Heard you’re looking for adventure,” she said.
“You heard wrong,” Divine grumbled.

Then I set to work figuring out the details. What was the MC doing there? Who was this Divine? Why was she grumpy. And then sparks began to ignite between the bartender and the MC and I knew it was going to be a romance. Romantasy, if you will, but make it sapphic.

I had recently read, and loved, Paladin’s Grace. I love how T. Kingfisher sprinkles these random details right on the beginning and we just know they’ll mean something later. I wanted to do that. Paladin’s Grace also is set in a world where there are different gods and they are associated with different abilities. I designed a world with gods and goddesses as the magic system. Need lights for your street? Call on the Trickers of the God of Day and Deceit. Craving a fruit that grows on an island? Ask the Harvesters of the Goddess of Fields to summon one to you (for a fee).

I also love how in Greek mythology the god/esses often have multiple attributes that seem inharmonious with each other so I drew on that for some of the deities.

@quincylk

I’m so thankful for your patience with me these past few weeks! I’ve finally settled into my new home enough to where I’m able to get back to making videos and content! New recipes and more in the works! Can’t wait to share this new chapter with you! #quincys #quincystavern #dnd #dndtiktok #dnd5e #dungeonsanddragons

♬ Ghibli-style nostalgic inspirational orchestra(883618) – MaSssuguMusic

Inspiration from Video Games

Role Playing Games (RPGs) are my favorite. If you’ve play Skyrim, you’ll recognize this immediately. Most of the games I play have side quests – little tasks and events you can choose to complete that don’t necessarily impact the main story.

There’s this one in Skyrim near the beginning that always stands out to me. Shop keepers have lost a valuable item, or it’s been stolen from them, and when you as the player character walk in the sister and brother are arguing about getting it back. For some reason, you as this random person is trustworthy enough that they tell you about the item and where to find it. In real life this would be wild. Trust some random nobody to bring back your precious family heirloom? Of course, makes total sense.

I wanted to play with this idea. Divine, the main character of Tavern Tale, gets offered a mysterious quest. But instead of being like the usual video game player who accepts the tasks and merrily goes into a cave full of giant spiders to retrieve said item for their new acquaintance, Divine refuses. Why her? How could she possibly help, especially when her magic talisman has been stolen? Well, eventually she agrees – we wouldn’t have much of a story without the quest in a chest.

Saph, the tavern owner, is a bit like Isabela from Dragon Age 2. I really enjoyed that character’s sarcasm and flirty dialog, and Saph has a heavy dose of both.

I also wanted to give the story a cozy vibe, like exploring a town in an RPG. That’s one of my favorite things to do; sight-seeing in the video game world, opening every door and wardrobe, and talking to all of the characters. There are some scenes that feel like that in Tavern Tale.

Other Inspirations for Tavern Tale

And because I’m a musician and love nature, there’s a sprinkling of music and close encounters with flora and fauna. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons and I added elements I enjoy from the real world into the autumn setting of the fantasy world. Check out my photography gallery for various nature photos.

What else do you want to know about Tavern Tale? Let me know in the comments below.

If this novella sounds interesting, be sure to follow here and get updated when preorders are live!