Travis Starnes

From the Top - Chapter 23

Sunday was a whirlwind. With focusing on finishing my shows at the Blue Ridge on a good note and getting all of my school stuff out of the way and ready for me to miss a week and a half, I hadn’t even started packing. On top of that, Mrs. Phillips had planned a big party to send me off. Everyone was there except Hanna, who was conspicuously absent. Kat told us she was just really busy with school, but I don’t think either Mrs. Phillips or I bought that.

The party went for a long whi...

Shattered Lands Concept Art - The Great Hall

So I think how I'm going to do this is images of new/important characters and locations, I'll put into their own concept art postings (this is stuff that's important series wide, so it will only be tagged for that series).  Images that are scenes from specific chapters that I used when writing them, I'm going to put in the chapter itself at the end of the chapter (so as not to spoil anything in the chapter).  What I put up will be kind of random as far as the scenes goes.  If t...

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 3

William stood among the gathered nobility in the Great Hall of Starhaven, waiting for Serwyn’s coronation to begin. The cavernous hall had changed since William’s last visit, when he paid his final respects to Serwyn’s father. It was, if anything, more grandiose than it had been for Gavric’s lying in state, lavishly decorated for the occasion. Banners emblazoned with the royal crest hung from the vaulted ceiling, and braziers etched with intricate scrollwork stood at attention along t...

Imperium Map

I finally got around to getting a map for Imperium, which hopefully will make it easier to know where some of the places are (it's mostly based on books 1-5, since I just started writing book 6, so important new places won't be listed.  But it should give some idea.

From the Top - Chapter 22

I’d spent a lot of time over the last week working on Willie’s last song, trying to nail down the sound of it. Even a week after his funeral, it was nice to have this little piece of connection with him. The problem was, Willie and I had very different voices, and it felt wrong trying to finish this just by emulating what he did. I wanted to find a way to make it my own while still honoring him, and it was proving to be quite the challenge.

Which, in and of itself, was enjoyable and...

Border Crossed - Chapter 14 & Epilogue

Galveston, Texas

Seven hours later, Taylor and Whitaker were escorted up to the top floors of the Houston field office. They’d managed to get a nap on the short plane ride from El Paso to Houston, and it looked as though that was all the sleep they would get for now. The shipment was scheduled to go out in eleven hours, and there was a lot of work to be done before then.

Their first stop had been the office’s tech department, to drop the laptop off with someon...

The Veilguard Saga Concept Art - Character Art

Here's the initial concept art for The Veilguard Saga.  I'm doing this for most chapters of the two fantasy stories, so I can see in my head what stuff looks like when I start writing it. Is this something you guys would like to see with most chapters (as I have it)?  Rarely?  Never?

Threads of Destiny (The Veilguard Saga #1) - Chapter 1 (Re-Write)

So now that I'm like 2 (woops, typo, should have said 3, since I'm basically done with chapter 3) chapters in, I realise the new outline structure I used on this book, I kind of hate.  So I've reworked it back to how I normally structure novels and added in some subplots, which requires me to basically rewrite everything.  This should seem familiar to what you read before but with a lot more setup leading into the next chapters (You'll see a rewrite of chapter 2 soon, and chap...

2023-12-19 15:16:01 +0000 UTC View Post

The Veilguard Saga of Fate

This is for my new series, the The Veilguard Saga.  It's a high magic fantasy, a throwback to the classic stuff from the 80s & early 90s like R.A. Salvator, Dragonlance, Pern, etc. Although this book is limited in its scope to s small corner of this world, it will expand as the series continues.  This will be on my website, but I wanted to put it here for you guys too so it was easier to fine.

Border Crossed - Chapter 13

Taylor stepped over Matthews’ body, a dark stain still slowly spreading across the man’s shirt, and looked out the window. Ruiz and the military seemed to have things well in hand. The firefight had ended, and the Mexican soldiers were rounding up the few cartel members that remained alive, cuffing them and shoving them to the ground as they waited for transport.

Whitaker, who apparently finished with the guys she’d been exchanging bullets with, burst through the door behind him, ...

Shattered Lands Concept Art

I didn't do this for Country Roads or Imperium, but the two fantasy series, I started with some concept art so I could get a better feel for things (I also have a map for both, the shattered lands map I'm still working on, but it should be out in a few weeps) before I started writing.  I put a few of those here.  Let me know if this is interesting to anyone, and if they want to see more of this as I do it, or for the other fantasy series when it launches.

This is Starhaven, th...

From the Top - Chapter 21

Monday, things started to get back to normal. I was still sad about Willie’s passing, but I had things to do. The competition was coming up soon, and I needed to make sure I got all of my ducks in a row, specifically at school, before I left. Plus, there was Kat, who I’d barely gotten to see when she’d been home over the weekend, and Hanna, who seemed determined to destroy her life. There was a lot going on.

My teachers had worked with me, probably because of Dr. Wallace’s invol...

Border Crossed - Chapter 12

To his credit, Ruiz moved fast. It took him only two hours to have a Mexican army jet do a high-level flyover of the hills, locating a villa in a dip in the side of the large hills west of town, on the western side facing the opposite side of the hills from Juarez. Taylor was a little surprised by the pictures he saw. The location would have been terrible for a forward operating base like the ones he operated out of in Afghanistan. It was basically in a mini valley, with higher ground on all ...

Border Crossed - Chapter 11

Taylor paced back and forth in the Ruiz’s cramped office, his agitation growing with each pass around the small room. His fingers twitched and flexed as he expelled the restless energy that coursed through him. Watching him, Whitaker sat patiently in one of the chairs facing Ruiz’s desk as Taylor lapped around her again and again.

“You need to settle down,” she finally said. “Wearing a hole in the floor won’t make Ruiz get here any faster.”

Taylor paused, rolling his...

Border Crossed - Chapter 10

Taylor was dead asleep, sprawled across the lumpy hotel mattress with one arm dangling off the edge at the elbow. The drawn curtains did little to block the bright afternoon sunlight filtering into the room, not that it did anything to keep Taylor and Whitaker awake. The motel they’d found wouldn’t be considered nice, but it had the benefit of being close to the warehouse where they’d had the shootout with Matthews. The pair had been so tired the night before, neither wanted to spend ti...

From the Top - Chapter 20

The morning was gray and overcast as I pulled into the church parking lot for Willie’s funeral service. I’d driven alone, letting Hanna and Kat, who had come back into town for the service, get there before me while I tried to mentally prepare myself for the service. It had been almost a week since Willie passed, but I still wasn’t completely over losing him.

I sat there for a few minutes, just thinking, before finally heading into the church. The lot was already filled with cars,...

Border Crossed - Chapter 9

Taylor gave one last look at the body and pulled out his phone. Matthews might have escaped, but he’d made a mistake. Until now, Taylor had been focused on accomplishing the goal they’d been sent out here to do; find out about the bombings and stop whoever was behind them. For him, it had just been work. Matthews had now made it personal, and he was going to make sure his “friend” paid for his betrayal.

“Did you get what you needed from the wife?” Sullivan asked, sounding wi...

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 2

Though it had been several days since his father delivered the news, William was still unsettled by his uncle’s passing. Once again secluded in his rooms, he grappled with the loss, trying to make sense of what it was going to be like now that the king was gone.

Gavric had been the closest thing to a real father William had had in his life. Edmund may have adopted William shortly after marrying his mother, but that had been a dynastic play. William’s mother was young when they marri...

From the Top - Chapter 19

The drive home after my audition was pure bliss. I had the windows down and the music cranked up, singing along at the top of my lungs. I still couldn’t believe how well it had gone, better than even my wildest dreams.

After I’d gotten off the stage, the producers had pulled me aside and walked me through what was going to happen next. There were more waivers, agreements, and NDAs I needed to sign before I could go on to the next step. I think I surprised them when I said I needed t...

Border Crossed - Chapter 8

The apartment complex was asleep when Taylor and Whitaker pulled into the lot. They made their way to Salamanca’s darkened apartment, which was just as quiet as everything else.

“Let me take the lead,” Whitaker said.

Like the motel, this was more of the traditional law enforcement job than what Taylor was good at, and it didn’t seem likely they’d need to beat answers out of the newly widowed Mrs. Salamanca.

“Assuming there’s anyone here,” Taylor said, waving ...

Big update to the Planned Books page

So I've had a big update to the planned books page (I put the text of what I wrote below, so you don't have to go searching for it)  I know I'm spreading myself thin, story wise, and I welcome any input you have here and will listen and take your thought seriously.  On the other hand, I'm very excited about all of these series and can't wait to write them.

The update:

I got off my work flow this summer, and started to focus on 1 boo...

From the Top - Chapter 18

Parking in Atlanta was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I ended up blocks away from the auditorium where the contest was being held, in an area that I wasn’t one hundred percent sure even my crappy car would be okay when I returned.

The area in front of the arena was a madhouse. People were lined up halfway around the building, waiting to get their tickets to get in as part of the audience. The side of the building, where they were directing contestants, wasn’t much better. ...

From the Top - Chapter 17

Monday, I was still preoccupied with everything that happened over the weekend. I was worried about Willie and what going into hospice meant for him. I was worried I wouldn’t get to see him again and tell him what he really means to me. I was also worried about Hanna. The bombshell that she was dating her professor was still sinking in, and I wasn’t sure how we were going to convince her that she was making a mistake, especially since she’d shown before that she wouldn’t listen to any...

From the Top - Chapter 16

Miracle of miracles, school did start turning around for me. It took an angry phone call from Kat on Wednesday because I was already falling behind her study schedule, but I did really well on my math test. Or at least I felt I had since I wouldn’t get the grade back until the next week.

I’d just gotten home and set up at the dining room table to start on my homework when my phone started buzzing. The guys wouldn’t be over for practice for another thirty minutes or so, and Kat had...

From the Top - Chapter 15

I got home that night, after stopping to check in with Warren and visit Willie, with a problem on my mind. After talking to Mr. Jensen, I went by to talk to some of my other teachers and get some kind of idea where my grades were at, and they definitely weren’t where they needed to be.

I wasn’t failing every class, but I wasn’t far from it either. It was still early in the school year, so it wasn’t irreversible, but it was a definite wakeup call that I needed to do something abo...

From the Top - Chapter 14

My first day of school went … surprisingly well. Even with Dr. Wallace’s assurances, I’d just assumed something was going to go terribly wrong, based on the last two years. Instead, I had normal classes, wasn’t singled out; and by lunch, I’d had no run-ins beyond the one with Harry that morning. That had been more of a runaway, than anything else.

I spotted my friends still holding down our normal table in the cafeteria. Of the original group, only Joseph, Payton, and I remain...

Delay in Posting

I got hit with the flu over the weekend and feel like I've been hit by a bus.  I don't think it will last long (I hope), but there will be a few day delay in the next chapter.  Sorry about that.

From the Top - Chapter 13

“Thanks for listening to us tonight, folks. Y’all have a good night now,” I said into the microphone as we wrapped up our Sunday night gig at the Blue Ridge.

The scattered applause and whoops from the crowd made me smile as I unplugged my guitar. Even after playing here for several years, with most of the crowd being people who saw us once a week, it still felt good to know that people enjoyed our music.

I waved at and high-fived a few familiar kids from school and regulars ...

Border Crossed - Chapter 7

Hours later, Taylor and Whitaker made it back to El Paso, exhausted when they finally got to their hotel. Unfortunately for them, that didn’t mean an end to their evening.

They both wanted to go home, but they couldn’t until they found Sullivan’s leak. Taylor had spent most of the drive back trying to convince Whitaker he was right, but she was still skeptical. He got it. Like most career law enforcement, she had a blind spot when it came to their own. He would have thought she’...

From the Top - Chapter 12

Finally, the day arrived for Kat to move to school. I’d been ignoring it, enjoying the month or so we’d had together before she moved away, but I couldn’t keep pretending it wasn’t happening. She had practice starting on Monday with the UNC swim team and wanted a day to be there beforehand, so she could get the lay of the land.

We decided to drive up Saturday morning so I could help her move in and say goodbye and still be back home by the time we had to play that night. I’d a...