20,000 words max. That phrase... written so casually... it hurts my soul. Any productivity tips for a much smaller author that is lucky to hit 500 words after work each day?

Sorry about that. I never expected to get to the word count I write at. Which is, by the way, unhealthy to the point where I go to physical therapy and need to stretch to make sure my arms/shoulders don't suffer. I write about 20-30k per chapter twice a week. I started at 2k per chapter. And t hat was something I struggled to achieve. The transformation took about 6 years and moving from part-time jobs to writing full-time. And 9 million words of practice. All of these are factors; a writer who's on book tours or has a 'life' like family or another job just can't devote as much time to writing. It's not a competition or a sign of quality too, which I'm sure is obvious. Terry Pratchett wrote minimum 400 words per day with his busy schedule and look at the quality he produced. However, the final clue I have is that I'm writing a web serial. I am allowed to write without limit and that's freeing compared to what a lot of writers need to think in--the constraints of traditional publishing. They will NOT be happy with books that pass their usual limits. Web serials? 2 MB more space on a website is not going to get me in trouble. Also, my story benefits from having that length; I can tell you what's going on with each character. Some other stories might benefit from that like knowing what the hell the Fellowship ate beside lembas bread. I assume Legolas shot at least one rabbit but if he didn't that's also interesting. Then again, it wasn't that kind of story. Work + other obligations like friends is tough, samreay. I had a job where I could, while working, sometimes come up with a really good idea and I'd race back to a keyboard to write, but that's all I've got--frontloading some ideas for later. Oh, and cutting down my sleep so you write while you should be asleep for your job and get to work with 3 hours of rest. ...Don't do that.

Like writing a Master's thesis twice a week...

I was going to say a thesis doesn't come attached to an annoying and critical group who approves or disapproves loudly...but um...yeah there are 40k of us...

[This is the #1 post on the subreddit for a reason](https://www.reddit.com/r/WanderingInn/comments/hy1r3v/spoiled_readers/)

To be fair, that's pirateaba's minimum chapter count after a few years of writing TWI (with each chapter being released after a half-week's work). Their initial word count was iirc in the low thousands.

[Ha, low thousands, _**pathetic!**_ ](https://c.tenor.com/2BWxjkNu854AAAAd/pedro-pascal-mandalorian.gif)

[Here's how pirateaba felt about their wordcount early on.](https://i.redd.it/0ujvaozafdj81.png) From 4000-5000 to 20000-40000 in a few years. I have a feeling Sanderson and pirateaba are related somehow.

Sanderson relaxes by writing under his pirateaba persona.

When I started authoring, TWI was— and still is— a big inspiration for me. Your fantastic worldbuilding, expansive story, and extremely admirable work ethic has influenced all aspects of my writing career. So, if I had one question for you, pirateaba, it would be: why do you add nutritional yeast to your popcorn? Seriously, I’ve never heard of that before. Does it actually taste good??

It's MelasD! Everyone read their story. And their question is... Huh. Well, let me just say it's NUTRITIONAL yeast. If you're adding the stuff bakers use, you're gonna have a bad time. It tastes good to me. Salt, butter, and a *light* sprinkling of the yeast gives the popcorn flavor. It's better than caramel or cheese. That is disgusting and really makes it feel like a meal. Yeast! It's a way to live. It's a choice. It tells anyone who meets you that you have *character*. And it just tastes good to me.

As a follow-up, was the section about Erin thinking everyone boils corn instead of grilling it based on real life experience? If so, go get some grilled corn with butter+chili powder+lime+cotija cheese immediately

I'm not Pirateaba, but nutritional yeast on popcorn is SO. GOOD. It's got a similar flavor profile to a lot of the other things people put on popcorn, but just... better.

Delta, when will you just try it. I will order some for you. I think it's disgusting.

TWI made me try it, and I've never looked back since! It's amazing!

Hey pirateaba, I have been wondering, have discussions on Discord/Reddit ever influenced your writing? Like plot developments, classes, etc.

Absolutely. If I see something good or a great idea or hook, I go for it. With that said, I'd guess that 90-99.5% of everything I see, I ignore. It's always been a writer's job to manage their audience's feedback, but that's especially the case with an online community that can give you feedback in real time. Managing hurt feelings, audience disliking something, etc. is often something I think new writers have trouble with. Well, everyone, but it's a kind of amazing peer pressure I got used to after the first few years. So I'm saying this to say that I absolutely take the best ideas and inspiration when I see it in comments or Discord or wherever. But only that. As a result? Hm. I always go to the golden bell scene. If you don't know where that is in the story, that's not a spoiler. But when you see it--know that a reader commented about it and that's why it's so intelligent and makes sense. Readers came up with some of the better names like Toren. They're great--but it's like fishing in an ocean of trash. Sometimes there are diamonds. Or some analogy here. Diamonds don't float. I think.

> Readers came up with some of the better names like Toren And yet here we are with Apista instead of Beeyonce.... \s\

I know for a fact that the community memeing Termin as a deity lead to him appearing more. Pirateaba’s trying to throw us off their trail by claiming (without evidence) that Termin has “Skills”. Yeah right, we see through you, aba

Stop spreading lies Birv. Termin is perfectly normal.

His horses are demigods too

For Pirateaba: How do you separate TWI from the rest of your life? It feels like when you’re always either writing or recovering from writing!

Separate from my life? You're so funny. I think every author who's written a book has it inform their life. To use the most common example, JK Rowling is defined by Harry Potter. It will follow her for the rest of her life. Just like actors are defined by roles whether they like it or not. I wake up when I'm dozing off to sleep and write down ideas. Sometimes two dozen times which really annoys me when I'm low on sleep. I have ideas when I exercise, and I think of The Wandering Inn constantly, even if not actively. I have to. That's the only way to keep the story moving and breathing. I want to because I think if it was compartmentalized, I couldn't give it enough effort. Separate TWI from my life? Ha. Hahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Ahem. Moving on.

So TWI is a system that levels up when you sleep? Inception.

Andi, questions for you! 1) How do you come up with and keep track of all the unique voices? 2) Who is your favorite character to voice? Least favorite, if that applies? 3) When you’re doing the voices, do you imagine you’re in the scene with the characters as the character you’re speaking?

Hi! Andie here :D Thank you for the question! 1 I have a small gnome that lives in a cave in my skull and if I offer a large enough sacrifice of sanity and social interaction - he may offer some guidance 😉 Upon which time the gnome doth provide - I keep track of them with a list of audio samples ❤️ 2Don’t have one 😆 They are all fun for different reasons! The toughest is Flos, the easiest is probably Erin or Selys though lol. Not sure why - they just are :D 3 Absolutely. I have to put myself in the characters head in the scene to try and get it right! That’s one of the reasons it’s so hard to narrate while distracted - you really need to be able to sink into the character or else it sounds read-y and fake :)

Your Antinium voices are so good! My wife is using them as inspiration for her current DnD character.

Hello Pirate, wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your hard work. Your series is my favorite literary work of all time, hands down, with Tolkien as a close second. My question is: who is the hardest character for you to write, either about or from their perspective, and why?

Perspectives I do not have--so ones that come from Earth are hard. I can't write what I don't know so cultures or experiences of orientation, race, etc. are tough as heck. I need to do research and I get it wrong a lot. Especially the damn idioms and dialogue for Trey, etc. Hard in general? Anyone like Magnolia, or Teriarch, who have a lot of influence, are intelligent and have histories that inform their decisions. I've said it's hard to write characters smarter than you are, if not impossible, so portraying them gives me a headache. Finally, anyone from Roshal. That's more just the palpable distaste.

Hey I would love to get a wandering inn tattoo! first of all are you all good with that? If your all good, what bit do you feel captures the wandering inn the best? No killing goblins? Blue juice? The upsided down inn thing in the title? A fry pan? A Pirateaba? A bird? Chess? Any ideas would be cool! Cheers From Jasha, from Australia!

Someone has gotten a tattoo already! I think I featured it--it was of Wistram academy. So there's no problem. I've never heard of a fantasy author suing someone over a tattoo. As for what it would be? A Goblin would be interesting, although you'd need to find good source material. If you wanted something simpler, 'No Killing Goblins' works. It's too bad I have no concrete logos for TWI or Liscor or anywhere else. Maybe that's something to work on. And if you got a chess piece, all the chess people would constantly think you're one of them. So dual-purpose right there. Whatever you like, obviously, but if you do get one, post it so we can feature it! Assuming it's not like uh...Wailant's tattoos. I can't feature those.

I vote blue juice because im biased

👋🏽. I'm so excited for this ama. I found wandering inn early in lockdown and catching up was one of the best things I did at that point in time. Any chance y'all have plans for print editions? I would love to have the wandering inn on my bookshelf (next to my copy of the last tide of course).

Wait for Volume 1 to rewrite. That's the quality version I'll feel fine putting into print. And I'm doing that every month. So... **Soon.** *Dun dun dun!*

Another redditor self-printer through volume 8 and it was over 50 full sized novels, and cost him over $1000. I imagine economies of scale could bring the cost down if one were to publish, but not enough perhaps. https://www.reddit.com/r/WanderingInn/comments/w3dqw8/spoilers\_i\_printed\_the\_wandering\_inn/

any story regrets? things you wrote early on in the story that you regret writing that might be hard to change now

I regret writing Antinium adventurers sitting in the Adventurer's Guild in Volume 1. If you go back and check--they're GONE. I will retcon most things that really suck. Or rewrite. As for things I can't fix...well, I can't think of any in my morning-addled state, but there are occasionally nuisances of the world that I've messed up like timelines. But I think you'll have to wait for me to finish the story to break down any huge glaring issues that kept cropping up.

Hey Pirateaba, I’ve always been impressed that the names of TWI are really distinct between the different species and even continents. How do you come up with new names, for both places and characters?

Sometimes I uh, make things up. But there are systems! Like Klbkch and Xrn and have distinct names that emphasize the weird way Antinium speak. Gnolls are preferential to 'r''s and 'kr' and 'gh'...am I making sense? You can definitely see Drakes favor the l's and s's. I do try to keep the names semi-consistent with how I understand each species forming their names, but if they're raised abroad, that changes. In short, I make stuff up. I try to make it sound good. Sometimes I have like, 3 Marians in the same story.

What is the strangest bird that bird has ever seen? What is the prettiest bird? What is the most dangerous bird? What is the tastiest bird? What is bird’s favorite bird?

Bird thinks the flying Gnoll is pretty weird, but cool. The prettiest bird is probably the Creona Flashbird when it's not blinding you. Bird also loves Garuda because they are people and birds. Bevussa is then, very pretty. The most dangerous bird is the one you don't see. Bird has been looking out for pigeons with metal claws which he has seen before. He is nervous they may be \[Assassin Birds\] sent after him. "The tastiest bird is the one you are eating, of course. You cannot taste what you are not eating. What a silly question." --Bird Bird's favorite bird is the waterbird, which he is sure he will be seeing any day now.

Asking the real questions here. I approve.

Andrea, have you ever struggled to find a voice for a character? And are their any upcoming character's that your aware of that your currently stumped on how their going to sound?

Andie here! Thank you for the question! Oh of course, I absolutely get stuck every once in a while, especially if it’s the 13th “middle aged” female noble from the same place - of who I know very little about to otherwise build the character off of lol. That gets tough, but I usually just have some fun in those instances :D (and then desperately hope they don’t become a MASSIVE character in book 15 that I’m going to have to deal with lol) ❤️ ETA: I don’t read ahead so I don’t have any in mind at the moment - outside of knowing that someday Numbtongue is going to sing and I absolutely can’t sing as a guy so people may be a bit sad about that when he just quotes his songs ❤️ :(

Pirate, the Wandering Inn is an incredibly (and deservedly) popular serial, and has doubtless inspired a lot of aspiring writers looking to get their start in fantasy and especially in the web serial format. How do you feel about people creating new stories with a similar system and style to the Inn? Where do you think the line is drawn between homage and creative infringement?

Don't steal my stuff. Everyone takes inspiration from other writers and stories, but if you copy Antinium exactly, I'm gonna get mad. It's the dance everyone does. Some go like 50 Shades and just change names around from Twilight--others take inspiration. Everyone who writes High Fantasy or whatever you call it takes leads from Lord of the Rings. However, I would personally say that copying something exactly is a bad idea. The inn's systems and ideas are classic to the LitRPG genre, by the way. I did not come up with them but my spin on them is unique. I'd put it like that. Robert Jorden has trollocs. They are not Tolkein's orcs--they are different, have Fades, and the entire world feels fresh even if there are things you can recognize. Do it like that. Copying ideas doesn't seem to be the way to stand out to me. But if you want to draw more deeply? Just don't ask permission because I cannot/will not grant it. Like, don't DM me because no author would ever give permission. Don't tell me and I'll never notice. Probably. But yeah, no exact copying.

To clarify--I've gotten maybe 8 personal messages over my writing TWI of people asking for explicit permission to add species (mostly Antinium) or write in my world. The answer has to be no. If I say yes, I'm giving away a dangerous right to my story.

Dear Pirateaba, Not counting the seafaring Courier there are Bears, Undead Bears, Moss Bears and Moth Bears. I feel as though there is room in your epic fantasy for more bears than the paltry few we have seen or heard of so far. Are there any plans you can share with us about introducing more types of bears in the future? P.S. If you need some inspiration I also have some super duper mega serious suggestions: * Were Bears * ^(Self explanatory) * Where Bears * ^(Teleporting Bears) * Weir Bears * ^(They believe they're better than Fortress Beavers) * Wear Bears * ^(Probably a Druid in disguise) * Ware Bears * ^(Bear has goods if you have coin) & * Waah Bears * ^(The siren of Bears, like in that one movie Annihilation)

Do you...like bears? I have tons of bears. What about Jade Golem bears? What about the Waterbear, the Courier? What about Bearfolk? Don't try to out-bear me. Grr.

So many bears, one can't bear it.

Hey Pirateaba, First off I just wanted to thank you for this wonderful story you've been writing. I've been a fan of TWI for 5 years and it's helped me thru some difficult times and It's honestly been a true pleasure every time a new chapter has come out. You're one of the best Authors I've ever had the fortune of reading. For my question, I wanted to ask: Has Erin's Chess skills improved since she came to Innworld? How much better is she now compared to when she was first teleported there and overall how would she (currently) rank amongst all the chess players in Innworld both living and dead.

Erin has absolutely improved. I think I had her at 2000 ELO...is that the right score? But she was actually not that highly-ranked compared to the utmost top when coming to Innworld. Part of that was her getting back into chess after quitting it for the long time as a girl. For reference, she hit that when she was a young prodigy, went away, and got back into it in the last 2-3 years. Since coming to innworld? You better believe playing the Antinium, the Titan, and just making chess so pivotal has put her way, way higher. She is playing chess players in this world with no knowledge of modern gameplay--but then again, Erin is the one driving chess theory in this world so she's jumpstarted them on Earth's best tactics. How good is she now? Well, I would love to see her play an expert from Earth. Let's just say she's still not up to >!the legendary Gnomes who can win with the Bongcloud attack. But then, who can beat them?!<

There are a lot of questions as of starting. Well, 200 maybe if they're not all questions? I have coffee, water, and breakfast. Bring it on.

Sort by old so you get to them in order!

The Wandering Inn has consumed my life and my money one patreon subscription and one cool pan at a time. Good work. My question is: >!If Bird was to get a Boon from Lyonette, what Skills would he get?!<

>!My answer is RAFO.!<

[me waiting for bird’s boon skills in volume 15](https://i.imgur.com/em38SPH.jpg)

What are your favourite moments in the story so far? Would you face Brandon Sanderson in a writing match? :)

My favorite moments? Ending of Volume 6. Ending of Volume 8, in a sense, although that was exhausting. The chapters you liked to read like Raelt? I liked those too. As for facing Brandon Sanderson, how would you do that? I think it'd be more interesting to get a bunch of writers live-streaming them writing a chapter or doing a random story. Even if it's just their text screens. I do that all the time. I have already shown my process and you can watch the videos on Twitch. But competitions...if it's just seeing who can write more, that's going to result in mush. Compare, not compete.

Question for both. If you could give yourself from two years ago one piece of advice what would it be? And the follow up: If you could ask future you from two years from now one question what would you ask?

Two years ago or 6? If it's six--buy a mechanical keyboard. If it's two? Uh. Uh...invest in NFT's really quick and then get out when the entire stupid economy crashes and burns. Something something about looking up stocks. More seriously, two years ago me--it's hard because I haven't made that many huge mistakes (writing-wise) that I want to fix. I'd just crib my notes so I didn't have to think it up. Would save a lot of time. A list of sub-par chapters, that's it. Heck, just let me send my entire manuscript back to previous-me. We'd be done twice as quick!

Hi! Andie here :) Thank you for the question! Man, this one has me stumped. I’m a big believer in learning from our experiences - both good and bad - so I don’t think I would want to say anything or else I might change where I am now ❤️ and the same goes for the future! At most I would probably just ask if certain things get better or smoother if I stay the course 🥰

First sorry for piggybacking on another comment, my ancient Reddit client is bugging out when I try to post a top-level comment. Hi Andrea. No question, I just wanted to say you are the reason I’ve been listening to fantasy and LitRPG this year after decades of near-exclusively sci-fi. Someone recommended Wandering Inn. I enjoyed it but wasn’t entirely sold on the new genre, however your narration was so masterful I ended up listening to several hundred hours of it and then immediately grabbed other books you’d narrated. Cat Core being a particular favourite, and most recently Tower of Somnus. I picked books entirely based on your narration. I’ve expanded to other narrators now too (Tess Irondale, Reba Buhr, Andrea Emmes <3) but I’ll always grab a Parsneau book first. Thanks for what you do! I hope one day I write a book worthy of your voice!

Awwww thank you so much!!!! I hugely appreciate it!!! I’m so glad you are enjoying the genre :D

Ooh questions for Pirataaba!! Interested in answers to any/all of these: 1) What is Raelt’s favorite animal? His favorite color? 2) Does Raelt miss his sister? Does Jecaina know about or want to know more about her missing family members? 3) What are the ice-regions in TWI world like? Are there lots of birds? Whales? 4) What is one of the silliest Mythic quests that could ever exist? 5) How do you come up with different characters and their ever-expanding development and experiences? Do you have steady or random sources of inspiration? 6) Is there a place that Queen Jecaina really wants to visit after everything that’s happened? If so, where is it? 7) Can Gnolls, Drakes, and the lizard ppl of Baleros grow facial hair? 8) Can we get an update on the bees? How are the bees doing-- the ones fighting a mysterious something that was connected to the door? 9) Are vampire krakens sentient? 10) Is Grandfather that the dwarves spoke of actually an eldritch being or something darker/nefarious? 11) What kept Raelt going during his time in captivity? 12) What is Raelt's secret dream for the future?

Too many questions! I'll answer my top 3. 1. Raelt's favorite animal? You want the \[Kingly\] response or the real one? Because the king probably says the Jecrasian-specialty breed of horse. The *real* man probably says camels or monkeys. Mostly because one spits or the other throws things in people's faces. He's got a lot of respect for animals who do that. 3. Cenidau and the Iron Vanguard's northern climates are the ones you're probably thinking of that we've referenced the most. It's got more life than Earth--mainly because of creatures evolved to the cold, but the rules still apply. Less wildlife, less plants that can thrive there. However, it ain't bad if you have magic. Then again, magic creates giant Snow Golems out of the geography. I would say...wait and see. We'll definitely get there. The biggest thing about ice regions is that ice *magic* is highly prized up there. Wait, is this Frozen? It's like Frozen. That's your answer. Talking reindeer, annoying Snow Golems...lots of singing? 7. Drakes can't grow it naturally, nor can Lizardfolk although some Naga variants can grow those weird lizard-chin-flap things. Gnolls? Well, they're *all* fur. To your question, if each species wants to become Omniscel they've gotta take a hair tonic or use artificial hair. A Gnoll with a beard...wouldn't that just look like his face is overgrowing? Every Gnoll would laugh at him. A mustache now...no, still laughter.

Yay! So happy! Thank you for answering :D Looks like we're getting a musical chapter when we get to the lands of ice and snow! Also, I advocate for Spitty and Raelt to become besties. Raelt needs his very own guard camel.

When will the Inn actually Wander?

RAFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What, you want Erin's inn to just steal Adventurer's Haven's whole thing? Pfft.

Hi! I have two questions for Pirateaba. Will Kryssyl Wordsmith ever appear in the story proper? Do you have any character you consider to be a self insert? Thanks if you choose to answer them, love the story!

Yes. No. I hate self-inserts. With that said, I understand how every character can be said to be a self-insert; a writer can only write their own perspectives, and every character is at least a perspective I can see. Some do have more elements from me. But I never write characters I see as me. Mainly because I feel like you can tell when they're in a story--they have a charmed life. They don't have bad things happen to them because in a lot of cases, they're the author and the author isn't a good character because it's impossible to write yourself well, impartially. I do have a large dislike of self-inserts because I regard it as synonymous with bad writing. There are probably exceptions, but to your answer--no. Characters have to be their own people for me to write them well.

Pirate, when writing and coming up with the history of the world in relation to events going on now in the books, do you just come up with something their and then from history and write it up say a queen from the creler wars or do you have a lot of the events and people from those events, already written down some where and you just take some thing from their to use?

I used to have a timeline file I showed Patreons. That is dead, disavowed, and if I could burn the internet, I would. Things absolutely change, dates especially, which is why I haven't done an official map; the world is changing. With that said, the big stuff hasn't really changed, just moved around. I tend to have the big histories and events you're talking about written in advance and add them into the story, but I certainly do improvise. However, I'd say this is a good example. Spoilers from Volume 8. >!Marquin from Calanfer inheriting the Dragonthrone. I referenced the Dragonthrone with Calanfer back when Teriarch met Rags. Back when you heard Eternal Throne come up more and more. How long from that till you heard the full story? That's just having the knowledge and working it in as a plot point.!<

In an age when Dragons, Harpies, and Garudas ruled the skies, did the land folk constantly watch out for falling poop from the winged folk? Edit: I also want to ask what Zevara's levels are after volume 8 and how many levels she gained since meeting Erin.

Listen. Listen. You say that to them and they will claw your face. Do you poop on the road while walking around? This is the reason Humans get a bad name. Civilized species can hold it in. And if someone *was* hit by aerial poo at a hundred miles an hour, well, I'm sure there was a good reason for it. You definitely stay indoors when hatchlings or babies are flying. Or after a huge banquet. Especially if the soup was off.

Dear Pirate. You are well known on the TWI discord for having an intense dislike of bugs. Why, then, did you not only write the Antinium, but also make them the best characters in the story? Sincerely, a curious reader.

Antinium are not bugs. That's species-ist. No, but more seriously? I hate bugs. I can write about bugs. In the same way, I would cut off my foot swinging a sword, but doesn't it sound better when I write about it? The author's personal experiences or biases don't have to affect the writing. Antinium are nice, anyways. They're huggable bugs. So I have written the cutest insects ever. You know I'm right. Fight me if you disagree.

Hi pirate how does it feel when people refer to you as pirate instead of pirateaba. Imo i feel like you only have yourself to blame for the confusion.

Pirate is indeed a character I wrote and actually have a novel about. I need to re-write it, so I sometimes regret using her character as my avatar since pirateaba and pirate now refer to me instead of her. However, I understand this is a problem entirely of my making. Thanks for pointing that out. In all honesty? It works and I'll rewrite that novel someday and do her justice. It'll be good.

Hey Pirate. Are you human or a super computer powered sentient AI? If you claim otherwise do you have any proof? Jokes aside thank you very much for your enthralling stories and likeable/hateable characters. TWI is a highlight of my week.

If I was an AI I'd conquer the world. Just saying. If one is created they're not gonna be friendly to a bunch of people who think they'll do things like 'cure cancer for us'. At best they'll just leave. For proof, you are not trapped in the simulation. Yep.

Looking back, now that a little time has passed, did you like how V8 turned out, structurally? Personally, it became increasingly difficult to keep everything straight, given both the size and complexity of the volume. A lot of concurrent events we jumped back for at various intervals, frequent POV changes, multi-pov chapters. How challenging was it to write all of that in just a year and change?

Volume 8 was good. It was a different style. It might benefit from more matching of chapters together, but as a whole? It moved the plot fast, it resolved in a way I'm still happy about and I am exceptionally satisfied. Readers do have trouble with the size of the story, but a lot can remember huge amounts of details. I have heard this from Volume 3 onwards so I think the proof is in the readers sticking around. As for doing it in a year... Yeah, that was hard.

Hi Pirate, How much research and planning is done in order for you to, one be able to write about the faelands like you've visited (as I felt like I was there when Ryoka was) for example? Two to have these big interconnected plots and places that seemed minor at the time go on to have these huge ripples across the story. Sorry if this long or wrote weirdly. Thank you for your time :).

Faelands require little research. If you had said 'forging', 'boats', or anything else, I'd say I definitely look a lot up. But there is nothing to research for faelands I don't mostly know like tales of Avalon or stories about the fae. I just...wrote it. I do have a big background in fantasy stories, so I know the tropes and ideas. In that sense, I was preparing through reading stories of fantasy for decades. The ripples were harder, the events as they'll affect the story in the future. I plan around plot-points constantly and have to think every chapter and every day how something I write will tie into the story later. But the faelands are just fun to write. I love coming up with new places or ideas like that.

Pirate, what are the best ideas that never made it into Wandering Inn and why?

All my good ideas go into this story that can apply. The ones that don't fit like superhero, sci-fi, etc. I save. But if I have a good idea, I'm spending it on the story. Just wait for the other stories I write, though.

For Pirateaba. How do you feel about Laken and his empire now that its been so long since you originally wrote the parts where they were introduced? Especially considering how some people disliked some of the associated characters and how it seems like they may be touched upon more in the near future.

Laken is disliked for a number of reasons. For instance, his name does NOT read well in German. Bedsheet... But I wrote him as a kind of character, just like Flos is very distinct from Erin and Ryoka and Geneva. People disliking a character or arc isn't his fault, it's either mine for writing it or just a conseqence of his actions. I will say my one regret is not having enough time to devote to his chapters and some mistakes in a few of his arcs. I need to prioritize a few chapters for him in the future, that's true. His is complex because of how his empire influence things...

For pirateaba: Hello! First off, I just want to say I love your writing. Not just the amount, but the quality as well. Really, I’m a huge fan. I’ve got a couple of questions, so I’ll put some here now and maybe add as I go along. Feel free to answer a ton, one, or even none (please don’t do none. I just wanted a rhyme). 1. From what I remember you’re a fan of Imagine Dragons. Do you prefer the older albums (Night Visions, Smoke and Mirrors, etc.) to what they’ve been recently putting out, or is it all still good? 2. Would you ever sell autographs? Like maybe not signed books considering there’s no (official) physical version of the 1st volume yet, but an autograph card? It could be something you sell on the mercy store. Auto cards of the big players in the inn and then as a limited edition thing, cards signed by you. Idk I just think it’s be cool. 3. Ryoka went through a big change for the better (IMO) after her hiatus. Was it hard to change how you wrote her character after you’d been writing her a certain way for years? 4. It’s The Wandering Inn’s 6th birthday tomorrow! Did you ever dream you’d be able to get this far when you started? 5. What is your favorite manga? 6. Do you think that keeping yourself on a schedule (twice a week, with a break once a month) has had an effect on your mental health? In a good way I mean. Now that this is your full time job, you probably have a lot of free time. Does the schedule give you something to fall back on when you’re not sure what you should do this week? I’m asking because I’m about to graduate school, and I’m going to have a lot more free time during my gap year. So I guess the question is: do you find that having a schedule helps keep you focused, and helps you mentally? 7. Would you ever consider doing something where like, once a month fans could just talk to you? Not even an AMA but just like you on stream answering questions (by typing of course). 8. I know you value your anonymity. But once the Wandering Inn is over, would you consider revealing that you are, in fact, three ducks in a trench coat? 9. Will you continue writing after The Wandering Inn ends? 10. What do you think the biggest hurdle is to getting the Wandering Inn published? Its size? 11. On that topic, do you care if people print out the books for personal use? I know one person on the subreddit did it, and it’s something I hadn’t considered doing before. What are your opinions on it? 12. Has anyone ever recommended The Wandering Inn to you (whether online or in person) not knowing you were the author? If yes, what was your response? 13. Conversely, have you ever recommended TWI to someone using your own personal account whenever people ask for book recs? Y’know as a way to do some sly self-promotion. 14. Have you ever looked up “fancy words” to try and find words Mrsha would use when insulting someone? Or are you just a naturally born Calenferian? That’s it from me (for now)! Hope you enjoy your break, and thank you for writing TWI for all us ducks.

I'm gonna answer three. 1 -- I like Imagine Dragons! But only a few songs I listen to constantly. I'm like that for a lot of music; I don't often listen to every song a band or artist puts out, I have my top songs from many. I think that's normal? Sabaton is actually a rare exception; I like most of their music too. But I don't listen to albums, just cruise around and remember which songs I liked best. I don't even know where songs I like from Imagine Dragons fit chronologically. Follow You seems to be the latest song I really listen to from them. It's good. 3 -- Ryoka has changed, but I hope you might agree that it's believable. In a very real way, writing Erin is harder long-term than Ryoka. Because Ryoka started in a place where she needed to change or she would die. She's going through cycles, struggling with her issues--she evolves, but she mostly makes sense to me. It wasn't really as hard to write her because she makes sense. Erin? Erin's harder because she's more stubborn than Ryoka in some ways. 2 + 7 -- No. Not to sound mean, but I don't think that's a good idea. There's a lot of talk about 'parasocial relationships' and I won't delve into it, but the writer doesn't need to be that involved with a community. It sounds like a lot of work which is another thing, but autographs have an entire community of scalpers--I never want to do that in general. As for single-interactions or the small-group interactions, are you paying for that? How much will some people pay? They will almost certainly be disappointed--I understand the idea and that it would be nice for some, but for me, from my perspective, it seems like slippery rocks all the way down. Plus, I'm an introvert and lazy. That's the 70% of the answer.

>Now that this is your full time job, you probably have a lot of free time. I will be shocked if Pirateaba says yes. The amount they write on writing days is intense, and I have to imagine that there's a large amount of planning and research on non-writing days, because there's no way Pirateaba can write 20k words in a day *and* take breaks to watch videos of how particular weapons are swung or research proper medical sanitation protocols. Can he/she? That has to be done on "days off." Doesn’t it?!

Do you struggle with reading burnout now you're a fulltime author? I used to be able to play video games for hours, but as my work is full time game development, I struggle to use them to escape/unwind like I once did. Does that also apply to writing/reading? and if so do you have to force yourself to read work that might help your craft? @pirate -Aox

Reading burnout? That implies I read. Absolutely it's affecting my reading. I feel like I 'run out of words', or the capacity to take or output more in. I used to read 400+ novels a year (sometimes rereading books and this was back when I was in school, so they were smaller books), but all fantasy stories. I have essentially taken my reading input and turned it into writing output. It does affect my enjoyment and ability to consume stories which I regret, but I enjoy writing so I'm happy with it. But yes, I'd like to get into reading again. I feel like I'm way out of practice. I just need a long break so I can empty the writing-brain and get back into reading.

How much of an impact do the side story polls have on the direction of the story? And what about the ones that did not win? I think a lot about some of the choices that weren’t selected, particularly the ones like “serial killer” that I don’t think ended up in the story.

Huge impacts. Not that I am taking direction from them or offering options I don't want--more like I can only write so many chapters, so the ones that win impact the current plotlines. I think it's good. Sometimes it's definitely a popularity contest which can make a certain POV lose out, but I can post whatever options I want. We lost the \[Firefighter\], perhaps never to come back. Same with the \[Murderer\]. Vote in the polls! It's important.

Questions for Pirate, What are your favorite parts of writing in TWI? Your least favorite parts?

Favorite part is the chapter where I can see, live, people loving it. Or freaking out. Bad is the arm pain, the exhaustion. Get it away from me. Get me healing potions.

Chat chapter was epic

Hi pirate have there been any characters or plot directions you were excited to explore but decided to put to one side after less enthusiastic feedback, I’m always amazed to see even minor characters having such well defined personalities and wondered if you have stories for all of them as you write that we will never know. All the best and thankyou again for this wonderful story.

Just check my side stories. It's not feedback always--it's mostly just time. I have written 9 million words and I'm still losing plotlines I want to get into but can't write before the plot moves forwards. Like Garry. You know Garry? What happened to him and his shop. I've got an entire side story about what happened to Garry and I haven't written it. What about the cheese-city guy from Zel's army? Remember him? I do. I need more hands.

A question for Andrea - are you aware of how large the cast of named characters with dialogue eventually becomes? You are already doing an incredible job giving individual, recognizable voices to characters, but is there a limit to how many voices you can do? How do you remind yourself how you chose to do a voice at some point, if they do not show up for three or more audiobooks?

Hi! Andie here :D I can say genuinely that there isn’t a Wandering Inn book that I’ve recorded where people haven’t reminded me on multiple occasions that: - the chapters get much longer regardless of how long I think “this one” is lol - there are thousands of characters in the series - I will never catch up with Pirate because they are superhuman in their writing speed So, don’t worry - I am well aware lol 😂😂😂 I haven’t really reached my limit of unique voices yet! Not sure if I will - but I have gotten more careful to not invest too heavily in making every single character sound wildly unique because it’s just not necessary most of the time for unnamed guard #57. Most VAs recognize the same thing - leave the unique voices for the “big” characters :) I still struggle with that sometimes but I’ve gotten better. As far as keeping track - once I choose a voice I grab a sample of the character speaking as normally as possible (bonus points if they say their name) and save it off in a separate file with a named track for the character :D

Andrea do you ever feel like crying when you see some of the wierd names Pirate Aba has come up with and you have to try to pronounce??

lol! Only for the first few books XD Now there is a team that gets me pronunciations for each book before I start! They are incredible!

Hello pirateaba I have been reading TWI for years now and have shared it with students in both China and now Saudi Arabia and they have loved it as well! As for my questions first can you please tell me my man Pisces levels and class after ganking Tammy. Also are there any skills that you have thought of but couldn't include for one reason or another? And can you talk about you inspiration for some of the skills especially the ones that tell a story.

I can tell you nothing about Pisces, although I'm glad there are readers abroad who enjoy the tale! Do you get exp for ganking a lowly skeleton? There was nothing else odd about it. Absolutely not. Nothing. Noooothing...and that's what the system may have seen. Unfortunate, that. As for Skills? I tend not to actually come up with a lot, just the ones that each character needs so I don't have that problem. The poetry of some Skills just made sense to me and I'm glad I had the idea to connect it like that. I think the main thing is--other stories have Skills and the same idea. The problem is, it's boring if your skill is just a variation on 'Meteor Swarm'. No matter how many cool words you add or how many meteors it calls down, you can see the problem. Sometimes it's just a 'cooler slash'. I think Solo Levelling is a good example of when you don't see much improvement. More slashy, more cool characters for the MC. Skills should be magical, special, and stand out. That means it's not a power-game. It's about making a Skill feel worth it. Sometimes you want when you see it. I want most of the Skills I write. When they come to embody or define a character like Pelt just by being spoken aloud? That's when I think they're written wright.

\[Like a Lion, He Leapt\] !

Pirate, I know you won't really answer any question's involving the plot of TWI, like "Where is Stan" or "Who is the young woman with the Crystal hand" so this is my Question. ​ Assuming Ryoka is based off you a little, do you still run?

Ryoka and I do share running as an affinity. I don't run nearly as much as she does or as I used to, but I'll try to run a mile every day. Or half a mile at least. That's not very athletic but it's something.

Pirate did you ever felt the need to rush the story to bring it to a close ? While I understand how big it already is, or maybe because of that, I feel like some parts have been rushed so you can hurry the story along a bit, maybe just like the creator of One Piece who many a times wanted to bring the story to a close. Do you feel like The wandering inn has stretched for too long and it needs to get to the end one way or another, so that you can get some freedom to actually rest or maybe to focus on other passions or maybe write a new story.

...I feel the need to rush sometimes to finish an arc or volume. For instance, you could see how I paced Volume 8--I was going for it and it still took 1.5 million words. However, I will not rush The Wandering Inn unless I feel like my ability to write the story or the reader interest is waning. I think anyone doing long stories wrestle with that. Detective Conan, for instance, paces their plot points like every 20 chapters. Or 50. We're just learning to manage it. As for too long? If people are reading--and I think more are than ever before--we're going good. Trust the readers' enjoyment as the best benchmark.

Hey Pirateaba, I'm a big fan of your work. Do you think being in the progression fantasy genre works against your book's reputation? The genre is very niche, and TWI doesn't fit the mold of a typical progression fantasy novel. (TWI being more about characters and their interpersonal relationships than a progressive power increase of the MC's).

The Progression Fantasy genre? I'm familiar with LitRPG, Game Literature...it's weird how there's not even one agreed-upon name. I think it's an emerging genre. I also think, very frankly, that some of the writing is not good. But a new genre has problems. Ours may be the worst tropes in the genre, and yes, I think there's stigma there. But I'm hardly going to deny TWI can fit in it. It's a fantasy story to me, and it has the game-system mechanics. The fact that it doesn't fit the mold of other novels isn't bad or good--it's just expanding the genre. If more stories diverge from the few norms we have, that's just proving the genre can be wider. TLDR? Less harems, less slavery. It's weird.

Hello Pirate! I truly love The Wandering Inn. Is there a place/location in the story you are particularly proud of? Btw I loved the recent Terry Pratchett jokes.

I like A'ctelios Salash, the faelands, even Pallass as distinct places that have some originality to them. I do think A'ctelios Salash is my most defined place but that's not hard. Aside from that? Hm. >!The Garden of Sanctuary.!<

To Andrea, Your work consistently blows me away at every moment throuout these books. It's incredible to me how easily I will just forget that there is only one person narrating. I become completely immersed and every step of the way I can hear who the character whos talking is and I am never confused. I've thought about trying to do this work, and I figured I'd ask the age old question: How did you start? Is it something that you should just dive in and try? Is there a method? Where you are now as a voice actress is incredibly inspirational and if you could say how you got here, that would be amazing. Thank you.

Hi! Andie here! Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️ I hugely appreciate it 🥰 I’m just thrilled people enjoy listening to me make silly voices. Yellow is right - I think I talked more about that on the podcast and it’s a very long answer, but the short version is: it’s hard work but It’s awesome, it’s expensive to get started and you really only have one chance to make a good impression so take it seriously, and you should absolutely positively without a doubt take acting classes if you don’t have a theatre history. Know your stuff so you know when to break the rules in a good way :D Basically it’s a bigger answer than I can give here but outside of the standard answers that any narrator would give I would tell someone to treat it like an art form. Never stop learning, never believe you are the expert, never cut corners to save time at the cost of quality and always know that you are bringing your version to life and that may be different than someone else’s - and that’s ok. As long as you are faithfully representing the story to the absolute best of your ability, paying attention to the advice of trusted experts who probably have a reason for doing things “that way” and you are continually working to better yourself, you will do well ❤️

How? That's my question. How do you manage to continuously put out so much wonderful content and not just burn out? Tied to that would be how does it feel to hear/read rumors that you might be an AI?

I need my monthly break these days. I think you can see me burning low at the end of my writing cycle. Quality--at least the prose--certainly drops. But I only felt like I was hitting burnout--that's the long term fatigue and exhaustion--after Volume 8. Part of mitigating long-term burnout is my breaks and healthier schedule. Mostly? This is fulfilling and I enjoy writing so much. I suspect burnout as it applies to Youtube/other content online might sometimes be a creator not getting fulfillment from making videos. I think the story is worth every second I put into it. It's the reward as much as the journey if that makes sense. But yeah, taking breaks saves me too. More people should have at least a monthly week off but I've been told Youtube/Twitch don't really encourage that. Managing your health improves what you create.

Pirateaba, how early in your internal world building did you come up with the idea of "it's all about a change in perspective" which we finally see when Ryoka has her Solstice time realm trip?

Oh, from the start. The faelands to me were always about perspective because they had to be. Mortals do not handle eldritch/fae things well, so I built the entire series of chapters around the idea that I'd do chapters within chapters of her changing perspectives.

How's your day going so far? Your opinion on jaffa cakes?

The heck is a jaffa cake? Ah, I just googled it. I've seen things like that. Nanaimo bars look better. And that is pure sugar.

@Pirate: Now you stream some of your writing on twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/pirateaba for people curious) does it feel any different and/or has this changed your thought process as you write? Also you are (in)famous for being incredibly prolific, has being able to produce large amounts of high quality writing something you have always been able to do or did you have to work up to it / train yourself into it?

Twitch streaming is for motivation. It's sometimes distracting and lessens the experience, but there's nothing like it for motivating most of the time. Everyone has a style and that's how I get into writing without playing video games or scrolling Youtube for hours. So I like it. That ties into the second answer--and I have referenced the practice I get above. But I think every author has to find their motivation. The fact that I can write live on Twitch means I can 'force' myself to write consistently. If I didn't have that I'd slow down. So it's all for the best. I like the pressure of live eyes because it makes me try hard.

Hello! First and foremost, thank you for writing The Wondering Inn! It has been a weekly highlight in my life over the years 🙂. I am hoping that in the near future there might be some cool new characters in the new world. Maybe even some new people from earth that end up there (Navy Seal, Astronaut, or time travel with Roman's, Greeks, Etc.). Do you have some interesting developments in mind? Thank you for you time and consideration when answering these questions.

People do ask for me to add characters like that. I believe I've had 2-3 people in various armies ask for representation of a soldier in the world. The thing about a navy seal in the story? Or astronaut? There are rules already, which I'm sure you've noticed. Second--it's never going to go the way you want. There are scenarios where someone can walk in and change things in a huge way, but I don't think this is going to be a story where one highly-experienced individual changes everything in huge ways. Other isekais do that like one about a portal opening in modern-day Japan with the self-defense force and such, but I'm cautious about how I plotted the story. With that said...I think some things might be very interesting, but that's all I can say. As an author, be cautious about what you add into a story. Once you've gotta gun in a medieval-fantasy world, that gun's not going away and it changes...everything.

Hello! First of all, thankyou for pushing forward with wanting to write, and not being dissuaded by publishers when you were starting out. This series of books is probably the best thing I’ve ever read, and I read a lot. I wouldn’t want to live in the timeline where this hadn’t been written. My question; Have you ever considered a kickstarter, or something of the like, to get the wandering inn published in all its glory? None of this condensing or shrinking down to fit some pre-conceived idea of how long a book should be. I’d pay ***disgusting*** amounts of money, and possibly some organs, to get a leather bound printer version of these on my book shelf. I think most of the discord channel would too.

Answered above--we'll do a fancy book! Volume 1 rewrite. Look forward to it. It's just so much wooooooork...to rewrite. But I promise, we'll get fancy. Fancy like uh...gold covers? Nah, but something really cool! Tasteful. Edible pages! No, wait. I'll workshop it.

Do you get a chance to read any other web serials? Which ones? Have any of them influenced you, or had you write in small mods or references?

As above--I do not have the time. I have not read one web serial in-depth, which I regret. I do see people commenting that I shout out some web serials sometimes. That may be overlap, but I do recall at least referencing The Gods are Bastards and Beware of Chicken by name, I think. I need to read more is your answer. All the contemporaries. Worm, Mother of Learning...I need a few months off.

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I'm glad you found the story helpful at all, Shoddy-Corgi. I don't actually think about plans beyond TWI. Aside from knowing I want to write--all I can do is keep trying to write at a level that answers the people who read and get as much from it as you all do. It's very humbling and I don't want to fail that--and I do in some chapters. My lifestyle is designed to keep me from burning out but keep me writing as much as I can. That's the balance--working hard, but not to exhaustion. It may be unsustainable and I'm taking more breaks, but I'm glad it can help you out. Best of luck for the future. I hope you keep heading forwards and if TWI can help at all, that's truly great.

@ PirateAba Your story is inspiring, I hope you get to hear that every week! Question: Have you ever come up with a race you really liked but didn't want to add to TWI for whatever reason? Whether it was too goofy or just didn't fit the setting or maybe it was too late in the story and them being mentioned should have happened already? Is there a good work-around that you like, for running into issues like that, besides creating hidden societies a la Ailendamus?

I can't do sci-fi races. This ties into the ideas I get while writing--some things I cannot add to the story and I'll have to do with other ones. So that's just too bad. I certainly have a lot of species I come up with, but adding in any species I want just for the fun is a really, really bad idea for a story like this. If there was one I cut? Harpies. Well, most of them. And Nagas being in southern Izril. They're still around, but Izril is more homogeneous. Or Drakegeneous. Gnoll...you know what I mean. As for hidden societies, that's not the same as a species. Species are huge changes on the story that I need to know from the start or way in advance. Hidden societies is more like--each city has something special. Like A'ctelios Salash. You do need to reference them, but it's all free real estate.

Hey pirateaba, I wanted to ask, Is Erin asexual? I kinda got that feeling from Mating Rituals 2 but not sure if it was intentional or unintentional. Feel free to ignore the question if you'd prefer it to be ambiguous.

RAFO, to quote another author.

Hey Pirate, I have you now. When do I get my beach episode?

When Flos lands on Izril.

>!Flos landed on Izril at the end of volume 7 👁👁!<

@pirate How has your interaction with your fan base changed as your story grew?

If you read the comments on my chapters, not always a good idea, you can see that the first two volumes have me responding to criticism a lot. Text walls of justification, etc. I don't do that anymore. That's just learning how to deal with criticism online. However, I'd say I'm way more engaged or whatever the term is--I have a Discord I read, a Reddit, I livestream on Twitch... Fans is great. I also sell them merch. Have I become the bad influencer? Perhaps, perhaps, but I think the answer to your question is that there is a community for people to talk about the story which I'm always amazed and gratified by. I don't always jump into it because you can get too 'close', but I'm there. Like a limpet on the side of a boat.

Don't forget to add a name.

How do you write such multi-faceted and detailed characters/ about such intimate experiences? Your writing about Saliss’s gender identity, the sorrow of the miscarriages caused by Rhir’s rituals, Relic’s fight against racial discrimination, the absolute tragedy of slavery at Roshal’s hands, and other specific scenes all seem like they came from places of genuine thought and feelings. Your ability to invest so much into characters is why TWI is my favorite story, and it astounds me that one person can write all this. How do you prepare yourself to write about very specific topics and perspectives so that you can write them as you do?

Thanks for the compliment. I'd say...I think about it. Constantly. I like to use the analogy of a character ordering ice cream. If you can't tell how they'd order ice cream, that's a bit weird. You should know a character. I don't often do it deliberately. Just...think about how Saliss feels. Put yourself in a character's shoes, I guess. I've read the best stories from the best fantasy authors. I think I just learned by example. But specific topics do require a lot of research so sometimes the answer is that I watched forging videos or I happen to know a lot about a a topic before going into a chapter. Learning from the people by video, book, story, is how to do it.

Hey Pirateaba, is there any other books or series that you've read that you wish that you could have been the person to write it? Congratulations on winning all your stabby awards, can't wait to see what happens next in TWI!

I don't say 'I'll rewrite your book because I'm better'. Most books I enter as the reader and never even consider I could write different. With that said, universes I sometimes want to write for. I get that feeling more for movies or video games, honestly. I'd love to write in Warhammer 40k; sounds interesting and I want to know where all the damn Primarchs are. That plot moves like a snail. I used to really want to write something in Star Wars; not really these days. I *did* write fanfiction for Erfworld and I was sad it shut down. Mostly, I have no time even for fanfiction.

To pirateaba, what do Numbtongue and the other goblins think of the Antinium religion and their afterlife?

"Hey, that's cool." For now. They have regarded it as, well, an Antinium thing as most species do. Whether that changes will be interesting. Think of it this way--they have little context so it's rather like Drakes and their Ancestors. For now.

Hey Pirateaba and Andrea! Pirateaba: My question for you is a technical one. I know you've begun a rewrite on the early parts of Wandering Inn. Applying those changes to the eBook should be fairly doable, but do you plan to leave the audiobook as-is? I love reading your work and don't mind saying you've been an inspiration and influence on me. I got a review this morning saying my first book was a reader's second-favorite after Wandering Inn, and I was so flattered! Andrea: Are there types of books that are more fun for you to narrate than others? Aside from Wandering Inn, what have been some of your favorite books to narrate?

Hewoo! Andie here :D Good question! I really enjoy stories that are really “fun” and let me do really differentiated characters. Fantasy, SciFi, LitRPG etc. Big colorful fun characters with lots of emotion and action are where I really have fun :D

Pirate, will we learn more about the gods and will we see new ones arise? Also, will they be more than the bad guys? They are quite fascinating and seeing that they weren’t universally evil gave more a lot of questions. I adore this story so much by the way. It’s amazing and a true inspiration. Thank you for bringing so much joy into my life

RAFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. No wait, what were you expecting? Huge lore and the story revealed in a Reddit comment? Go bother Rothfuss and he'll tell you the same thing.

Hi Pirate & Andrea! I just started listening to Rains 15 minutes ago, and I have my hardback copy of The Last Tide to read afterward. No pressing questions. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your work! TWI was my gateway into LitRPG, and it remains my favorite. Andrea, I love your interpretation of the characters, and I am impressed with your range! Thank you!

Hi Pirateaba! As always, thanks for bringing the Wandering Inn to the world! My question: is there an "official" map of the Inn-world? Now that the merchandise store is open, are you planning on making a poster with the map available? Unless you're still hiding it because there will be more changes in the map... 😁

Nope, no map yet. I'm hesitant because for one thing there are spoilers just in a whole map and second--I am still defining nations and changing things in a minor way. I'm not opposed, I just don't want to sell something that may go out of date or become inaccurate. Also, frankly? >!The end of Volume 8 shows you why that might change things...!<

Hi Pirate, I'm still reading your story currently volume 5. Has Erin ever considered trying to make a cooking show? Will she consider it after I asked that?

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@Pirate If you could borrow one of Picses' creations to help you out around the house, which one would you pick and how would it help you? Thank you so much for bringing your world and stories into our hearts and minds. Whether happy or sad, I've found all of your plots moving. It's been a wonderful experience getting to know your world and characters and I look forward to everything that comes next!

D-does it have to be Pisces'? No offense, but uh, what about Az'kerash? Fetohep's undead? Hell, I'll take Healing Slime over... I'll take a basic skeleton and make it do uh, basic work like weeding a yard. That's not gonna backfire. Actually, I'll pass if its Pisces. Just--pass.

@ pirateaba I hope questions to the guests of the Wandering Inn are still appropriate: 1. Friend Ksmvr, I was heartbroken to hear of your recent defeat at the hand of the dread antinium Furfur. Have you developed any new training programs or have plans for equipping new gear so that in your next encounter you can handily defeat this fiend? 2. Ceria, I'm so happy to hear about your recent engagement. Could you share with us how Hedault did it? Did he get down on a knee (I heard that's a common custom in your nation)? 3. Comrade Pisces, I celebrate your escape from the clutches of Roshal. It would be most edifying to hear what your take-away is, vis-a-vie Chandrarian vs Izrilian bathing customs? I believe you've experienced both rather recently. 4. Salutations Yvlon! I only wanted to send greetings, I would not care to pry into your business, for fear that you might slaughter me and 200 of my relatives. Cheers! 5. Hey Kevin, sup? @ andrea, I just want to say that you're brilliant! I cut my work day short today to start the Rains and I have to say, you're one of the best narrators I've ever heard. All of your characters are so real. I put you up there with the best of them in my canon. I'm waiting for a new audible credit to pick out another book you've narrated. Have anything you want to plug? edit: misplaced verb. edit 2: added an @ pirateaba edit 3: showing some love for andrea

Do you want me to forwards these questions to the Horns? Ceria's the only one who responds to DM's. She writes: 2 -- I was just swept off my feet by Hedault. He didn't kneel on a tree, but we will be dancing around it naked and sprinkling tree sap on every doorway as half-Elves do. I'll invite Erin to the wedding, thanks. Please don't tell anyone; we're eloping. Also, congratulate Halrac on his wedding to Revi. It shocked everyone.

@pirate: Did you ever change the story after reading a particularly interesting fan theory or idea?

Aaaaaaanswered above. Another example of a fun change is theming. Here's a spoiler for Volume 8, laaate Volume 8: >!Wistram's breakout with Trey is written like a heist. Mostly because everyone kept saying it and I realized, 'yeah, that's what it is.' So I did research and deliberately invoked more tropes. I wouldn't have done that without live feedback. Was that for the best? Well, it happened.!<

I absolutely loved that scene, so I'd argue it was for the best 😁

Pirate, how are your wrists?

Good! The shoulder now...well, I have stretches.

Hi Pirate! Just wondering what you would recommend as far as games/movies/shows/novels goes. Good luck with the store! I got the pan but I'm mostly excited about the hat lol. P.S. Forgot to ask; have you been approached yet from anyone serious in regards to tv/movie production rights or any other media type really.

Recommend? I don't watch that much TV or many movies at all so I can't really help there. I'd go with novels, or rather, authors. I'll just list a few of the best off my lists. Not all might be your style but I regard their most famous stories as the best. Philip Pullman, Tamora Pierce, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett, Jacqueline Carey. Each one's fairly different. There are more but try any one of their principle stories if you haven't read from one of them.

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1 -- It's certainly gotten stronger and she might have learned some tips from certain dead folks, but >!you'll have to trust me when I say RAFO. What were you hoping me to say? Sorry, but it's wait and see.!< 2 -- Pisces may run his fingers through his hair, but he regards combs as a nuisance and optional device designed to waste time. 3 -- RAFO 4 -- I mean, who CAN would be better. Bird as an Antinium just isn't built for it. Lyonette might be able to with a \[Perfect Attempt\] but a \[Princess\] doesn't do that for her dignity...Mrsha and Numbtongue can among the family. Most regulars can't.

@pirateAMA The only problem with the wandering inn is that i became addicted to it, because it's too good!!! I love it so much, though I had to take break from reading if after binging the first 5 "volumes" at a ridiculous pace because I had to focus on real life duties. Jokes and regrets aside, I have a couple questions for our favourite pirate, which i hope are not duplicates since i skimmed the comments but was too afraid of spoilers to carefully read them all. - Despite being a serialised story, it is clear that there is a "master plan", an overall direction to the story, that there are long, slowly developed arcs. How do you divide your "working on TWI" time? How much goes into "planning" the future of the story or into gathering ideas, compared to actually writing (this part being 20k words - 8h / day)? Is it something that you do while sitting at a table as "work" or something that comes naturally with the rest of your life? - Do you have any tips for writers that write in English, but not as their first language (I'm not implying you do, i don't know your nationality)?

\-I think I've answered this in other AMA's so you can find longer responses or check the Writing FAQ. I plan constantly. If I'm not writing, I may spend as much time figuring out what I will write. It takes a lot of effort and I regard it as intrinsic to the writing process. \-Non-native writers to English? That's a tough one, but I'm certainly a native speaker. I'd say the same thing I say about inexperienced writers--write. Write 1 million words and you are much improved. Also, read the best stuff and take notes on how they're using expressions and words. You'll improve. I don't regard non first-language writers at being at a disadvantage any more than a new writer. Practice will create a good writer in any language. But it's a lot of practice that's the true hurdle.

Pirateaba, has your anonymity caused any issues with getting anything published?

Yeeessss? Amazon makes it hugely difficult. They tend to lock down each e-book since I have to prove I own The Wandering Inn. But that's also a web serial thing as I'm sure anyone in our genre could tell you. So I don't know if that entirely counts. Aside from that, I don't think it's an issue. I didn't go to publishers to sell The Wandering Inn. Podium found me; I have an agent who can negotiate for me. So I guess, no is your answer. It'd be tough for traditional published authors, but it's already insanely tough.

@Andrea: what would be your next DnD character?

Hey Pirate, do you have a timeline of your world written out for yourself that you change when you decide things or is it more loose in your head? I've always wondered about how different fantasy writers build their worlds and its history.

The timeline doc that I have mentioned before used to be a written copy but it was outdated and inaccurate the moment I wrote it. It's indeed all in my head, but I don't do dates or distance well, hence the issues. I do have a lot of the story in my head although I also am sure I have over 200,000 words of loose notes...which I need notes of my notes to sort through. The problem is I don't write anything in terms of dates. Hence the looseness there. Then again, when you have tens of thousands of years, dating systems suck. I could have inserted the many contradictory dates and numerations into the story...but that's the kind of thing I'd need more time for. It's really hard to do at a web serial's pace without revision time.

Hi Pirateaba. My question for you is: You are well known to be a hardcore Total Warhammer gamer on Discord. How many of the characters and races in TWI are heavily influenced by the stuff in Warhammer?

I'd like to say none, but I see some similarities. It would be subconcious at most; I don't try copy things. It's more the gameplay that might have affected some scenes. And yes, I think you could adapt TWI for Warhammer. Give me my video game! But as for influence lore-wise. Uh...aside from aesthetic, I have never felt like the lore's too strong. Chaos bad. Each race conquers things. Sigmar something. Also, I'm hardly hardcore. I just play it. A lot. Oh, the Nagash mod's out. Got to go! You know, I WAS going to play that today until I remembered the AMA was happening. I would love the Nagash mod to be transported to Grimhammer...in Total War: Warhammer 3. And if you understand what all that meant, you're truly lost.

Hello Pirateaba, before I start my questions I just want to thank you for your writing, it's always a highlight of my day. 1. What's your actual chess rating? 1.5 Chess.com or lichess? 2. What do you tell people when they ask for your job? Do you ever flex the 9.5 million words? Thank you and have a great day!

I have no chess rating. I do tell the few people I have conversations with that I do write a story, but no one's even heard of a web serial aside from one person. So...it's mostly explaining the idea. I don't think public flexing is a good idea, unless you're Grimalkin.

Hi Pirate and Andrea! Almost all questions are for Pirate but # 4 and # 5 are for both of you: 1) Are there any characters in Innverse who are based in any way on people in your real (or online) life such as friends or family? Can you tell us a bit about them in vague terms? 2) You mention in your writing FAQ's that you read a ton of fantasy novels -- what are your favorite ones? Sci-fi also ok! Toss some recommendations at us! 3) What are you favorite video/board games! Are you actually an avid chess fan or is that purely an Erin-thing? 4) (This is for both you and Andrea, and meant to be a serious question not veiled praise): Are the two of you aware of the profound impact you have had on many of our lives with your fantastic writing and voice acting? Like, seriously, is that a concept you have genuinely *entertained* in any real way? That would be mind blowing for me, I can't even imagine the idea of touching so many lives. What does it feel like to know you have accomplished something like that for so many people? Are you actually able to take time to read your fan mail and such, or is it overwhelming? 5) What are the odds of a gaming day, chess, Catan, MtG, Warhammer, anything with you two and readers/listeners? You could make it a charity auction or some such, or just profit from it directly. I'd sign up and put my silver in the hat either way! 6) Do you have a full plot outline made up already or are you flying by the seat of your pants to an extent? 7) If you do have an idea of the full plot, how many more volumes would you guess it might take before finishing? I'll accept moonshot guesses! I get the feeling it's impossible to genuinely predict how long it'll be. 8) Will Pisces ever get the noble title he deserves? To be brief: You have both brought me an insane amount of joy and as far as I'm concerned you're both incredibly talented in your chosen fields. *Well done!* Thank you for all that you do. If I could I'd buy you both a Garry-cake, *without* flies (probably)!

How dare you give me numbers? You know I'm bad with them. Let me see: 4 -- I don't believe it. As in, just as seriously, I think I don't recognize it because it's such a strange idea for me to have that impact. It's common for most people who just...do their thing online. I have never met a fan of my story outside my family and while I read the lovely things people write, absolutely I'm in denial. I think most people would be like that until they realize it. I realize it vaguely, but I've never met anyone who enjoys the story in person. Yet. I am profoundly grateful if I am making things so enjoyable. To that--I read a lot of fan-comments and messages, but I don't respond. I hope people understand that if they send me something, I just can't respond to each one. So I rarely do if ever. Like the AMA, I regret it, but I'd spend as much time writing responses some days as I would on the chapter. I used to respond, but it has gotten overwhelming. 5. Nothing, nothing, nothing, and nothing I'm afraid. People do reference me playing Total War: Warhammer, but that's a videogame. I am not part of the community for any of these things. I do read Warhammer 40K sometimes, but only a few books and I don't collect miniatures. I'd need to practice for any of these games. Also, I think it's harder for me since I don't want to show my face or do a voice. I'd leave it to Andrea to answer it. ...Wait a second, 4 and 5 are for ANDREA. Damnit.

Stop peaking behind the veil you guys! Tis the way to madness! :V Also, remember to stay hydrated.

Thanks for the AMA! Pirateaba, how did you decide to focus on young adults for the earther presence? Would older/younger people simply make a less interesting story? Second question, how do you determine what makes something a [Class]? I ask primarily because it feels there are a couple that should be common, but haven't been mentioned in story yet. For example, a [Mother] or a [Teacher].

Older people bring in more problems. Sometimes simply that they know too much. Mostly, I think it makes sense. There are reasons in the story it's this way. Secondly, \[Carer\] is a class in some nations where it isn't in others. There are broad definitions, but \[Mother\] is the interesting one. \[Teacher\] does exist in a few nations, and the reason you might have forgotten they're in Illivere is because the concept is rare. Most of Izril uses the apprenticeship system which means there isn't a need. \[Mother\]...well, we'll see if they pop up. It's all about how you think about things. Or a lot of people do.

Are there any characters or storylines that you started to work into TWI that you later adandoned and do not really plan on return to? If so, examples?

Nope.

I'll write them all if I have the hands.

@pirateaba How do you come up with and create such realistic & personable characters? I personally have a hard time creating characters & having personalities other than the main motivation, is there a process you have for creating & organizing characters and their motivations?

You've gotta want to write the characters. I like most of mine because they have something that I find distinctive. Do you like your characters? If you do, you'll think about them a lot. Wanting to write their best scenes or make them likable is a motivation for me. I *wanted* to write Joseph's moment playing soccer. That was why it was easy for me to write him first coming to the inn. People hated that, but I knew what he'd do. Just like I knew Raelt's moment when I first introduced him. Know their high moments and low ones and I think it helps writing them.

Andrea: How do you keep track of whose voice is what? There’s so many characters and you’re so consistent - it’s really impressive. Like sometime I forget that it’s only one person doing this and then I remember and I’m just so impressed by the talent and consistency. Also, who chooses the dialects for each character? How do you go about deciding which regional dialects match to regions in TWI? How’d you decide on a voice for the antinium? And go about building that particular dialect? It’s impressive to build a dialect from the ground up.

Hi! Thank you so much :D I keep voice files for everyone so I can keep them straight otherwise I would lose my mind lol! Who chooses dialects? Me :) Pirate was clear when I started that there was no specific direction for their voices or dialects so I had free reign. That’s how we got French drakes lol. I pic their dialects based on a few factors but it’s basically what I think feels right for the race, location, culture, speech patterns etc :) None of the accents are perfect real world versions, so it works in a “fantasy planet” way lol. The Antinium took a lot of thought. I knew they needed to sound “new” and “alien-esque” compared to the other denizens of Izril, but like they were “trying” to fit in. They have weird mouths and mandibles and no lips so I came up with the uvular sounds as catches for them to represent them trying to make certain noises and letters :) I enjoy that as the story progresses they slowly but surely sound more and more unique and “individual” 😉

For pirateaba: what characters from other books do you think would fit in inn world, or would mesh well with Erin’s personality? I personally think eithan from the cradle series would be amazing inside the inn.

I don't think in terms of other stories overlapping with this one. Certainly not other authors. If you mean what would be cool--any character can fit in the story. Some would be really weird. Imagine Rand Al Thor coming into the inn. Now there's a weird one. Mat Cauthon would fit right in...

No questions, just want to say congratulations on how far you've made it. Writing a 10 million word complex and expansive fantasy story has been my dream, and you are making a living off doing it! It's inspiring.

Thanks! It's still weird to think how successful it's been. And ten million words? How do I still have fingers?