Interview With Author Jacob Sadler
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a physicist with a lifelong obsession with writing stories. Currently, I work as a chemist for a small metrology lab. My latest book will be my second, with a third presently in development.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Innkeeper and the Cannibal” was inspired by my mother’s traumatic brain surgery. I do not want to spoil the story, but she was not treated kindly after her surgery. This said, the narrative soon became a way to talk about my experience with drug addiction, with a cast of supporting characters becoming fully-fledged POVs.
But, I love fantasy and I do not like writing strictly modern stories. I could not bare to build a setting around suburbs. So, I mythologized the story, adding elements of greek tragedy, surrealism, and folklore to the narrative.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I doubt my habits are unusual by a writer’s standards, but I am an outlier amongst those I know.
I wake up early before work every day. If I am writing that day, I task myself with creating only a single sentence. It tricks my psychology. Because even though the task of drafting a chapter at 4 in the morning is demoralizing, I can always do one sentence. Except, of course, I can’t. A sentence always needs something else to make it work, so I end up writing far more than I ever plan to.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
“The Lord of the Rings” is the chief influence on my writing. I never wanted to remake middle-earth or even write fantasy, but I always wanted my “Shire” to feel comfortable. I always want my stories to be moving and my histories to be grand. And of course, I continue wanting to be as good a writer as Tolkien.
Other than that, I love Taoist philosophy. Aphorisms in the Chinese style have made their way into my narratives time and time again.
Really, I am a sucker for classics. Tell me a book has influenced generations of readers and I will try to find it, no matter how old it is.
What are you working on now?
Imagine if Doc Holliday and the cast from “Tombstone” went to the lonely mountain.
Here is the back cover blurb of such a story:
Jessie Bingham’s family is destitute. His farm is dry. When a team of local miners is found dead with strange metal in their packs, Jessie is swept into a story much larger than their small town.
To provide for his sickly children, Jessie soon finds himself on an expedition into the Forlorn Hills. Funded by a corrupt mayor bent on curing her blindness, the group seeks the mythical city of an ancient god-king.
Once the band crosses the Forlorn Hills, they realize the lichen-covered ruins of their little valley were only the outer remnants of a much larger civilization. Now, Jessie Bingham finds himself fending off attacks from mysterious animals and peoples. If he is to get his reward and save his family from poverty, he will have to do as the mayor wants. But to do that, he will first have to walk the line between myth and history.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think I am a pretty good writer, a fairly adequate mathematician, and a stellar scientist. But I am not a great marketer. Next question!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never rush. Whatever timeline you set for yourself, double it. Do everything slowly. Outline your chapters on paper, make edits while reading aloud, and do not be afraid to delete huge sections of text. Just because you wrote “The End” does not mean you are finished.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My future wife once read something I wrote. I had stayed up all night, drinking coffee and fanatically typing. I had her read it and she replied, “You are a good writer, but do not let your arrogance get the best of you.”
What are you reading now?
I recently returned from Québec and came back with a trove of books. I am working through “La Chasse-Galerie” right now. It is a collection of French-Canadian folktales.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Aside from my aforementioned western, my grandfather has tasked me with completing his children’s novel. I do not know if I am up to the task, but I will be looking at his manuscript sometime this quarter.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1) Godel, Escher, Bach
2) Tao Te Ching
3) Lord of the Rings
4) “Classical Mechanics” by Taylor or “Electricity and Magnetism” by Griffiths. Depends on how steampunk I want to make that island.