Jacob Sadler - An Absorbing Suspenseful Read

Jacob Sadler was born with a critical heart defect that forced him to undergo open heart surgery at 11 days old. The surgery made him a sickly child, keeping him home for weeks at a time. With nothing to do, Sadler turned to books. Although now a physicist, Sadler never abandoned his love of books. His style represents a middle ground between literary fiction and page-turning dramas.  As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, The Innkeeper and the Cannibal.

Please give us a short introduction to what The Innkeeper and the Cannibal is about.

“Innkeeper” is a tragic tale of addiction and trauma told from the points of view of a murderer's wife, his best friend, and the man who is wrongly accused. The book is a murder mystery with a historical fantasy setting.

What inspired you to write this story? Was there anything in particular that made you want to tackle this?

When I was young, my mother was incredibly smart and capable. Then, she had an aneurysm and had to undergo brain surgery. The procedure left her unable to do many trivial tasks and she lost her business. Moreover, my father used her weakened mental state to manipulate her for years, tricking her into believing she was stupid, useless, and dependent on him. My mother eventually left him, regained her sense of self, and is doing spectacularly now. But I did want to pay homage to her trials. Her story became the bedrock of “Innkeeper."

Tell us more about Galahad. What makes him tick?

Galahad wants to be a good man, but nobody but children seem to see him in a favorable light. His neighbors mistrust him because of his skin color and his own father loathes him because of his sexuality. Eventually, he feels the only way to escape his pain is through violence and drugs. This splits his character in two, with one side craving to feel free and the other craving to feel numb.

How have your own life experiences influenced your writing?

I mentioned my mother earlier, and while she inspired much of the overall narrative, my own struggles with addiction became the basis for Galahad’s arc. I wanted to explore the most depraved side of my own humanity and see what would happen if I dialed my own personality up to 11.

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

They would not be secret if I shared them… Though some of my more known skills are:

• I speak the Quebecois form of French
• I work as an analyst in an FDA-regulated lab
• I go on fossil digs regularly
• I love competing in World of Warcraft PvP (Arenas, mostly)
   

Why did you pick the town of Auberdine as the backdrop for your story?

Well, this is a nice interlude. The town’s name comes from my favorite place in World of Warcraft.

Auberdine is two towns in one. The Inner Ring is perfectly maintained, but only rich people of a certain caste may live there. Meanwhile, the outer ring is underdeveloped, overgrown, and full of immigrants and forgotten people. The two sections of the town create a dichotomy where metaphors and themes can be created. For instance, the physical decline of Auberdine throughout the book mirrors the decline of the inn itself.

Do any of your characters ever take off on their own tangent, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

Galahad, that son of a *****. He basically took over the book.

What was your greatest challenge while writing this book?

I struggled to finish Galahad’s arc once I got sober. I guess I could not relate as much to him. Funnily, once I came clean about my problem and made a change, I began relating more with my other POV male character, Charles Eastmont. Suddenly, it was a lot easier to write about a good man.

Also, I will say that while most of the book takes place in Auberdine proper, there is a section of the book that takes place elsewhere. This section was incredibly difficult to write because, after the first act of a novel, a writer must be very careful about introducing new characters and places. If done wrong, I knew my other location would instantly kill the book’s momentum. I had to work very hard to maintain tension.

Drugs, vices, criminality, and inequality are big themes in this book - why did you find it important to write about?

I went into the book with the belief that domestic violence, racism, and environmental degradation are sides of the same coin. They are manifestations of the same human need for power.

Now, that’s a grandiose philosophical statement that might be true and might not be. I did not want to write a philosophical treatise any more than most people want to read one. So, I decided to make an intricate web of characters to, in narrative form, represent the idea.

Interesting cover - please tell us more about how it came about.

Aside from the dead tree, the cover design was up to the artist. Some have pointed out similarities between the character’s face and my own, but that is a coincidence.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

I try to wake up at 4 or 4:30. From there, I get some coffee and force myself to write just ONE sentence. This little psychological trick helps me get out of writer’s block and I always write more than one sentence. At around 6:30, I get ready for work. During lunch, I outline upcoming chapters in a pocket notebook. I try not to write once I get home, as that is family time.

On weekends, I tend to write a little longer in the morning. I’ll finish up a chapter, do editing, or have a free write. I never force myself to write more than one sentence, because I believe a rushed book kills creativity (and coherence).

What are you working on right now?

I am finishing up the first entry into my debut series. It has no title yet, but it is essentially a cross between a western and “The Lord of the Rings.” The working back cover blurb is:

When Jessie Bingham’s children are kidnapped, he must brave the deadly Forlorn Trail, a route nobody has ever survived. As he ventures into the last uncharted region in the West, Jessie finds himself fending off attacks from a tribe of natives everyone believed to be extinct. If he is to rescue his children and return to his quiet life on the frontier, he will have to learn more about these mysterious people and their once-great empire. But to do that, he will first have to walk the line between myth and history.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

They can find me on Instagram at jacobcsadler, but I must confess that I am not a social media person. I tend to keep to myself. I am working on a website, but with so many other obligations, it may be a long time coming.