![\"JacobMAppel_1\"](\"http:\/\/now.etown.edu\/files\/2015\/01\/JacobMAppel_1.jpg\")
<\/a>Author Jacob M. Appel is a scholar-in-residence at Bowers Feb. 11 through 13. His professional career is a hybrid of the arts and sciences, and he has a sprawling academic record, which includes advanced degrees in creative writing, playwriting, public health and bioethics. He\u2019s a medical doctor and a lawyer. (See his bio<\/a> for a full list of degrees and institutions.<\/p>\nAppel is a prolific writer, with more than 215 publishing credits, several of them award-winning, in various literary journals. Aside from his creative work, he\u2019s widely published in the field of bioethics, in mass media outlets and in academic and trade publications.<\/p>\n
His success in getting ink for his work is the result of tireless submitting\u2014he\u2019s received some \u201c20,000 rejections\u201d in his literary life. The more you submit, he alluded to, the more chance you have at getting published. Although the writer says that, at first, he was deeply hurt when his stories were declined, he now accepts rejection as part of the writing life. He likened it to stepping on a pin. One pin will hurt, but if you step on a whole bunch at once, it\u2019s not as painful, he said.<\/p>\n
When he gets notice that an editor decided to pass on a story, Appel, usually within 10 to 15 minutes, sends it back out into the world. In fact, he said, he has an endless cycle of stories in circulation in literary magazine queues.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be determined; you have to have a cycle,\u201d he said in a phone interview. Establishing a writer career is \u201ca long process; it\u2019s not a one-time project every time you submit a story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\nYou have to be determined; you have to have a cycle…”<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Appel noted that he once heard a writer give the advice that, if your work gets rejected by the same magazine three times, it\u2019s best to move on and accept that the journal doesn\u2019t suit your style. Appel said that sentiment is \u201cdeeply misguided,\u201d giving an example of his own persistence. He first submitted to the Nimrod Literary Awards, given by an Oklahoma-based journal of the same name, when he was 16 years old. He was rejected by Nimrod at least 80 times. Finally, he won second place in the contest and the editor, who recognized Appel\u2019s name, called, personally, to congratulate him.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s world, one might consider getting his or her own Wikipedia entry a testament to success. But not Appel; he\u2019s doesn\u2019t pay much attention to what\u2019s being said about him online. Case in point, a \u201ccrazy woman in Florida\u201d keeps changing his birthdate to fit a story \u201cthat I was her family doctor.\u201d And someone else removed correct information about his hometown, to which he said, \u201cI can prove it. I was in Mrs. Holcum\u2019s nursery school class in Bradford, Conn. And they will remember me because I bit the kid that sat next to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
These instances of false information being added, online, and correct information being removed taught him \u201c\u2026 not to believe anything on the Internet. There are doctors out there who prescribe based [on what they read]; it\u2019s a disaster waiting to happen,\u201d he said, admitting that the Internet is not all bad.<\/p>\n
During his time as scholar-in-residence at Elizabethtown, Appel will visit classes, and make two public appearances. The first is a lecture, \u201cHumanities and the Richness of Being Human: A Life Dynamic With Jacob Appel\u201d<\/a> at 11 a.m. Feb. 11.. His talks usually evolve until the very time he gives them, but he can say this: \u201cI usually start with a joke. It\u2019ll be a good joke. Students can come just for the joke and then sneak out the back.\u201d But, more seriously, he said that there often is disconnect between \u201cthe academy and the world,\u201d that there is richer meaning in to which we pay attention<\/p>\n
\u201c[In liberal arts education] we are really good at taking things apart but not as good as putting them back together,\u201d he said, adding that the latter is what he likes to focus on when he talks about interdisciplinary experiences<\/p>\n