it is, and I did this to further show how mentally
deranged he is as a character. Showing up,
almost out of nowhere, with a huge chip on his
shoulder towards every character, he doesn’t
make much sense. And the reader doesn’t
necessarily have to understand his motives
entirely. All they have to know is, he has a
connection with Rosetta. His motives seem
clear, but at the heart of things, they really don’t
make much sense. He just shows up to f*** s***
up, and it’s strange, but it’s meant to be strange
because he is a mentally unstable character.
Q. Where can readers find you online and
find your brilliantly well written novel to buy?
RH: My book is off the market, currently,
because I have signed with a publisher, and it is
getting edited. I have been told that it will be
back up and for sale August 18th
Meet Jacob Appel
cringes even when not being shocked. But
then I realized it wasn’t a scam and I felt
vindicated. As your readers may know, the
Dundee International Book Award is based
on Scotland. I had always believed the
Scots to be a superior people, endowed with
impeccable taste—and they proved me
right!
Q. For those of us readers who haven't
read your first novel, can you tell us
briefly what it's about and where we can
find it online?
JA: The book features Arnold Brinkman, a
liberal botanist from New York City who
takes his son to a Yankees game and gets
caught sticking out his tongue on the
Jumbotron during the singing of God Bless
America. Soon he is branded a terrorist
sympathizer and must go into hiding in
Central Park…. You can always get my
books on Amazon, but if you’re looking to
enter heaven, you should order them at your
local bookstore.
Q. How did you come about writing
novels in the mystery/
humor/ comedy genres?
Q. Your first novel, The Man Who
Wouldn't Stand Up, won the Dundee
International Book Award in 2012. Can
you describe how the moment felt when
you found out?
JA: At first, I was suspicious. I figured it
must be some kind of Nigerian 419
scam. So many publishers had rejected the
book that I was like one of those dogs in the
learned helplessness experiments who
JA: I’d always thought of myself as a
serious novelist. Yet you have to possess a
certain gravitas to write a serious novel –
like Tolstoy or Proust. At a minimum, you
have to look like John Kerry. The gravitas
standards for comedy writers are a bit more
lax – Vonnegut, J. P. Donleavy, Woody
Allen. My choices were either purchase a
tie or write humor, and I took the road less
asphyxiating.
Q. Your short story collection, Scouting
for the Reaper, won the 2012 Hudson
Prize. What is it like applying for such