Welcome to Gully Brook Press

The website of freelance writer Gina
Giuliano

Nearly a week since my last post, and I have so many ideas...

First, there's Sirius, a police dog. He was the only dog to die in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. My friend Suzanne told me on Friday night that they were doing a tribute to him, and that they had found his remains back in January. I wrote a story about Sirius shortly after seeing a segment on television about him and his human partner, and it is posted on my website. I'm still not sure if I have come to terms with the 9/11 events. About a month ago we had a really, really bad thunderstorm, kind of weird for March, but then the weather has been strange. It was only raining lightly, but suddenly there was this flash of light that looked like nothing I've ever seen before. Then it was completely, eerily, silent. My heart stopped, I thought it was all over. I don't know if I would have reacted this way before 9/11. I never had such thoughts. There was such a sense of relief when the huge bang of thunder came. Last week, there was an earthquake centered in the Adirondacks. I'm glad I slept through it (I have a hard time falling asleep, but once I'm out, that's all she wrote), as the next day, when I saw my neighbors, they were all very shaken (literally and figuratively). Earthquakes are not common in these parts, but again, I think after 9/11, we all feel differently. And as far as Sirius goes, he's a hero and deserves a tribute. Plus, I really, really adore dogs.

Then, there is this follow-up Times Union story. A while ago I wrote about being angered by the brief jail sentence given to a woman who hit a boy while driving drunk, then refused to help the boy's cousin and instead left the scene. Apparently, the judge in this case has a history of handing out such sentences, and also, among drunk drivers, there is an understanding that if you hit someone, it is better to leave the scene, sober up, and if you are eventually caught, claim you thought you hit a dog (this alone makes me want to puke, because the assumption is that it is perfectly OK to hit a dog and drive on). The authorities won't be able to prove you were drunk at the time of the accident, and as I wrote before, if you want to kill someone, you can get off easy as long as you do it with your car.

Finally, there is this incredible interview from Wooden Horse Publishing with the editor of Moxie about the new policy of charging writers a $10 fee for submissions. The editor asserts that many other publications are doing it (although she said she didn't have to time to find out which ones when asked), and that they receive a lot of submissions from writers who don't bother to spell check, use upper case at the beginning of sentences, or care about proper grammar. She believes the fee will cut down on this practice. She complained that writers often send multiple submissions in five minutes, and that it takes too much staff time to log, read, and respond to all this junk. Also, it is expensive to publish Moxie, they provide a lot of valuable editorial services, and they pay $10 for accepted stories, which is the same as the reading fee & etc., etc., etc.

The writing community is being encouraged to comment on this practice. I don't think I will send remarks to the editor, but I will rant a little here. First, I will admit up front that as far as I can remember, I have never submitted to Moxie, and now I never will. Also, now I have no plans to read Moxie, either. But, for someone who was crying about unprofessional submissions, her response about not having the time to back up her assertion about other publications charging reading fees was truly shocking.

I always spell check, I don't need much in the way of editorial services, I have an excellent command of when to use capitalization (that I learned in second grade), and a fair command of grammar (that I learned over the years in elementary school), and I find this all rather insulting. This is a bit off-topic, but unless the piece is not my idea (meaning it is contract work), I never agree to selling all rights to my work. If it is a personal essay, poem, short story, or article of my own design, the copyright remains with me, thank you.

I think it is very sad that writers, dreaming of publication, are so shamelessly used. To suggest that acknowledging and reviewing submissions is more important and time consuming than creating the works, which is what she implies when she complains about being inundated with multiple poor-quality emailed submissions from the same source, is insulting. I have been an editor, and yes, it can be frustrating. But that's her chosen job, and in most cases, it is not the equal of effort put in by the writer. So get organized, get a system, and streamline your process, because there is something wrong with it if it is so cumbersome.

Also, if charging a fee of ten bucks actually could eliminate typos, bad grammar, and poor writing, then I'd think paying several hundred dollars in tuition would be an even better screen. Guess again. I teach 35 or more students per semester, and believe me, the editor will need to go back to the drawing board if that is her goal in implementing this new policy.

Well, at least she demonstrates Moxie. Sadly, in this case it is not a good thing.