I know it’s not actually Bring Your Child to Work Day today,

I don’t know if you can truly appreciate the injustice of this if you are not a first grader or living with three first graders. Trust me when I say that it’s a heinous sentence for the one with trudging homeward with a backpack full of unsolved math problems.

And terrible mother that I am, I find it a tad bit funny. I know, I know—I do feel bad about having a chuckle over it. But actually, I respect the teacher’s decision. A little homework is not going to kill the boy and what’s the harm in a bit of math practice to keep the saw sharp? That should be a good thing. So I try to tell my son that his teacher really cares about him and doesn’t want him to back-slide during vacation. That she must truly love her students and that I truly support her practice of vacation math booklets.

He still thinks it’s a raw deal.

So I try to make it less raw. I take said son to Starbucks with me, let him order a large, whipped cream-capped hot chocolate and a muffin, then sit with him while he works on his math. I work on my editing or writing. We work together, sipping and scritch-scratching and having a special little outing. Yes, I know it’s not Disneyland, but I also think it’s not so bad. Know how I know? Because one of my other sons told me last weekend that he wanted to do his extra writing practice—which none of my other sons had—at Starbucks with a drink and a muffin of his own. “Just like you did with my brother, Mommy.”

Further proof that Mommy can make anything better.

The full “Super Moon,” scientifically known as a “perigee moon,” is the closest and largest full moon of 2012. It appeared 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual as its closest approach to Earth coincided with a full moon. An amazing (and smart) evening for a night hike. Thanks, Mrs. I., for the invitation to join you at the top of the mountain.

Today my three first graders

Being a writer and all, I thought these were great mother-son getaways.

Being a first grader and all, my son thought these were lovely opportunities to get apple cider and a muffin.

Either way, we got to write together. Now that’s what I call fun cramming.

I just came across Digital Book World’s Feb 7, 2012, blog post “Best Publishing Companies to Work For.” I was vaguely interested in seeing how their list shaped up, and what criteria went into it, so I gave it a read. But the results and criteria have pretty much slipped away from me. What has stuck is the first paragraph, which I posted above. They’ve articulated the very reason I loved working within a publishing house—yes, it’s a business, and yes, the bottom line is making money for the company so that it can stay in business, but it’s pretty dang awesome to go to work side-by-side with people who love books and writing so much that they’ll dedicate their lives to it. And that’s what a career is, a choice that defines your entire life. Those who work within a publishing house have blended their personal passions and their employment, and it’s a wonderful place to spend one’s day.

Sometimes I miss reporting to that office and talking books and writing with these “intelligent, hard-working people” almost every day, for the bulk of my day. But only sometimes. The fact is, even though I work from my home now, I still get to talk books and writing almost every day, for the bulk of my day. I just do it through the Internet. Honestly, the publishing community lives in hyperspace! And I get talk talk books and writing with even more people now because of the networking opportunities of social media. So even though I gave up the report-to-the-office, in-house publishing life when my triplets were infants, thanks to modern technology, I can still blend my personal passions and my employment … I just get to do it from my living room. And that’s a wonderful place to spend one’s day.

Desperate to meet a deadline despite the fact that the boys are home with me on Spring Break,

Three minutes later, I’m cringing at what sounds like a herd of buffalo pounding across the ceiling over my head. I expected pieces of plaster to rain down into my hair.

“No running in the house!” I hollered up the stairs. “No playing chase in the house! You know that!”

“We’re not running!” they shouted down.

“Then what’s all that noise I’m hearing?”

“We’re playing puppies. That’s the pit pat of our cute little paws.”

If you’re Clifford. I reworded my orders, telling them to find something to play that’s not rowdy, then moved back to my seat in front of the computer. Deadlines care nothing about pit pats, puppies, or 7-year-olds on Spring Break.

And it turns out 7-year-olds care nothing about deadlines. I now sit here cringing as they follow my directions and play something non-rowdy: the drums.

That electronic babysitter is looking much more attractive….

As the San Diego weather

• Breakout Session – How to Talk Like a Teen When You’re So Not One: Writing Dialogue in YA/MG Fiction
  Teen readers want to hear directly from the teen characters in their books. The dialogue you write must be able to entertain your young readers, intrigue them, inform them, comfort them, and, depending on which characters are moving their lips, sound like them. By applying the techniques in this session, you can craft successful dialogue for young adult fiction.
• Intensive -  Going from Good to Great: Revising Your MG/YA Novel
  This workshop teaches you how to analyze your YA/MG manuscript and arms you with techniques for revising the elements you find lacking. Participants must have completed a draft of a YA or MG novel.
• Intensive – Writing for Teens? Then Think Like One
  Whether your narrator is your young main character or an all-knowing omniscient being, there are ways to convince young readers that you understand them and their view of the world—and to hook’em good and hard in the process. This workshop teaches techniques for creating a narrative sensibility that reflects the way teens think, resulting in teen fiction that “clicks” with young readers.

Listen carefully, because there are so many great lines. Well done, ladies!

Revision Week brings together eight prolific, bestselling, award-winning authors for a week of revision tips, insights, and stories from the trenches. Each day I post a new interview in the hopes that the writers who visit DearEditor.com can learn from writers who turn first drafts into lauded books every day. To make it extra fun, I’ve been giving away a free partial edit each day, with a full manuscript edit giveaway lined up for Saturday.

Here are the amazing writers who have made Revision Week so inspiring that readers have asked for it to be an annual event (and I’ve agreed wholeheartedly!):

Cynthia Leitich Smith, bestselling YA gothic novelist, picture book writer, short story writer, and popular children’s lit blogger: “Back when every novel I wrote was wholly new, I used to write a “discovery draft” wherein, after some prewriting, I plunged in and wrote a full story (with a beginning, middle, and end—say, 35,000 to 60,000 words) to get to know my protagonists, their goals and their world. When I was done, I would print it. Read it. Toss it. And delete the file.”

Kathleen Krull, author of more than 60 books, especially picture books and biographies for young readers: “When I get to the point of taking out commas and putting them back in again, I feel ready to send it off.”

R.L. LaFevers, author of the 13 novels for young people, including the popular middle grade series Theodosia Throckmorton and Nathaniel Fludd Beastologist, and now the forthcoming His Fair Assassin YA trilogy: “There is a point where you aren’t necessarily making it better—just making it different. Or so I try to tell myself.”

Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Theo Baker, popular chapter book collaborators: “[With collaborations] you have to be very flexible in your negotiations so both parties come away feeling ownership of the final draft, and also very sensitive not to make it a critique of your partner’s talents but a decision of what works best at any given moment in the manuscript.”

Mark A. Clements, horror/suspense author, screenwriter, and prolific ghostwriter: “I never share even slightly rough material and I don’t seek out advice on how to ‘fix’ something. I don’t believe in writing by committee.”

Nathan Bransford, top blogger and former literary agent-turned-author of the Jacob Wonderbar middle grade books: “I was a very hands-on agent. I always thought it was important to make sure the manuscript was as good as possible before going out to editors.”

If you’re curious about what else these folks have to say, click over to Revision Week and check out each interview.

The third born of my trio

One belly flop and two chest x-rays later, the Halversons have a new rule: No back flips on the monkey bars.