Natasha Wing's Blog

On this title I worked with cultural consultant, Gloria Garcia Diaz. She helped me get the details right and added so much more to the story. I was happy to consult with someone in my community, too so we can share the success of the book together. I also love how the illustrator brought so much color and life to the pages! Thank you, Nathalie Beauvois. 

Please share this story with people you know who are turning 15. 

Did you know that I've been in the movies? Yep! I was an extra in a bar scene with my husband in Daredevil. Unfortunately our scene was reshot with new extras. But Dan's part stayed in the director's cut!

Me and Dan dressed as bar patrons in Daredevil. I wish I had those lizard pants!

And I was an extra and stand-in in The Majestic. I was a townsfolk and wore a black wig.

Me standing in front of The Majestic movie theater. My sister's company, Heaven or Las Vegas made the neon sign.

My husband and I also attended movie premieres for an old friend, Mark Steven Johnson's, movies - Simon Birch and Daredevil. 

In my 20s I took a few film classes and made some music videos (MTV was big back then). I even took a stab at writing a feature movie script set in the barrio in Phoenix that I may rewrite someday.

So it's no surprise that I am coming full circle and writing scripts again, this time Christmas and Rom-coms.  I can't wait to see one of my movies on the screen! 

Did you know that I've been in the movies? Yep! I was an extra in a bar scene with my husband in Daredevil. Unfortunately our scene was reshot with new extras. But Dan's part stayed in the director's cut!

Me and Dan dressed as bar patrons in Daredevil. I wish I had those lizard pants!

And I was an extra and stand-in in The Majestic. I was a townsfolk and wore a black wig.

Me standing in front of The Majestic movie theater. My sister's company, Heaven or Las Vegas made the neon sign.

My husband and I also attended movie premieres for an old friend, Mark Steven Johnson's, movies - Simon Birch and Daredevil. 

In my 20s I took a few film classes and made some music videos (MTV was big back then). I even took a stab at writing a feature movie script set in the barrio in Phoenix that I may rewrite someday.

So it's no surprise that I am coming full circle and writing scripts again, this time Christmas and Rom-coms.  I can't wait to see one of my movies on the screen! 

On July 26, 2025, the Colorado Humanities held their Colorado Book Awards ceremony in Denver. I was honored to win the award in the Children's Literature category!

My husband came to support me and fellow writers, Laura Resau and Denise Vega, were also there as finalists. Such a fun night and good to be around book lovers!

My book, The Wire Zoo, was a project 30 years on the making so I'm happy to finally celebrate Elizabeth Berrien's extraordinary talents as a wire sculptor. 

You can check out The Wire Zoo here.

I raise a glass of champagne in celebration to all the literary talent we have in Colorado!

Each year, the Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education chooses the best children's books of the year. I am proud to announce that The Wire Zoo was chosen for books published in 2024!

Here's the link to the list. Check on page 30 for my book. Thanks again for all who teamed up to make a beautiful book with a good message for kids. 

I'm thrilled that my book, The Wire Zoo, is a finalist in the Children's Literature category. I share this honor with Denise Vega's Adela's Mariachi Band and Christine Liu-Perkins's The Quest for a Tangram Dragon. It'll be a fun (and nerve-wracking) evening in Denver on July 26 as the finalists discover which books are the award winners. Send good mojo!

After the election, I decided to minimize the toxic culture and how it infiltrates my life. So I migrated to Bluesky Social where there is more control of what I see and include in my feed. Plus a lot of librarians and kidlit writers are there too!

Here's where you can find me.  See you there!

In October, Humboldt County will be celebrating its 50th year of their Author Festival. I'll be one of the children's authors and will be visiting two local elementary schools in Arcata and Fortuna, CA. Then on Saturday, Oct. 19 all the authors will gather at the library to sign their books. So come on by and get my newest biography about an artist whom I met in Humboldt County, wire artist Elizabeth Berrien. Find out how she came to discover wire as her medium.

This is Liz and me in her Humboldt studio during an earlier Author Festival. 

And here's our book illustrated by Joanie Stone! The book is titled: The Wire Zoo: How Elizabeth Berrien Learned to Turn Wire into Amazing Art. It has received favorable reviews in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. 

As I look closer at retirement, there are a few project that I'd like to start and finish before I hang up my laptop - a novel for adults, a screenplay, and another self-published book. I hope there's time to finish them all, but even if I don't, I hope to conclude my writing career on a note of "at least I tried and stretched myself." Which means learning a whole new writing skill and format - screenwriting.

To prepare for this new year, new direction I cleaned up my office. I got real and closed out projects that don't have a chance of being published. I am putting aside the search for an agent. And I made folders for six projects to focus on. It's a good start. Now onward to writing and learning!

New this year! A Spanish version of The Night Before the Night Before Christmas. The cover art has been updated, but it's the same art inside. It'd be fun to compare the English rhyming version to the translater's version. Great gift for kids learning Spanish. Feliz Navidad!

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