Note: Natasha has an active Goodreads giveaway for a copy of this book, but only one day left to sign up.

When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut, I dreamed of snow days. For all you warm country people, that meant no school, snowman building, and sledding! The most disheartening sight was seeing the snowplow come rumbling down my street because that usually meant that the roads would be clear for buses to drive on, so school would resume the next day.

A few winters ago, New England experienced Snowmageddon. Plus I had several schools cancel their Skype visits due to snow days. Then I got fan mail asking if I would write a snow day book, something fun to read while the kids were snowed in. When I got the thumbs up from my editor at Grosset & Dunlap to write The Night Before the Snow Day, the research began.

“Research?” you ask. “For a fiction book about snow days?” Turns out when I started to draft this story, people at the publisher, and friends from snow country said they had a ritual they performed before bedtime that hopefully brought on a snow day.

So I went online and yep, there are rituals. Throw three ice cubes in each toilet of your house. Put your pajamas on inside out and backwards. Put a spoon under your pillow. Brush your teeth with your opposite hand. Do a snow dance. (You’ll have to read The Night Before the Snow Day to see which one I used.)

This is an example of how my Night Before books evolve. Often I get fan mail asking me to write another Night Before. Sometimes my editor and staff put in their two-cents worth and make idea suggestions. Other times I ask my friends about what they did as kids, and draw from my own memories. And then there’s always the internet to find all sorts of odd information. After that, it’s a matter of setting my story in current times, with kids and families who are fun to experience a special day with, in this case, Snow Day. And the most fun part for each Night Before story is coming up with what the kids are dreaming of when they nestle into bed.

As you can imagine, after writing 24 Night Before books, the challenge is to keep things fresh. I hope you all think I’ve done a good job of it. And keep those ideas for new Night Befores coming. I love fan mail! You can reach me on my author Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/natashawingbooks

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Natasha Wing is the author of the bestselling The Night Before series. This is the 24th book in the series with more on the way. Natasha lives in Fort Collins, Colorado and is saving urban prairie dogs. She enjoys the outdoors, unless she’s indoors writing. Natasha offers 2 free Skypes to elementary schools per month per school year.

Learn more about Natasha and her Night Before series on her website.