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About Natalia Lialina

Natalia grew up in the family of an electrician and an elementary school teacher in a small town in Siberia, Russia. Since childhood, she was enchanted with the beautiful language and whimsical imagery of Russian fairy tales and children's books. She studied Russian Language and Literature in Krasnoyarsk State University (as of 2006, Siberian Federal University) and received a Master of Arts degree in 1996. She worked in publishing for several years prior to moving to the USA in 2002.

Since 2007, Natalia lives and writes in a small maritime community near Tacoma, Washington, on the shore of beautiful Puget Sound. Since 2009, Natalia has been a Bilingual Story Time presenter for King County Library System. For her work with  children, she was honored with the Federal Way School District Award and Washington State PTA Golden Acorn. The Pacific Northwest became her home in the deepest sense, and its mystical spirit reminds her of her native Siberia (luckily, not the climate) and inspires her fairy tales.

Natalia started writing poems and stories as a child, published her first article in a local newspaper at the age of 12 (and received an unexpected royalty for it), and hasn't stopped writing in one form or another ever since. She writes in Russian and English and has publications in both Russia and the USA, online and in print. Her debut children's book Anya and Her Wings ("Аня и её крылышки") was published in 2016, creating a precedent for a rewarding collaboration with her brother, illustrator Andrei Lialin, daughter Anna and husband Justin Donie.

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About Chickenleg House

Chickenleg House Creative group draws its name from two sources: the beloved Russian folk stories where the hut on chicken legs appears every time we meet Baba Yaga, and the humble fisherman's cabin on the shore of Puget Sound where some of the group members spent a few unforgettable years. The cabin became a secluded writer's retreat, and the everyday closeness with nature brought the sense of both peace and wonder at the same time, which lead the Chickenleg House residents to living the creative life that they were longing for. And even though the members of the group live on two different continents, they found synergy between them.

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Natalia Lialina

writer, author, storyteller, linguist

Tacoma, Washington, USA

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Justin Donie

producer of our books,

English text editor, photographer

Tacoma, Washington, USA

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Andrei Lialin

book illustrator, web designer

designer of AnyaStories.com

Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Andrei Lialin Art

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Anna

the inspiration behind the main character of AnyaStories

high school student

designer of this site

Tacoma, Washington, USA

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