Today we’d like to introduce you to Cazzy Zahursky.
Hi Cazzy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always had an affinity for artistic expression. As a child, my parents’ first nickname for me was Doodle (meaning little daughter), which happened to become my very first word, “doo-dle”, which serendipitously evolved into one of several hobbies of mine: intricate and elaborate doodling. You won’t find an old notebook of mine that isn’t covered in these said doodles.
My father and his mother, my grandmother, were very artistically inclined. My grandmother and her sister were prominent artists in Pittsburgh. My grandmother was an illustrator for department store ads in newspapers back in the day when drawings were used more than photographs in newspapers. My father had art pieces that were reproduced by the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in NYC. My grandmother had pieces in the Carnegie Museum. Their talents had a strong influence on me.
Later, my school electives were filled with writing courses, yearbook editing courses & clubs, various art classes, and more. Despite my family’s heavy influence and my innate gravitation towards the arts, they strongly encouraged me to pursue the sciences. I obliged and found myself entrenched in the biotechnology field, double majoring in biotechnology and computer science. After a brief two years stint at a biotechnology company, I found myself revisiting the arts, this time the performing arts for several decades. I fell in love with the expressive and liberating form of storytelling. I began writing custom stories for the children of close friends as unique birthday gifts. Several of these friends strongly encouraged me to look into publishing the stories for the general child population. It wasn’t until I had children of my own and our daily visits to the library, did I take this suggestion more seriously. My children were the missing link that gave me that final push to bring my stories to publishing fruition. As soon as my kids were born, it gave my passion for storytelling a clear purpose.
The storyline of the first book I published derived from the personal influences and dichotomy of my daughters. Being a newbie to the publishing world, it took me two years to learn the industry standards of publishing a children’s book. Along with having two young children, I chose to take on the challenge of wearing nearly all of the hats and was learning everything from book dimensions to illustrating for publication, to formatting, to the editing processes, to printing, to marketing, and much more. Even after eight years, I’m still learning to this day.
Once I completed my first book, Escape to Fairy Kingdom, the process of bringing my other storyline ideas to life was much more fluid. I began writing and illustrating more regularly. Along the way, I’ve also created my own press and my own storytelling YouTube Channel, Circle Time Books, where I bring the stories of other authors’ books and my own to life through fun voices, sound effects, animation, and more. I have plushies and other paraphernalia of my characters to complement my books, as well. I attend many vending events, library appearances, school visits both in-person and virtual. I’ve paid visits to classrooms in numerous states and even a virtual visit to a classroom in China. I have even been honing the craft of ventriloquism with a custom-made ventriloquist Barnabee puppet, one of my beloved book characters from my book series. Barnabee and I spread the love of literacy, engaging children through humor-filled, playful performances.
I have 14 published books with several more on the way. I’m currently working on the illustrations for my third book in my Barnabee series and have other stories I’m working on in various stages.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
While my author and illustrator journey has been fueled by passion and ambition and my experiences along the way have been truly rewarding, it hasn’t always been a smoth road. I’d say it’s been more of a rocky road – just like the ice cream, lumpy and delightful. All joking aside, the road to being a published author and illustrator has presented a myriad of obstacles. In fact, it’s been more challenging than not. In the beginning, every time I took a step forward, I’d quickly find myself taking several steps back. In addition to all that I’ve had to learn about the industry, choosing to have total creative control and to wear all of the hats has created added challenges. Honestly, I find that writing the story is the easy part. Then illustrating follows suit, though more time-consuming. It’s the formatting, printing, and marketing that leads to pulling hair out. Espectially the marketing. Marketing is where the real grind lives. Every achievement I’ve had has been backed by hours of hustle and shameless self-promotion. The less artistic side is much less enjoyable for me, but my passion for writing and illustrating outweighs everything else.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a muliti-award winning children’s book author and illustrator of entertaining stories with social-emotional lessons. I write stories for children that I hope will elicit emotions from laughter to tears. It’s important to me that my stories make one think and `feel’ something. I’m big on plays on words when I write. I write my stories with the intention of being enjoyable for both children and adults.
In addition to spreading a love of literature through writing and illustrating books, I spread that same love through school author visits. I have been honing the craft of ventriloquism to bring these visits to life. Using a custom-created ventriloquist puppet of my beloved book character, Barnabee, I present a high-energy, entertaining performance for students. Barnabee and I explain the publishing process and show children just how fun and exciting reading and writing can be.
I also do a weekly YouTube read-aloud on my YouTube Channel, Circle Time Books: www.YouTube.com/@CircleTimeBooks. Each week, I bring a new book by a different author to life through silly voices, sound effects, and animation. My channel is utilized in classrooms and among caretakers and parents who want story time and screen time all in one! Screen time without the guilt.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I believe luck is only a small fraction of the bigger picture we often define as success. Luck won’t do anyone any good without putting in the work and first getting one’s ducks in a row. One must work hard to build a strong foundation. In my case, writing good books is what allows luck to make any real impact. I believe that people who appear to find success easily often pour hours of unseen work into their craft. It’s important to build momentum, get your work seen by others, network, create your own opportunities, and even step outside your comfort zone. So, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones to have a run-in with Mr. Luck, you’re ready for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CircleTimeBooks.com
- Instagram: @CazzyCreates
- Facebook: @CircleTimeBooks
- Twitter: @CazzyCreates
- Youtube: https://www.Youtube.com/@CircleTimeBooks
- Other: TikTok: @circle.time.books
