> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://justincox.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Write Now With Kaz Windness
- URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2025/01/write-now-with-kaz-windness/
- Published: 2025-01-29T16:00:22.000Z
- Updated: 2025-01-29T16:00:22.000Z
- Description: Today's Write Now interview features Kaz Windness, author and illustrator of BITSY BAT, TEAM STAR.
- Author: Justin Cox
- Tags: Interview, #kaz-windness

## Who are you?

Kaz Windness, artist-author-educator, Denver, Colorado.

## What do you write?

I’ve wanted to write and illustrate [children’s books](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bitsy-Bat-Team-Star/Kaz-Windness/The-Bitsy-Bat-Series/9781665947558?ref=justincox.com) for as long as I can remember. When I was little, we didn’t have a TV, and my mom read a lot to me and my little brother. That’s where it started.

I try to avoid swear words? Lol! But seriously, I gravitate to main characters with big personalities and especially animal characters because I love drawing them best. I also write for older kids and teens and am working on a series of spooky, creepy stories right now. I don’t write for adults, not currently, anyway, although I believe picture books are for everyone.

## Where do you write?

I have a cozy office with deep green walls and a deep green velvet couch. I’m sitting here now still in PJ’s with a hot cup of coffee. I do both my writing and illustrating on a Microsoft Surface book. I will sometimes move to paper and pen or pencil if I’m getting screen-weary. There’s something magical about how the brain wakes up by making that pen-to-paper connection. I do my best thinking on paper.

![](https://justincox.com/content/images/2024/12/Bitsy-Bat--Team-Star---Cover.jpg)

Photo courtesy of Kaz Windness

## When do you write?

My best writing time is in the morning. I get up before my family and put on my happy light (full spectrum light to combat seasonal depression) and open up a WIP that inspires me. Usually I can get in an hour of writing before anyone needs me. More on the weekends. Writing requires a lot of decision-making, and if I try to write later in the day, I’ve used most of that bandwidth, and it goes slowly.

## Why do you write?

I’m usually trying to work out something difficult from my childhood and envision a world that understands and accepts people with differences. I also love humor and wordplay and find that fun and escapism to be just as valuable as wrestling with difficult topics.

## How do you overcome writer's block?

I rarely experience what you might call writer’s block. The Pomodoro method of setting a timer for 20-minutes and free writing without expectation or editing usually works to get the writing flowing again. I also know I do my best writing in the morning with a cup of coffee. As long as I don’t check email first, the words flow.

I sometimes have creative blocks, and that is usually because I’m overworked and tapped out or stressed out. Allowing myself a fun day with a friend helps me fill my bucket again.

## Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?

Drawing! My favorite activity is taking a sketchbook to the aquarium or zoo and drawing animals. I also love people-watching and sketching at a coffee shop. Drawing is soothing and stimming for me, and observing and documenting on paper helps me understand and appreciate the world around me. I also almost always come up with new characters and book ideas when I’m sketching.

---

*My thanks to Kaz Windness for today's interview.*