Creator Corner: Author and Illustrator Shiva Delsooz
Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent and upcoming books. For this post, we interviewed It Began with a Buzz author and illustrator Shiva Delsooz, whose book is publishing October 14, 2025!
Owlkids Books: Shiva, how did you begin writing and illustrating children’s books?
Shiva Delsooz: Growing up I’ve always had a passion for drawing, but wasn’t sure of the next step. While I was in college, my professor introduced me to children’s publishing and I’ve been here since.
OKB: What was the inspiration for writing this book?
SD: I got the inspiration from my own personal experience with tinnitus and hearing loss. As a child, I didn’t have many people to talk to or understand the new situation I was in and now as an author and illustrator it was an experience I wanted to share with others.
OKB: What themes or topics do you enjoy exploring in your illustrations?
SD: I love fantasy. Drawing whimsical scenes to creating fantasy characters are some of my favorite things to do, especially drawing mermaids and witches. I also love illustrating anything Halloween or spooky.
OKB: What was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life? What was the most challenging part of the process?
SD: Some of my favorite spreads to work on were the winding of the music box scenes. I just loved how the colors and illustration brought forth the intensity and emotions even with little to no next. What I found the most challenging was to come up with a proper cover design that would work well with the story.
OKB: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
SD: Just that readers following my character’s journey with tinnitus are able to resonate with her would make me happy.
OKB: What’s an interesting fact people may not know about you?
SD: I am terrified of all types of animals. Unfortunately, I’m the type that freezes like a statue in the presence of one so I have to stick to cute and funny videos of animals instead.
Thank you so much Shiva for taking the time to do this interview and creating a wonderful book! We hope readers enjoy It Began with a Buzz as much as we did!
Grab your copy today!
