See Sharon's website for more about her, and her books, and how to buy them!
http://tereosingalong.co.nz/
I started writing seriously when I was seven years old. I loved writing stories and entering writing competitions. I wanted to be a writer when I left school, but my father said it was impossible. He said I should be a teacher because I liked children… After a short interlude as a teacher, I found a career as a journalist, which meant I was paid to write stories. However, I still really wanted to write stories for children and I started doing that when I turned 40. I haven’t stopped.
At the moment, the only work I produce is my Te Reo Singalong books, which I write and publish. The latest book in the series is Matariki, which is published in April. The next book in the series comes out in July. It is called He aha tēnei? and is about bugs. Before I became busy with my Te Reo Singalong books, I wrote for Learning Media and have had lots of things published in School Journals and Ready to Read books. I’ve also had two My Story books published by Scholastic and a few other bits and pieces too.
I work all the time, everywhere. My main job at the moment is writing, co-ordinating, publishing, marketing and selling my books. I do that with my husband Alan from our home in Hamilton. I nearly have an office. It’s the end of our dining room.
This year, I am also a student at Waikato University. I am doing a Māori Language Immersion course called Te Tohu Paetahi. At the moment I am mainly working on improving my fluency in te reo and getting people to pay for my books so I can pay my mortgage and feed my family!
The most satisfying part of my work is reading my books to and with children. It’s amazing to see that a small idea gives children so much joy. I also love receiving phone calls and emails from teachers and parents who love my books. It makes the tough days and the tricky financial times more bearable.
The most challenging part of my work is dealing with other people in a business like way. That doesn’t come naturally to me, but I am slowly getting better at it. It can also be challenging as a non-Māori author and publisher of books in te reo which are written and published for everyone, no matter what their ethnicity. Not everyone understands that.
I always have lots of exciting projects planned for the future. But it’s best to concentrate on one thing at a time, so at the moment I’m concentrating on sticking to the basics of keeping my business running and studying hard.
I have admired Margaret Mahy as a writer for as long as I can remember. I met her many years ago when I was a new journalist in Christchurch. Her style is quirky and unique and quizzical. I also love Mo Willems for his pigeon books, as they are so much fun to read aloud. For me, the test of a great book is how easy and fun it is to read aloud. But my favourite children’s author has to be Kate diCamillo. Her book called the The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a MUST READ NOW. And I really mean that.
I live in Hillcrest in Hamilton. We moved here from Kihikihi just over three years ago. Hamilton is wonderful. I really enjoy my life here. I work at home in my business and I study te reo at the university. You can often also find me working in the kitchen, particularly when it’s close to dinner time. My most recent “job” was at Hillcrest Library. I had a secret desire to work in a library and I’m very glad I have crossed that off my bucket list. Actually, I would love to LIVE in a library! Wouldn’t that be great?
Spare time? I like to sleep in my spare time. I also love to read and play Scrabble. I don’t have much actual spare time, but I always try to find time to watch my teenagers play sport. I also recently learned how to spin and make scrumbles!