By REBECCA BILLS
EDUCATOR, author, presenter, wife and mum, Sharon Witt is one passionate and busy lady.
Whether she is jetting off to Sydney to be live on breakfast television, being interviewed on radio across the country, or teaching in the classroom, Mrs Witt is dedicated to all things parenting and educational for teenagers.
With eight books published to her name, Mrs Witt said she spends the majority of her time as a secondary teacher but is often invited to speak at youth events, youth and leadership camps or is busy running a variety of programs in schools across the country.
“One of my most popular seminars I run in schools is for teen girls called No Body’s Perfect, which opens up the issues surrounding body image, the media and digital retouching of images.”
On the recent release of her new series Girlwise, she moved her attention from the later teen years to girls in the ‘tween’ age bracket of six to 12 years of age.
“I wanted to create a series uniquely and deliberately aimed at younger girls and the issues they may face well before they hit the teen years,” she said.
“I have received so many requests over the years from parents in particular, to create a series for the younger demographic.
“For me, it seemed that girls in particular needed books written just for them.”
Mrs Witt said she has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with teenagers in her role as a high school teacher and is inspired and energised to work with this age group.
“I find teenagers very real, honest and hilariously funny – I also find teenagers to be very passionate about things they feel strongly about,” she said.
“I also happen to have two teenagers of my own whom I think are pretty awesome too.”
Having been a secondary school teacher for the past 15 years at Mount Evelyn Christian School and an educator for more than 21 years, Mrs Witt said her many years in the industry has helped her write her books.
“I live and breathe teenage life, so I guess it really helps to know the sort of subjects I need to write about for them,” she said.
“The students I work with, both at the school that I work at and in the groups I get to work with around the country, are great at offering advice, reading through rough drafts of manuscripts and telling me if something doesn’t make sense.”
Two years ago, Mrs Witt’s first three books in her first series Teen Talk were published in the United Kingdom.
“It was pretty awesome knowing that teenagers were reading my books all the way over there,” she said.
“A funny incident occurred earlier this year when I went to my letterbox and found a package from Germany.
“I was stunned to find a copy of one of my best-selling books, Teen Talk, Girl Talk, in German.”
Sharon said the support of her family and friends has been incredibly important over the past few years.
“Writing can be such a lonely journey when you are locked away for hours on end,” she said.
“My friends and family are a constant support and encouragement – I don’t think I would have possibly written half the books I have without the incredible support of my family.”
Mrs Witt said she still has at least two more books in the Girlwise series planned and she hopes to publish them next year.
“The plans are already in place for a boy version after that so we’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.
“I am also thrilled that the Girlwise series will be published in the United Kingdom in February 2014, so I guess a trip over there will be planned very soon.”
For more information on Sharon Witt and her range of best-selling books, visit www.sharonwitt.com.au.
