Sonya Spreen BatesSonya Spreen Bates is a Canadian writer and author who has made South Australia her home since 1997. She writes for adults and children. Sonya started writing when her children were young, and had her first children's book published in 2003. Her debu adult novel, Inheritance of Secrets (HarperCollins Australia, 2020), was shortlisted for the inaugural Banjo Prize in 2018 as an unpublished manuscript. It was also shortlisted in the 2021 Davitt Awards for Best Debut Crime Novel. Sonya's children's novels have received many commendations from the Canadian Children's Book Centre 'Best Books for Kids and Teens', and her middle grade novel Oh Brother (Orca Book Publishers, 2020) was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award in 2020. When not writing or reading, Sonya loves to travel, and is happy to be getting back to it after a break in 2020/2021. She has two grown-up daughters (who thankfully live not too far away) and lives in Adelaide with her husband, her devoted golden retriever and a very grumpy cat. Read More Read Less