{"id":5774,"date":"2023-07-13T17:58:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T07:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/?p=5774"},"modified":"2023-10-20T09:53:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T23:23:25","slug":"launching-ootw-sonya-bates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/2023\/07\/launching-ootw-sonya-bates\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching OUT OF THIS WORLD by Sonya Spreen Bates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In early July, on an unwelcoming Sunday afternoon, Wakefield Press HQ hosted the launch of Sonya Spreen Bates’ new middle grade adventure novel, Out of This World<\/a><\/em>. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are thrilled to be sharing launcher Adam Cece’s and author Sonya’s wonderful launching speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read them both below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Post written by Carney Sims<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Under a sky of threatening clouds, guests were merely met with interludes of sunshine between pleasant drizzle as they huddled from the laneway, and into the Wakefield bookshop for the launch of Sonya Spreen Bates\u2019 <\/strong>Out of This World<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We were joined by some of Sonya\u2019s loyal supporters and Wakefield Press frequenters, along with fellow children’s author Adam Cece. Adam, launcher of the intergalactic adventure novel, complemented his speech with a shoebox full of nostalgic childhood titles including The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em> by Douglas Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Sonya Spreen Bates and Adam Cece pose with Out of This World<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Welcome one, welcome all to the launch of Sonya Spreen Bates new middle-grade book, Out Of This World.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve known Sonya for a while. The literary and KidLit community in South Australia is pretty small and tight-knit. You tend to run into each other at events, and become friends, and some of the best people I know are other creatives in SA. While Out of This World<\/em> is a children\u2019s book, I first knew of Sonya as an adult author, the first book I saw of hers, was her adult thriller, Inheritance of Secrets<\/em>. I remember seeing the cover for this book and thinking it had the coolest tagline:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A brutal murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A wartime promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A quest for the truth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
I was thrilled to later discover she was also a children\u2019s author. I think Out of This World<\/em> is Sonya\u2019s fourth children\u2019s book. And while reading Out of This World<\/em> I could see the adult thriller writer at work. This book has twists and turns, and suspense, and action, and great characters, which jump off the page.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Sonya asked me to launch this book, how could I say no? Not only did I know Sonya was a great author, who writes great books, but it\u2019s also published by a fabulous South Australian publisher, Wakefield Press. I think we are pretty awesome in SA, with some of the best authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers. I mean let\u2019s face it, we rock!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
And I also love the fact this book is a middle-grade science-fiction action\/adventure. These are actually my favourite types of books, and I think that\u2019s because these were exactly the sort of books that inspired a love of reading in me when I was a kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember reading, as a young child, Space Demons<\/em> by Gillian Rubenstein, and I feeling like I was a different person the day after reading it to the day before. It changed me, both as a reader and as a person. Same with Ender\u2019s Game<\/em> by Orson Scott Card. As I got older I discovered sci-fi comedy in a big way. I binged it, and I got into books like Red Dwarf<\/em>, and a book called Only Forward<\/em> by Michael Marshall-Smith, which just changed my life (if you haven\u2019t heard of it, look it up).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But to celebrate the launch of Sonya\u2019s book today, I brought along some special show-and-tell. It is one of my favourite science fiction books, a book that changed my life, and I\u2019m sure many people\u2019s lives. And this is my original version, from 1986, when I was a 10-year-old: The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide <\/em>to the Galaxy. And when I found this book at home, I remembered that when I used to read books, I used to use money for bookmarks. I don\u2019t know if anyone else used to do this. Lo and behold when I opened my 1986 copy of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy<\/em>, what should I find, but a US one-dollar bill. I have NO idea where I got this from. I\u2019ve never even been to the US! And even more impressive is this, a two-dollar note. Now extremely rare. I\u2019m starting to wonder how much more money is lying around my house, tucked into the pages of books. Maybe thousands! And this money would mostly be found in sci-fi books, because a lot of these are the ones I read over and over again, and mark my favourite sections in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I guess what I\u2019m trying to say, in a roundabout sort of way, is when Sonya asked me to launch this book, I jumped at the opportunity. And after reading Out of this World<\/em>, I was so glad I did. Because we need more great middle-grade science-fiction action\/adventure in the world, which has heart and a great message. In short, we need more books like Out of This World <\/em>\u2026 in this world.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Now that was almost a bit of a play on words there. Which is hardly surprising, as those that know me know that I love bad dad jokes. So I couldn\u2019t do a launch, or any event really, without telling you some of my favourite dad jokes. Only three of them, because that\u2019s the most people can usually tolerate. Now I\u2019m hoping for a laugh with these, but I\u2019ll settle for a groan, as that is the expected minimum standard with dad jokes. And because we are launching a space-themed book today, these are all space-themed dad jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Why didn\u2019t the sun go to University? <\/em>
    Because it already had a million degrees.<\/em>
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It\u2019s impossible to put down.<\/em>
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What do you get when you cross Santa Claus with a space ship? <\/em>
    A U-F-Ho-Ho-Ho.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
    Now, when I go to the launches of fellow creatives in Adelaide, I always like to buy a copy of their book, especially if they are being published by a local publisher like Wakefield Press, so I can support the author, and support the publisher, and support the bookseller. But when you are launching a book, and doing a cover quote, you get a free book. It\u2019s awesome.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Today I am still going to buy a copy of the book, but I\u2019m going to give it away. And because I love bad dad jokes, I\u2019m going to give away one copy to any person who can tell me a space-themed dad joke. And if you don\u2019t have a space-themed one then I\u2019ll settle for a regular one, or if no-one can think of one then I\u2019ll give a free book to anyone who wants to come up and read out the extra dad joke I\u2019ve prepared in advance. If you have already got a copy of the book, then I\u2019ll buy you one of Sonya\u2019s other books, or a Wakefield Press book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Bonus: What is an astronauts favourite key on a keyboard? The space bar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    So now it is time to officially launch Out of This World<\/em>, and I think the best way to do it is with some appropriate science fiction music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Now when the book is launched, I want everyone to whoop and cheer, and let\u2019s have a huge round of applause \u2013 but we can only start our applause when the book reaches this arrow. This is where the book will be officially launched, and you can only clap, and whoop, and cheer, when it gets up to here. Let\u2019s go \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Adam proceeded to lift the book up in a climactic fashion, aligning his movements to the famous orchestral Star Wars<\/em> arrangement before the room filled with applause.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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    Sonya Spreen Bates’ Speech<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    It\u2019s wonderful to see so many friends and family and like-minded bookish people here today. Thanks so much for coming out to help celebrate the launch of this story. Even though I\u2019ve had a number of kids\u2019 books published, and my first adult novel in 2020, this is the first opportunity I\u2019ve had to have a book launch, and I\u2019ll give credit to Poppy and Kristy for talking me into it. I\u2019m really glad they did.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    This book, Out of This World<\/em>, has taken a lot years to come to fruition. I still have the first draft on my computer from 2008 \u2013 shortly after I\u2019d had my first children\u2019s book published and when my girls were reading middle-grade fiction themselves. Not that I\u2019ve been working on the story for all that time. After the initial drafts I put it away in a drawer and didn\u2019t work on it for a number of years. It was always a favourite story, though, and so eventually I pulled it out again, re-read it and realised how immature my writing was back then. Since then, it\u2019s gone through countless drafts, developing the characters more fully, expanding the plot, adding more tech. Name-changes, changes in voice and even a change in the main character \u2013 a trial to see what would happen if Hali were a boy. Needless to say, it didn\u2019t work \u2013 Hali is still a girl. One of the main premises of the story was that Hali and Zeb were twins who were completely different from one another. And so, having twin boys didn\u2019t quite gel, no matter how different I made them in physical appearance and temperament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We all know the stereotypes about twins being so close that they understand what the other is thinking, finishing each other\u2019s sentences, even making up their own languages that no one else understands. In fact, I worked with two-year-old twins when I was studying speech pathology who were just like that \u2013 one was more verbal, but seemed to understand the other and tended to \u2018interpret\u2019 for her. Obviously not all twins are like that, but that\u2019s the impression you get from watching news pieces or documentaries. And I didn\u2019t want to write about twins in particular \u2013 that wasn\u2019t my intention. I wanted to write about a girl who felt completely out of place. In her school, in her community, even in her family. So I turned the twin clich\u00e9 on its head. I made Hali and Zeb as different as possible, so different that they\u2019re actually different species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Of course, we don\u2019t have multiple humanoid species on Earth, so that took me into the realm of other planets \u2013 a planet where there are two different species who co-exist in the same community. And into the realm of science fiction. You\u2019d think that would be really freeing, right? You can make up whatever you like. But it doesn\u2019t quite work like that. Fictional worlds set in our own futuristic universe must follow the same rules as anywhere else \u2013 the universal laws of science. I had great fun though, inventing the planet of Hexa, thinking about land masses and seas, what the atmosphere was like, and the climate. How strong the gravity was, how many moons it had and what sort of star it orbited. And then, of course building the Hexian society \u2013 which is much more technically advanced than Earth and based around communal living \u2013 and the history of the Hexian people, both the Luma and the Daka. Just how did there come to be two different species on this planet anyway? I won\u2019t answer that question now though, because that would give too much away. You\u2019ll have to read the book to find out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    So that\u2019s how the idea for this story formed \u2013 with the characters of Hali and Zeb and their parents \u2013 and it took off from there. It\u2019s a story designed to be fun and entertaining and take the reader on a wild adventure through space and a discovery of a new planet and a new people. And, for Hali, a new understanding of who she is and where she fits in. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, a book doesn\u2019t come into being in isolation and there are a number of people who have helped bring Out of This World<\/em> to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First, I have to acknowledge my brother, Tom Spreen, for the assistance he gave me in the technical side of things. He\u2019s much more of a tech person than I am, with a degree in both computer science and mathematics and a long career as an airline pilot. He\u2019s the one who invented the terms HL or ‘hyperlight’ and SL or ‘sublight’ speed, and kindly passed them on to me when I first asked him about how to avoid the \u2018warp speed\u2019 of Star Trek<\/em>. He read the first draft of the re-written manuscript, and answered the myriad of random questions I shot him via Messenger. I\u2019d send him little bits of revision and he\u2019d tell me if he thought it worked. It was great having him as an enthusiastic consultant for this project and it definitely improved the \u2018science\u2019 aspect of the science fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Speaking of enthusiastic, I also want to thank Adam Cece and Janeen Brian for your wonderful endorsements. Your heartfelt testimonials mean a lot to me, coming from colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thank you, as well, to Micheal Bollon and Wakefield Press for taking on this book, and to Maddy Sexton, my editor, for believing in the story and helping to bring Hali and Zeb to life. Also to Polly Grant Butler for her support in promotion and planning and organising this launch. I\u2019m really so pleased that this story is going out into the world after all this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    And of course, thank you to my family who has supported me with my writing for so many years, and are here today helping with the food and taking photos. Claudia and I had a lot of fun decorating the slightly wonky space-themed food and I hope you enjoy it along with the lovely wine supplied by Cariole Vineyards in McLaren Vale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Adam, I\u2019d like to give you a little token of my appreciation for launching Out of This World<\/em>. When I was first thinking about having a launch, I knew you\u2019d be the perfect person to launch Out of This World<\/em>, and I wasn\u2019t wrong. Thanks so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thank you all again for coming and I hope you enjoy the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thanks to Sonya Spreen Bates and Adam Cece for allowing us to share their words from the launch. Out of This World<\/a><\/em> is now available for purchase through Wakefield Press<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    <\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    In early July, on an unwelcoming Sunday afternoon, Wakefield Press HQ hosted the launch of Sonya Spreen Bates’ new middle grade adventure novel, Out of This World. We are thrilled to be sharing launcher Adam Cece’s and author Sonya’s wonderful … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[225,77,761],"tags":[978,975],"class_list":["post-5774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-launches","category-new-releases","tag-adam-cece","tag-middle-grade"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4v1Of-1v8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5791,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5774\/revisions\/5791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}