Redgrave author David Oates releases second in series of books

An author has released his second book, The Dream Hoarder, having completed his first during lockdown.

David Oates, from Redgrave, has found time to write his books, which are a series, in between working as a teacher at Hopton Primary School.

“My latest book follows some abstract themes,” he said. “It’s classified as fantasy or adventure and is aimed at seven to nine year olds.

“It is slightly longer than my first one and has a deaf character, which is a nod to my previous role working at Westgate Primary, which has a deaf support unit.

“It has shorter chapters than the first and is full of action, so it makes for easy reading. I have a few more ideas in the pipeline, including stealing joy, but I’ll keep working on ideas for as long as the publisher wants to publish them.”

The 42-year-old, who also illustrated his book, who started working at his current school in September and has already shared extracts of his book with pupils.

“Kids are very honest, so it was actually a bit scary and I was worried whether they would enjoy it, but I got a good response,” he said.

“Sharing stories with people and seeing them respond to them and get enjoyment from them is a great part of being an author.

“Writing and illustrating have always been a part of my life, and it’s great to think my stories will be there, still being discovered and enjoyed by children, hopefully for years to come.

“There’s not really any limit to the amount of abstract ideas you can turn in to a book, so I’m delighted to be able to keep turning those ideas in to books, and will keep doing that for as long as I can.”

Released in February, The Dream Hoarder is published by Emira Press and can be bought from Amazon in paperback for £6, along with being available from Diss Publishing.