Magyk times for Mylor writer Angie

By JOHN HUTCHINS

CREATIVE imagination and 20 years of hard work have paid off for a Mylor author who has seen her first novel rocket to number one in the New York Times children's books best sellers list.

Angie Sage, of Restronguet Creek, has greeted the success of her novel Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk with a mixture of excitement and trepidation as her sudden success sees her jet off to the United States this week for a three week promotion tour.

The 100,000 word, 49 chapter book takes the reader into a world of wizards, castles, far off lands with quirky characters, clever charms, potions and spells, and a yearning to uncover the mystery at the heart of the story - who is Septimus Heap? It is also, says its fans, full of fun and humour.

Bloomsbury, her UK publishers, described the novel as "a hugely imaginative and darkly humorous adventure, with a richly layered plot and brilliantly quirky characters."

Angie's agent sold the novel on the strength of her first ten chapters to American literary house Harper Collins and now 15 other publishers have taken up the option throughout Europe, South America and Japan.

Angie, aged 52, told the Packet: "It was quite scary when I first sent it off but the New York editor said they loved it and were really interested. I am fortunate to have hit the market at the right time, when children have really got back into reading again and on a subject matter that they are really interested in."

Although there are obvious connections with the hugely successful Harry Potter series, Angie plays down any comparisons, although she is grateful to the success of J K Rowling's books because now people take children's novels more seriously.

Originally from the Thames Valley, Angie went to art school in Leicester to study graphic design and illustration. For more than 20 years she illustrated scores of children's books including Molly at the Dentist, Hello Ducks and No Banana - aimed at five to sever-year-olds. From illustration she has now turned her focus into creative writing and Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk is her first novel, although its success suggests that it will be more than a trilogy, and there is even hope of a possible film.

She moved to Mylor six years ago, although she has been coming to Cornwall for the past ten, and says that the county is the inspiration for much of the book. Many of the character names and places are Cornish and she even used the tide times tables for Falmouth as part of her storyline.

Angie, who lives with her partner Rhodri in a house overlooking Restronguet Creek, said: "As soon as I came here I loved the atmosphere of Cornwall. It is a magical place which has a different feel to anywhere else where anything could happen."

Ever since she received a phone call from her editor at Harper Collins in the New York at midnight telling her that her book was top of the New York Times children's books her world has temporarily been turned upside down.

She is flying off t the USA on a whistle-stop tour of New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Memphis, Nashville and two venues in Canada where she will be making 30 minute presentations in front of up to 500 children (sometimes three times a day), signing books and doing interviews.

"I am a little stunned by it all. It's like being on the edge of a high diving board and you are about to jump off. You don't know what to expect but it's very exciting and a touch scary at the same time."

For Angie it is all new and she takes a practical view by seeing it all as a learning curve and looks forward to the challenges of writing more Septimus Heap books. All the talk of possible films or large royalty cheques are not the primary concern of the authoress.

She told the Packet: "Throughout all this the most brilliant buzz I get is from the figures from the Public Lending Library, which tell me how many people are borrowing and reading my book. It's a lovely feeling."

Almost Magyk.

(Falmouth Penryn Packet, week ending 23 April 2005)