Septimus Heap - Development

Development

Author Angie Sage has said that the character of Septimus Heap, his ultimate fate, and the world he inhabits, were fully formed in her imagination from the beginning, but she had not decided on the intermediate steps on his journey, nor on the characters he would meet. Sage described Septimus Heap's world as a place where numerous creatures and people suddenly appear and become involved in events.

Commenting on the development of the Septimus Heap character, Sage has described him as someone in a strange and hostile world who has no idea of his real identity. The series gained momentum with the development of the character of Marcia Overstrand, which Sage credits as an inspiration. Septimus Heap is centred around the warmth and strength of the Heap family. In an interview Sage said:

I like their chaotic acceptance of life, and the fact that they don't do what they are told by authority if they think it is wrong. Stuff happens to them that makes their life difficult at times but they don't moan about things, they just get on and sort it out as best they can. They are remarkably accepting of other people, I think because they are so strong as a unit. They are also a family which becomes separated by circumstances- and I wanted to show that families can still be close to each other and care for each other even though they live apart. The family relationships develop as the books progress, and are central to the story.

Sage keeps a boat (called Muriel) in real life, as does the character Sally Mullin in Magyk. Other inspirations for the series included Sage's love of history and the misty landscape of Cornwall, where she lived before starting the series. Another factor in the development of the series was her love of daydreaming: "Slowly ... lots of thinking, and daydreaming. I am a big fan of daydreaming and staring out of the window. Then keeping all my thoughts and ideas in a dog-eared old envelope for ages." With The Wilton Villager, Sage further expanded her inspiration behind the series.

It was an idea I had had for a very long time, and I waited a long time while it grew and developed. I try and write the books I would have loved to have read as a child and teenager. It all started with the spelling of the first title, 'Magyk.' I felt the way that magic is normally spelled makes people think of conjuring tricks and stage magicians and I wanted to avoid that, but in the past, before spelling became standardized, people would spell words how they chose to, sometimes in different ways in the same sentence. Magic was often spelled magyck, so all I did was to change that a little. After that I carried on using archaic spelling for words associated with magic and the supernatural. It makes them look a little different, gives a different flavor to them.