HELLO…
It’s great to have you here.
My name is Nicola J Rowley and I’m a children’s author from Hersham, Surrey in the United Kingdom.
I wrote my first story about a cat, a witch and a spaceship when I was six, and since then have been head over heels in love with stories and storytelling.
Mug the Wumph the Dancing Wizard is my third children’s book and follows on from my two picture books James and the Amazing Gift and James and the Birthday Balloon (which went on to win two awards).
But this book is special. Not only is it my first children’s chapter book aimed at 7-12 year-old’s. But it has been 37 years in the making.
You see, when I was nine, my dad came up with the idea of a wizard called Mug the Wumph. This is in his memory to say thank you for those bedtime stories.
Happy reading! Nicola x
THE STORY…
12-year-old Minty Taylor is a daydreamer.
She loves to lose herself in her own imagination and artwork of fantasy characters.
She is struggling with loneliness at school, after two of her closest friends are among twelve pupils, who mysteriously disappear during an Orienteering lesson overseen by bumbling supply teacher Mr Crumpler.
Then one day, Minty discovers a unique ten-sided copper coin, inscribed with the words “Quaerite et Invenietis.” Taken by its beauty, though others think it is just “tat”, she picks it up and holds onto it for safe keeping.
Later that night, while she is struggling to sleep because of the summer heat, she remembers the coin, and tosses it into the air.
Without realising it, she has summoned Mug the Wumph the Dancing Wizard, Cupro Blue his faithful cat and the magical Concur Bird, who arrive in Minty’s road on a small blue floating carpet.
What unfolds is an epic magical adventure.
Mug the Wumph is convinced that Grimacant, an evil wizard who lives on the other side of Wild Boar Wood is up to no good.
Is the disappearance of Minty’s best friends and her other classmates just a co-incidence or is Grimacant stripping them of their memories and using them to his own end?
And how does Mr Crumpler fit into everything?
Mug the Wumph is a magical tale of dancing wizardry, beautiful music and the imagination and bravery of a 12-year-old girl put to good use to help save the children from Primrose Valley Comprehensive.