Form V Pupil Publishes First Novel

Form V pupil at Dollar Academy, Fergus McGhee, published his first novel “Beyond the Mist” shortly before Christmas 2006. He was recently interviewed on the J.K. Rowling website and a podcast became available at the end of January. J.K. Rowling sees Fergus’s book as creating a fantasy world for children, a genre of writing which he shares with her. A keen mathematician, Fergus has changed the concept of time in his parallel world - he has measured the clock out in “angles”.

Fergus lists his favourite literary influences as Dickens and C. S. Lewis. Like Dickens, Fergus shows skill in the sketching of minor characters and the transliteration of colourful dialects. Unusually, his heroine is a girl. He said he chose a girl in order to “tone down the action” in the book and because he felt that it was easier to write about the emotions of a female character.

Fergus’s younger sister Lizzie who is Form I at Dollar Academy revealed that her brother’s initial ideas for the book were tested out on her when Fergus entertained her when she was quite young, with storytelling sessions. Fergus started “Beyond the Mist” in his first year at the Academy, worked on it mostly in the school holidays and initially published it on the internet.

A journalist in Iceland, where the story begins and ends, became interested in a press release on Fergus’s website, and an interview with Fergus eventually led to the book being published by an Icelandic publisher in October 2006. The novel is selling well in France and Germany, and translation into Icelandic is now taking place.

Fergus is currently studying for Highers in French, German, English, Maths, Physics and Economics, the last of these being the subject he hopes to graduate in from university before a career as a fund manager. He is also a keen musician, specialising in piano and organ.

“Beyond the Mist” is stocked by Waterstone’s or can be bought on line from Amazon.