St. John's Senior Publishes First Novel At 17

A 17 year old senior at St. John's Prep has published his first novel after about a year of steady writing. Evan Scollard, who is a Lynnfield resident, had the novel, "Without Regard To Fortune" published earlier this year and it is currently available on Amazon and through Barnes and Noble. The publishing process was through AuthorHouse and reportedly took about five months.

The book, as described on the Amazon page, tells the coming of age story of Miles Carlyn, a timid and wealthy New England blue blood who goes on to serve in the Vietnam War.

In a recent conversation with Patch, Scollard said that he spent much of the past year writing - often for an hour a night on school nights after doing his homework, followed by four or five more hours of writing on Saturdays.

"Without Regard To Fortune" is Scollard's first published piece and he is currently working on some efforts to promote the book. "I really wanted to understand how the industry works. It was worth the experience," he said.

"I really love reading. I love writing. I thought, why not take it to the next level?" said Scollard. "I really wanted to see if I could do it. You have this feeling that you want to write."

At St. John's Prep, Scollard was an honors English student since freshman year and as a senior, he is in the AP class. He is also the president of the young libertarian club at the school, the president of the animal welfare club, a member of the philosophy club, and a former editor of the school paper.

Like many past and present Prep students, Scollard credits the school's emphasis on strong writing for helping him build his skills to a high level. "You are always writing something," he said. "Every department has you writing."

Looking ahead, Scollard says that he plans to resume writing after his college search ends. He is interested in St. Andrew's in Scotland, and some others in the U.S. "I loved every step of the process," he said. "I can't imagine not doing it again."