Pacing around his house, Julian Serrano ’24 explores the facets of an idea he obtained from the aether, following his mind’s natural progression of the story and contemplating if he wants to develop this idea into a book. Once the ideas cohere, he develops them into a chapter-structure, and the writing process commences.
The process Julian Serrano utilizes proved successful, as it nurtured these ideas to blossom into his latest novel, The Annals of Scottsville.
Published on Oct. 23, 2023, this novel is about a girl who lives in the Oregon Trail times and is unexpectedly thrust into modern-day society. The novel may be fictional, but it is reflective of his experience moving from Redding to San Francisco, and the attributes of his characters are based on his friends and how he’s felt throughout his life.
In elementary school, Julian Serrano was a deeply imaginative student whose mind stored a myriad of ideas for writing. However, it wasn’t until the pandemic when he was given the opportunity to truly channel these ideas into solid pieces of writing after he was assigned to write a short story that he enjoyed so much, it came out to be 3,000 words. That experience flipped a switch in Julian Serrano, and his father, Joseph Serrano, declared writing as his son’s calling.
Julian noticed that his pursuit of writing made his father, who is also conveniently a book dealer, “rather happy, and he was fully supportive of my desires for literature. He’s given me all sorts of different books to read, given me all sorts of advice (he once desired to be an author, himself), and guided me all along my journey.”
Joseph concurred, “Seeing Julian’s passion for writing, reading and his pursuits in academia have inspired me to seek out my passions that lay dormant, but still exist.”
Julian’s skill and dedication to his craft has not only impressed his father, but his AP English Literature and Composition teacher, Michael Vezzali-Pascual ’88.
“It is impressive to witness a young person with that kind of serious approach to writing. One of the results of his work ethic and approach is that he has developed a unique voice and style already in his young writing career,” said Vezzali-Pascual.
He added, “He also writes with passion, and as a result, his writing has energy and zip on it. It is not formulaic or cliché.”
Julian Serrano has no plans to stop; he is currently working on his upcoming novel, The Battle of Jiujinshan and plans to complete it by the time he turns 18 in October 2024.
Reflecting on his son’s ambition, Joseph Serrano said, “I am in awe of him every day.”
