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Nicholas Sparks

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This article is about the author. For the politician, see Nicholas Sparks (politician).
Nicholas Sparks
Sparks in January 2006
Sparks in January 2006
OccupationAuthor
GenreRomantic fiction
Website
http://www.nicholassparks.com www.nicholassparks.com

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an internationally bestselling US author, writing novels with themes that include Christianity, love, tragedy and fate. He has fifteen published novels, six of which have been turned into films, including Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song. Sparks also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel The Last Song and it is expected to release March 25, 2010. Two more books are already in the process of being made into movies, True Believer is expected to be released in 2011 while The Lucky One is expected to be released in 2012.

Early life

Sparks was born on New Year's Eve, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Patrick Michael Sparks, a professor, and Jill Emma Marie (née Thoene) Sparks, a homemaker and optometrist's assistant. He was the middle of three children, with an older brother Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (1964-) and a younger sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks (1966-2000), who died at the age of 33. Sparks has said that she is the inspiration for the main character in his novel A Walk to Remember.

Sparks was raised as a Roman Catholic[1] and is of German, Czech, English and Irish ancestry.[2]

His father was pursuing graduate studies, and the family moved a great deal, so by the time Sparks was 8, he had lived in Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1974 his family settled in Fair Oaks, California and remained there through Nicholas's high school days. He graduated in 1984 as valedictorian from Bella Vista High School, then enrolling at the University of Notre Dame, having received a full track and field scholarship. In his freshman year, his team set a record for the 4 x 800 relay.[citation needed] Sparks majored in business finance and graduated with honors in 1988. He also met his future wife that year, Cathy Cote from New Hampshire, while they were both on spring break. They married in July 1989 and moved to Sacramento, California.

Writing career

While still in school in 1985, Sparks had penned his first (never published) novel, The Passing, while home for the summer between freshman and sophomore years at Notre Dame. He wrote another novel in 1989, also unpublished, The Royal Murders.

After college, Sparks sought work with publishers or to attend law school, but was rejected in both attempts. He then spent the next three years trying other careers, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone and starting his own manufacturing business.[3]

In 1990, Sparks co-wrote with Billy Mills Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding.[4] The book was published by Feather Publishing, Random House, and Hay House. Sales for this book approximated 50,000 copies in its first year after release.[5]

In 1992, Sparks began selling pharmaceuticals and in 1993 was transferred to New Bern, North Carolina. It was there that he wrote another novel in his spare time, The Notebook.[6] Two years later, he was discovered by literary agent Theresa Park, who picked The Notebook out of her agency's slush pile, liked it, and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Time Warner Book Group. The novel was published in October 1996 and made the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release.

After his first publishing success, he wrote a string of international bestsellers. Six of his novels have been made into films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Dear John (2010), and The Last Song (2010) .The film rights for the Lucky One have been sold to Warner Brothers with Douglas McGrath attached to direct the film. It looks like Daniel Radcliffe and Lily Rabe are set to star, and though it is likely they will have the lead roles, their actual roles have yet to be confirmed.[7] The movie will be produced by Denise DiNovi who has previously brought three other Sparks novels to the cinema--Nights in Rodanthe; A Walk to Remember; and Message in a Bottle. According to his website, he has also the sold screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight.[8]

Personal life

As of 2009, Sparks and his wife reside in New Bern, North Carolina with their six children: Sons: Miles Andrew, Ryan Cote, and Landon; and twin daughters, Lexie Danielle and Savannah Marin.

Sparks has donated a track to New Bern High School and contributes to local and national charities. He contributes to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame by funding scholarships, internships and annual fellowships. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Sparks and his wife had donated "close to $10 million" to start a Christian private school, The Epiphany School, which emphasizes travel and teaches life long learning.[9][10]

Books

  1. The Notebook (October 1996)
  2. Message in a Bottle (April 1998)
  3. A Walk to Remember (October 1999)
  4. The Rescue (September 2000)
  5. A Bend in the Road (September 2001)
  6. Nights in Rodanthe (September 2002)
  7. The Guardian (April 2003)
  8. The Wedding (September 2003)
  9. Three Weeks with my Brother (April 2004) A non-fiction account of traveling with his brother after the men lost both parents and their sister in a quick succession of tragedies.
  10. True Believer (April 2005)
  11. At First Sight (October 2005)
  12. Dear John (October 2006)
  13. The Choice (September 2007)
  14. The Lucky One (October 2008)
  15. The Last Song (September 2009)

References

  1. ^ "Author Nicholas Sparks remembers his Catholic roots". Catholic-doc.org. 1999-11-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  2. ^ "Formal Biography". Nicholas Sparks. 1965-12-31. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  3. ^ "Nicholas Sparks | ThinkTalk Networks - Career TV for College". Thinktalk.com. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  4. ^ Billy Mills (July 1999). Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding. Hay House. p. 176. ISBN 978-1561706600. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Nicholas Sparks bio from ferrum.edu. Ferrum College official website.
  6. ^ "Biography for Nicholas Sparks". Book Browse. Retrieved March 26, 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Slashfilm.com from Slash Film website. Posted Thursday, February 25th, 2010
  8. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about At First Sight". The Official Nicholas Sparks Web Site: The Novels. Retrieved 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ Valby, Karen (October 10, 2008). "True Believer The chemistry of Nicholas Sparks -- The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe scribe has penned 14 bestsellers in 14 years". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  10. ^ "The Epiphany School: Welcome". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
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