Nicholas Sparks

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Nicholas Sparks
Sparks in January 2006
Born	December 31, 1965 (1965-12-31) (age 43) Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Occupation	Author
Genres	Christianity Love Tragedy Fate
www.nicholassparks.com Official website

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an internationally bestselling American author, writing novels with themes that include Christianity, love, tragedy and fate. He has 14 published novels and lives in New Bern, North Carolina, USA, with his wife Cathy and their five children.

Biography

Nicholas 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 an optometrist's assistant. He has one living sibling, brother Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (1964-) and a deceased sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks (1966-2000), who Sparks has said is the inspiration for the main character in A Walk to Remember. Sparks was raised as a Roman Catholic^[1] and is of German, Czech, English and Irish ancestry.^[2]

Because his father was pursuing graduate studies, by the time Nicholas 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 career. He graduated in 1984 as valedictorian from Bella Vista High School and immediately enrolled at University of Notre Dame, having received a full track and field scholarship. As a first year student in 1985, Nicholas's relay team set a still-standing school record for the 4 x 800 meter relay. He majored in Business Finance and graduated with honors in 1988.

Nicholas met his wife, Cathy Cote (from New Hampshire), during spring break in 1988. They married in July 1989 and moved to Sacramento, California. Having been rejected by both publishers and law schools, Nicholas chose to try his hand in various careers over the next three years, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone and starting his own manufacturing business.

In 1992, Sparks began selling pharmaceuticals and in 1993 he was transferred to New Bern, North Carolina. There he wrote his first published novel, The Notebook, in his spare time.^[3]

Nicholas and his wife currently reside in New Bern with their three sons, Miles Andrew (b. September 17, 1991 in Sacramento County, California), Ryan Cote, and Landon, and their 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. He and his wife donated $10 million to start a Christian private school, The Epiphany School, that emphasizes travel for its students and teaches evolution.

Writing career

In 1985 Sparks penned his first novel, The Passing, while home for the summer between freshman and sophomore years at Notre Dame. It was never published. In 1989 he wrote his second novel, also unpublished, The Royal Murders.

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 topped 50,000 copies in its first year after release.^[5]

In 1994, over a period of six months, Nicholas penned what was to be his first published novel, The Notebook. 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 (See "List of Published Works"). Four of his novels have been made into films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004), and Nights in Rodanthe (2008). One is filming, The Last Song.^[6] A film version of Dear John is scheduled for release in February 2010.^[7][8]

He has the sold screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight.^[9]

Books

1. The Notebook (October 1996) ISBN 0-446-52080-2
2. Message in a Bottle (April 1998) ISBN 0-446-52356-9
3. A Walk to Remember (October 1999) ISBN 0-446-52553-7
4. The Rescue (September 2000) ISBN 0-446-52550-2
5. A Bend in the Road (September 2001) ISBN 0-446-52778-5
6. Nights in Rodanthe (September 2002) ISBN 0-446-53133-2
7. The Guardian (April 2003) ISBN 0-446-52779-3
8. The Wedding (September 2003) ISBN 0-446-53245-2
9. Three Weeks with my Brother (April 2004) ISBN 0-446-53244-4. 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) ISBN 0-446-53243-6
11. At First Sight (October 2005) ISBN 0-446-53242-8
12. Dear John (October 2006) ISBN 0-446-52805-6
13. The Choice (September 2007) ISBN 0-446-57992-0
14. The Lucky One (October 2008) ISBN 0-446-57993-9

• **planned** The Last Song (September 2009)ISBN 0-446-54756-5

References

External links

• Nicholas Sparks.com - Official Site
• Nicholas Sparks at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicholas Sparks at TV.com