Nicholas Sparks
Sparks in January 2006
Born	December 31, 1965 (1965-12-31) (age 43) Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Occupation	Author
Genres	Romantic fiction
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 fifteen published novels, four of which have been turned into films, including The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, and Nights in Rodanthe. Sparks also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel The Last Song. Both The Last Song and the film adaptation of Dear John are expected to be released in 2010.

[edit] Personal 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 34. 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.

As of 2009, Nicholas and his wife reside in New Bern with their five 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 evolution.^[3][4]

[edit] 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.^[5]

In 1990, Sparks co-wrote with Billy Mills Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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. 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), with two more planned for 2010: The Last Song^[9] and Dear John.^[10][11] According to his website, he has also the sold screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight.^[12]

[edit] 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
15. The Last Song (September 2009) ISBN 0-446-54756-5

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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