Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and philanthropist. He has published twenty-three novels and two non-fiction books, some of which have been ''New York Times'' bestsellers, with over 115 million copies sold worldwide in more than 50 languages.

Eleven of his novels have been adapted to film, including '' The Choice'', '' The Longest Ride'', '' The Best of Me'', '' Safe Haven'' (on all of which he served as a producer), '' The Lucky One'', '' Message in a Bottle'', ''A Walk to Remember'', '' Nights in Rodanthe'', '' Dear John'', '' The Last Song'', and ''The Notebook''.

Sparks lives in North Carolina, where he contributes to a variety of local and national charities. He also sets many of his novels in that area. In 2011, he launched the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving cultural and international understanding through global education experiences for students of all ages.

Early life

Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Patrick Michael Sparks, a future professor of business, and Jill Emma Marie Sparks (née Thoene), a homemaker and an optometrist's assistant. Nicholas was the middle of three children, with an older brother, Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (born 1964), and a younger sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks Lewis (1966–2000), who died at the age of 33 from a brain tumor. Sparks has said that she was the inspiration for the main character Jamie Sullivan in his novel ''A Walk to Remember''. Sparks was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, and is of German, Czech, English, and Irish ancestry. He and his ex-wife are Catholics and are raising their children in the Catholic faith.

His father pursued graduate studies at University of Minnesota and University of Southern California, one reason for his family's frequent moves. By the time Sparks turned eight, he had lived in Watertown, Minnesota; Inglewood, California; Playa Del Rey, California and his mother's hometown of Grand Island, Nebraska for a year, during which his parents were separated. By 1974, his father had become a professor of business at California State University, Sacramento, and the family settled in Fair Oaks, California.

The family remained there through Sparks' high school days, and in 1984, he graduated as the valedictorian of Bella Vista High School, where he learned to slam dunk. After being offered a full sports scholarship for track and field at the University of Notre Dame, Sparks accepted and enrolled, majoring in business finance. In 1988, while on spring break, he met his future wife, Cathy Cote of New Hampshire, and then concluded his early academic work by graduating from Notre Dame magna cum laude. Sparks and Cote were married on July 22, 1989, and they eventually settled in New Bern, North Carolina. Prior to those milestones, however, Sparks had begun writing in his early college years.

Career

Early career

Sparks started writing at his mother's suggestion:

'"Your problem is that you're bored. You need to find something to do..." Then she looked at me and said the words that would eventually change my life: "Write a book." Until that moment, I had never considered writing. Granted, I read all the time, but actually sitting down and coming up with a story on my own? ...I was nineteen years old and had become an accidental author.

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

After college, Sparks both sought work with publishers and applied to law school, but was rejected in both attempts. He spent the next three years in various occupations, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and starting his own manufacturing business.

In 1990, Sparks co-wrote a book with Billy Mills entitled ''Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding'', a nonfiction book about the influence of Lakota spiritual beliefs and practices. The book was published by Feather Publishing, Random House, and Hay House, and sold some 50,000 copies in its first year after release.

In 1994, while working in pharmaceutical sales, Sparks began a novel in his spare time, ''The Notebook''. In 1995, he was discovered by literary agent Theresa Park, who picked ''The Notebook'' out of her agency's slush pile, fell in love with it, and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for ''The Notebook'' from Time Warner Book Group. Published in October 1996, the novel made ''The New York Times'' best-seller list in its first week of release and eventually spent fifty-six weeks there.

Accomplishments

Including ''The Notebook'', fifteen of Sparks's novels have been No. 1 New York Times Best Sellers, and all of his books have been both New York Times and international bestsellers. Eleven of his novels have been adapted as films: '' Message in a Bottle'' (1999), ''A Walk to Remember'' (2002), ''The Notebook'' (2004), '' Nights in Rodanthe'' (2008), '' Dear John'' (2010), '' The Last Song'' (2010), '' The Lucky One'' (2012), '' Safe Haven'' (2013), '' The Best of Me'' (2014), '' The Longest Ride'' (2015), and '' The Choice'' (2016). He has also sold the screenplay adaptations of ''True Believer'' and ''At First Sight''. In September 2020, Sparks published his twenty-first novel ''The Return''.

Sparks has frequently drawn inspiration from his own experiences.

Personal life

Sparks and his then-wife Cathy lived together in New Bern, North Carolina, with their three sons and twin daughters until 2014. On January 6, 2015, Sparks announced that he and Cathy had amicably separated. They subsequently divorced. Sparks still resides in New Bern.

Philanthropy

Sparks donated nearly $900,000 for a new, all-weather tartan track to New Bern High School along with his time to help coach the New Bern High School track team and a local club track team as a volunteer head coach.

Sparks contributes to other local and national charities, including the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame by funding scholarships, internships, and annual fellowships. The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, launched by Sparks in 2012, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving cultural and international understanding through global education experiences for students of all ages was launched in 2011. Between the foundation, and the personal gifts of the Sparks family, more than $15 million have been distributed to deserving charities, scholarship programs, and projects. In 2008, ''Entertainment Weekly'' reported that Sparks and his then-wife had donated "close to $10 million" to start a private school, The Epiphany School of Global Studies.

Published works

Novels

* ''The Notebook'' series:
*# ''The Notebook'' (October 1996)
*# '' The Wedding'' (September 2003)
* '' Message in a Bottle'' (April 1998)
* ''A Walk to Remember'' (October 1999)
* '' The Rescue'' (September 2000)
* ''A Bend in the Road'' (September 2001)
* '' Nights in Rodanthe'' (September 2002)
* ''The Guardian'' (April 2003)
* Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell series:
*# '' True Believer'' (April 2005)
*# '' At First Sight'' (September 2013)
* '' Dear John'' (October 2006)
* '' The Choice'' (September 2007)
* '' The Lucky One'' (September 2008)
* '' The Last Song'' (September 2009)
* '' Safe Haven'' (September 2010)
* '' The Best of Me'' (October 2011)
* '' The Longest Ride'' (September 2013)
* '' See Me'' (October 2015)
* ''Two by Two'' (October 2016)
* ''Every Breath'' (October 2018)
* ''The Return'' (September 2020)
* ''The Wish'' (September 2021)
* ''Dreamland'' (September 2022)

Nonfiction

* ''Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding'' (1990), Nicholas Sparks and Billy Mills.
* ''Three Weeks with My Brother'' (April 2004), Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks.

Adaptations in other media

Film

TV

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Nicholas
1965 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American screenwriters
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American screenwriters
American film producers
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American people of Czech descent
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American philanthropists
American romantic fiction novelists
Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska
Catholics from California
Catholics from Nebraska
Catholics from North Carolina
Film producers from California
Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's track and field athletes
Novelists from California
Novelists from Nebraska
Novelists from North Carolina
People from Fair Oaks, California
People from New Bern, North Carolina
Roman Catholic writers
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from Nebraska
Screenwriters from North Carolina
University of Notre Dame alumni
Writers from North Carolina
Writers from Omaha, Nebraska
Writers from Sacramento, California