Biography of Author Nicholas Sparks

I am perfectly content at admitting I'd never heard of Nicholas Sparks until The Notebook caught fire at the movie theatre and Barnes & Noble checkout line. I went to see the movie with my wife and after her tears, a second trip to the movies to see it, and buying the DVD I thought I'd follow up on some of his other work. After reading several of Sparks novels, I realized that his writing is so much more than mainstream romance. His themes include tragedy, fate, religion, and family, which are all things this North Carolina boy was raised to appreciate. I was convinced that I needed to find out more about the man that had plucked so many heart strings across this nation. This article is what I found.

Despite much confusion here in my state, Sparks was actually born in Nebraska, not North Carolina, in 1965. His father was a professor who made the family move around a lot when Nicholas was just a small child. Sparks ended up in California where he graduated from high school in 1984 and headed straight to college. Impressively, he received a scholarship for track at Notre Dame where he set a few records and filled his time with Business Finance classes. He graduated with honors in 1988, the same year he met his wife, Catherine.

Sparks wasn't the successful grad right out of college, being denied by publishers and law schools. To pay his bills he tried several different careers ranging from real estate appraisal to waiting tables. Eventually after a brief stint selling medical products by phone he decided to switch to pharmaceuticals where he was offered a position in the coastal town of New Bern, North Carolina. This is truly where the story begins and the framework for his successful career starts to come together.

On the side, Sparks was taking his hand at writing and in 1985 he completed his first full length manuscript entitled The Passing. This, as well as another manuscript, was never published, but Sparks didn't give up. In 1985, he penned at book called The Notebook. He sent out around 24 query letters to literary agents around the country looking for representation for his novel. Many authors will tell you that query letters often times go unanswered. If they are answered, the majority of the time it's with criticism or a plain rejection. However, fate stepped in and within a few days an agent called him. She had never sold a book before and was looking to take on his project. He agreed and in 1995 he sold the rights to the Time Warner Book Group for a reported one million dollars. It was published in 1996 and the movie was a hit.

Sparks continued to write. Thought The Notebook is his most famous published work, he's had other contributions that were made into movies such as Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember, a film with Mandy Moore and it was actually filmed in my hometown coastal community in Wilmington, North Carolina. Just these three movies combined have grossed nearly $300 million dollars at the box office, making an average guy from New Bern a very wealthy man. Some of his other novels include The Rescue, A Bend in the Road, The Wedding, Dear John, and Nights in Rodanthe. Sparks claims that Nights in Rodanthe will be the next movie to undergo filming soon.

What's Nicholas Sparks up to these days, you may ask? He still lives in New Bern with his wife and three sons named Landon, Ryan, and Miles. He also has twin daughters Savannah and Lexie. He's clearly a family man with his priorities well arranged. He's very active in the New Bern community and contributes his time and money to several charities. Life must be good for Mr. Nicholas Sparks. God Bless ya.