Nicholas Sparks is an international bestselling author. His novels usually hold touching storylines and sometimes, are inspired by his personal experiences. Many of them, like
A Walk To Remember and
The Notebook have been made into movies.
He was born December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father is Patrick Michael Sparks who was born in 1942 and died in 1996. He was a professor. His mother is Jill Emma Marie (Thoene) Sparks who was also born in 1942 and died in 1989. She was a homemaker and then an optometrist's assistant. Sparks has one brother, Michael (Micah) Earl Sparks who was born in 1964 and is still living. He had one sister, Danielle (Dana) Sparks who was born in 1966 and died in 2000. When Sparks was a child he lived in several different places before the age of eight, such as Minnesota, Los Angeles, Grand Island Nebraska, and finally in Fair Oaks California.
He lived in Fair Oaks all through his high school years. Sparks graduated in 1984 as valedictorian at Bella Vista High School. He received a full scholarship for track to the University of Notre Dame. As a freshman in 1985, Sparks broke the record as part of a relay team and the record still stands today. During the relay he was injured and had spent the summer recovering and began writing extensively. He wrote his first novel, but unfortunately, it was never published. Sparks majored in Business Finance and he graduated with high honors in 1988.
Nicholas Sparks and his wife, Catherine (Cat), met during spring break in 1988. They eventually married in July of 1989. During this time he was living in Sacramento. He had written his second novel that same year and once again it was not published. Over the next three years, Sparks had worked numerous jobs such as; real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and started his own manufacturing business.
In 1992, he began selling pharmaceuticals and moved to North Carolina from Sacramento. In 1994, at 28, over a period of six months, Sparks wrote his debut novel
The Notebook. Rights to the novel were sold to Warner Books in October of 1995. In October of 1996, the novel was published. After that he wrote and published
Message in a Bottle (1998),
A Walk to Remember (1999),
The Rescue (2000),
A Bend in the Road (2001),
Nights in Rodanthe (2002),
The Guardian (2003),
The Wedding (2003),
Three Weeks with my Brother (2004),
True Believer (2005), and
At First Sight (2005). All of novels were domestic and international best sellers. They were all also translated into more than 35 languages.
Message in a Bottle was made into a movie in 1999,
A Walk to Remember was made into a movie in 2002, and
The Notebook was made into a movie in 2004. Each film was $56 million for the average domestic box office gross and another $100 million in DVD sales. This made the novels one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood. Sparks has sold the film rights for
Nights in Rodanthe,
True Believer, and
At First Sight. He has also already written the screenplay for
The Guardian but has yet to offer it for sale.
Sparks and his wife have been married for sixteen years and have five children. They currently reside in New Bern, North Carolina with their three sons, and twin daughters: Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannah. He recently donated a track to New Bern High School. He contributes to local and national charities, he also conributes to the Creativity Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame. He provides scholarships, internships, and a fellow annually.
After all the trauma he had gone through in life, Sparks maintains a close friendship and brotherhood with his brother, Micah Sparks.
Three Weeks With My Brother is a novel based entirely on this.
