Nicholas Sparks

Born:	December 31, 1965 (age 41) Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Occupation:	Novelist
Genres:	Christianity love tragedy fate
Website:	NicholasSparks.com

Nicholas Charles Sparks (b. December 31, 1965) is an internationally bestselling American author. He writes novels with themes that include Christianity, love, tragedy and fate. He is currently author of twelve published novels and lives in New Bern, North Carolina, with his wife Catherine and their five children. His novels tend to be romantic stories where the main characters usually don't experience a typical "Happy Ending", so to speak. December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Nickname: Gateway to the West Location in Nebraska Coordinates: Country United States State Nebraska County Douglas Founded 1854 Incorporated 1857 Government  - Mayor Michael Fahey (D) Area  - City  118. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness. ... In general usage a tragedy is a play, movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. ... For other uses of Fate, see Fate Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness. ... In general usage a tragedy is a play, movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. ... For other uses of Fate, see Fate Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. ... New Bern is a city located in Craven County, North Carolina where the Trent River and the Neuse River converge. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

Personal

Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Patrick Michal Sparks, a professor, and Emma Marie (née Thoene) Sparks, a homemaker and an optometrist’s assistant. He has one living sibling, brother Michael (Micah) Earl Sparks (1964 - ) and a deceased sister Danielle Sparks (1967-2000). Nickname: Gateway to the West Location in Nebraska Coordinates: Country United States State Nebraska County Douglas Founded 1854 Incorporated 1857 Government  - Mayor Michael Fahey (D) Area  - City  118. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Because his father was pursuing graduate studies when Nicholas was a young child, Sparks lived in Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Grand Island, Nebraska, all before the age of eight. In 1974 his family eventually settled in Fair Oaks, California and remained there through Sparks's high school career. He graduated in 1984 as valedictorian from Bella Vista High School and went straight on to college, having received a full track and field scholarship from the University of Notre Dame. As a first year student in 1985, Sparks's relay team set a still-standing school record for the 4 x 800 meter relay. He majored in Business Finance and graduated with high honors in 1988. Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Image:Thumb18115. ... Fair Oaks is a census-designated place located in Sacramento County, California. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the United States and Canada, the title of valedictorian (an anglicized derivation from the Latin vale dicere, to say farewell) is given to the top graduate of the graduating class (the Australia/New Zealand equivalent being dux, although some Australian universities use the American term) of an educational institution. ... Bella Vista High School, a member of the San Juan Unified School District, is a public high school in Fair Oaks, California. ... Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sport events. ... Scholarship is the pursuit of academic research, whether in the arts and humanities or sciences, and in all such fields means deep mastery of a subject, often through study at institutions of higher education. ... The University of Notre Dame IPA: is a Roman Catholic institution located in Notre Dame, Indiana, immediately northeast of South Bend, Indiana, United States. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Sparks met his wife Catherine (from New Hampshire) during spring break in 1988. They married in July 1989 and lived in Sacramento, California. Having been rejected by both publishers and law schools, Sparks chose to try his hand in various careers over the next three years, i.e. 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 was transferred to New Bern, North Carolina, where he wrote his first published novel The Notebook.^[1] Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,359 sq mi (24,239 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 3. ... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: River City Location of Sacramento in California County Sacramento Government  - Mayor Heather Fargo Area  - City  99. ... A real estate appraisal is a service performed, by an appraiser, that develops an opinion of value based upon the highest and best use of real property. ... A waiter in a resort setting A waiter is one who waits on tables, often at a restaurant or a bar. ... Telemarket Office // Early History Telemarketing is a registered trademark owned by Nadji Tehrani who founded TeleMarketing Magazine in 1982. ... Manufacturing , a branch of industry, is the application of tools and a processing medium to the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale. ... Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon is drug, and logos is science) is the study of how chemical substances interfere with living systems. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Publishing is the activity of putting information in the public arena. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... The Notebook is a film based on a romantic novel by Nicholas Sparks. ...

Sparks and his wife currently reside in New Bern with their three sons Miles, Ryan, and Landon, and their twin daughters Lexie and Savannah. Sparks recently donated a track to New Bern High School and contributes to local and national charities. He also contributes to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame by funding/facilitating/providing (?) scholarships, internships and annual fellowships.

Writing

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, also unpublished, novel The Royal Murders. In 1994, over a period of six months, Sparks 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 of 1995, Theresa 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 on its first week. In publishing, the slush pile is the pile of manuscripts sent in unsolicited by the publisher, or not sent through an agent known to the publisher. ... TWBG, with offices in New York, Boston, Indiana, Nashville and Los Angeles, includes the imprints Warner Books, Little, Brown & Co. ...

After his first publishing success, Sparks wrote a string of international bestsellers (See "List of Published Works"), all of which were translated into over thirty-five languages. Three of his novels have been made into feature-length films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), and The Notebook (2004). As of March 2006, each movie has grossed a total lifetime amount of: Message in a Bottle is a 1999 movie starring Kevin Costner, based on a book by Nicholas Sparks (see Message in a Bottle (book)). It was filmed in Maine, Chicago, and Wilmington, North Carolina in the United States. ... Categories: 2002 films | 1998 books | Romance films | Movie stubs ... The Notebook is a film based on a romantic novel by Nicholas Sparks. ...

• Message In A Bottle, over $118 million^[2]
• A Walk To Remember, over $47 million^[3]
• The Notebook, over $115 million^[4]

Nicholas said during an October, 2005 book signing in Greenville, SC, that the next movie to be based on one of his books would be Nights In Rodanthe. They were currently trying to sign an actor to the lead part. Greenville is a large city and county seat located in Greenville County6 in South Carolina. ...

These successes make the novels one of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood. Sparks has also written a currently unsold screenplay for The Guardian. The Maine emo-rock band Sparks the Rescue used the name of his book The Rescue and Nicholas's last name to make the band's name.

List of Published Works

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

The Notebook is a film based on a romantic novel by Nicholas Sparks. ... // Message in a Bottle, the second romance novel written by American author Nicholas Sparks, exploited the common romance theme of love after grief. ... Categories: 2002 films | 1998 books | Romance films | Movie stubs ...

External links

• Nicholas Sparks.com - Official Site
• Reading Group guide
• Nicholas Sparks at the Internet Book List

Notes

1. ^  Biography for Nicholas Sparks. IMDb. Retrieved on December 2, 2005.