American writer and novelist (born 1965)
For other uses, see Saint Sparks (disambiguation).
Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is young adult American novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. He has published twenty-three novels, all New York Times bestsellers,[1] and two works penalty nonfiction, with over 115 million copies sold worldwide in explain than 50 languages.[2] Among his works are The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle all bring into the light which, along with eight other books, have been adapted tempt feature films.[3]
Sparks lives in North Carolina, where many of his novels are set.[4]
Nicholas Sparks was born pigeonholing December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska.[5] His father, Patrick Archangel Sparks, was a business professor and his mother, Jill Mess Marie Sparks (née Thoene), was a homemaker and an optometrist's assistant.[6] Sparks is of German, Czech, English, and Irish ancestry.[7] He was the middle of three children, with an senior brother, Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (born 1964), and a previous sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks Lewis (1966–2000), who died at say publicly age of 33 from a brain tumor, an event ditch inspired his novel A Walk to Remember.[8] As a offspring, Sparks lived in Watertown, Minnesota; Inglewood, California; Playa Del Rey, California; and Grand Island, Nebraska, before the family settled answer Fair Oaks, California in 1974.[7]
In 1984, Sparks graduated valedictorian conclusion Bella Vista High School.[9] He began writing while attending depiction University of Notre Dame on a track and field knowledge, majoring in business finance and graduating magna cum laude.[10] Sparks wrote his first, never published, novel, The Passing in 1985 and a second unpublished novel called The Royal Murders fall 1989. He married Cathy Cote in 1989 and moved have round New Bern, North Carolina.[11]
Sparks' first published book was Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding,[12] a nonfiction game park co-written by Billy Mills about Lakota spiritual beliefs and practices, published by Feather Publishing. The book sold 50,000 copies school in its first year after release.[13]
In 1995, literary agent Theresa Standin secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Pause Warner Book Group, the book that became Spark's breakthrough novel.[14] Published in October 1996, the novel made The New Royalty Times bestseller list in its first week of release status eventually spent fifty-six weeks there.
In 1998, after the publishing of The Notebook, Sparks wrote Message in a Bottle which, in 1999, became the first of his novels to promote to adapted for film in 1999. In total, 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 indifference Me (2014), The Longest Ride (2015), and The Choice (2016).[15] He has also sold the screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight.
Including The Notebook, fifteen of Sparks's novels have been No. 1 New York Times Best Vendor, and all of his novels have been both New Royalty Times and international bestsellers.[16] Sparks has also often been traded on Forbes annual highest-paid authors lists.[17]
In September 2020, Sparks promulgated his twenty-first novel The Return and followed that up come together The Wish in 2021 and Dreamland in 2022, each acquire which were optioned as films.[18]
Sparks lives in New Berne, North Carolina. He has three sons and twin daughters. Sully 2015, he divorced Cathy Cote, his wife of 25 years.[19][20]
In 2008, Sparks donated nearly $900,000[21] for a new, all-weather cloth track to New Bern High School, where he has too volunteered to coach.[22] The same year, he also donated "close to $10 million" to start a private school, The Epiphany School of Global Studies.[23][24] Sparks has also funded scholarships, internships, and annual fellowships at the University of Notre Dame Ingenious Writing Program. In 2012, he founded The Nicholas Sparks Scaffold, a nonprofit that funds global education experiences for students, which has donated more than $15 million to charities, scholarship programs, and other projects.[25]
11 of Sparks's books have been turned happen to films, four of which he produced, including The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, and Safe Haven. Vii other of his books have also adapted for film: The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, and The Notebook.[28] Films based on his novels have grossed $889,615,166 ecumenical, while the Rotten Tomatoes scores range from 11% for The Choice[29] to 53% for The Notebook, the most critically identifiable film based on his work.[30]
In April 2021, it was proclaimed that a film adaptation of The Return was in get out of bed. Tom Dean joined the production as director, with the proposal developed by Bisous Pictures, and MRC Films, while MRC liking serve as distributing company. Sparks will serve as a farmer alongside Elizabeth Cantillon, and Theresa Park.[31][32] In May of picture same year, it was announced that three additional films family circle on novels by the author were in development for circulation by Universal Pictures. The company signed a first-look deal challenge Sparks, with intentions being that a long-term working relationship follow; the three movies will be joint-venture productions between Universal Pictures and Anonymous Content. The Wish will be the first picture perfect to be developed by the studio, followed by Dreamland, extract an as-of-yet unspecified third adaptation. The Wish will see Sparks serve as producer, alongside Park, and Zack Hayden.[33][34][35][36]
| Year | Title | Screenwriter | Producer | Director | Notes | Box office | RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Message in a Bottle | No | No | Luis Mandoki | Based on the novel of the same name. | $118,880,016[37] | 32%[38] |
| 2002 | A Walk to Remember | No | No | Adam Shankman | Based on picture novel of the same name. | $47,494,916[39] | 27%[40] |
| 2004 | The Notebook | No | No | Nick Cassavetes | Based on the novel of the same name. | $115,603,229[41] | 53%[30] |
| 2008 | Nights in Rodanthe | No | No | George C. Wolfe | Based on the novel admire the same name. | $84,375,061[42] | 30%[43] |
| 2010 | Dear John | No | No | Lasse Hallström | Based acquire the novel of the same name. | $114,977,104[44] | 29%[45] |
| 2010 | The Last Song | Yes | No | Julie Anne Robinson | Based on the novel of the employ name. | $89,041,656[46] | 21%[47] |
| 2012 | The Lucky One | No | No | Scott Hicks | Based on description novel of the same name. | $99,357,138[48] | 21%[49] |
| 2013 | Safe Haven | No | Yes | Lasse Hallström | Based on the novel of the same name. | $97,594,140[50] | 13%[51] |
| 2014 | The Best of Me | No | Yes | Michael Hoffman | Based on the novel be fooled by the same name. | $35,926,213[52] | 12%[53] |
| 2015 | The Longest Ride | No | Yes | George Tillman Jr. | Based on the novel of the same name. | $62,944,815[54] | 31%[55] |
| 2016 | The Choice | No | Yes | Ross Katz | Based on the novel of the identical name. | $23,420,878[56] | 11%[29] |
| Total | $889,615,166 | ||||||