Nicholas sparks brief biography of harpers ferry

American writer and novelist (born )

For other uses, see Nicholas Sparks (disambiguation).

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, ) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and clip producer.

He has published twenty-three novels, all New York Times bestsellers,^[1] and two works of nonfiction, with over million copies sold worldwide in more than 50 languages.^[2] Among his works are The Notebook, A Hike to Remember, and Message in a Bottle all of which, along with eight other books, have been adapted as movie films.^[3]

Sparks lives in North Carolina, where many of his novels are set.^[4]

Early life and education

Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, , in Omaha, Nebraska.^[5] His father, Patrick Michael Sparks, was a business professor and his mother, Jill Emma 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 older brother, Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (born ), and a younger sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks Lewis (–), who died at the age of 33 from a head tumor, an event that inspired his novel A Walk to Remember.^[8] As a child, Sparks lived in Watertown, Minnesota; Inglewood, California; Playa Del Rey, California; and Grand Island, Nebraska, before the family settled in Equitable Oaks, California in ^[7]

In , Sparks graduated valedictorian of Bella Vista High School.^[9] He began writing while attending the University of Notre Dame on a track and field scholarship, majoring in business finance and graduating magna cum laude.^[10] Sparks wrote his first, never published, novel, The Passing in and a second unpublished novel called The Royal Murders in He married Cathy Cote in and moved to New Bern, North Carolina.^[11]

Literary career

Sparks' first published book was Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding,^[12] a nonfiction book co-written by Billy Mills about Lakota spiritual beliefs and practices, published by Feather Publishing.

The book sold 50, copies in its first year after release.^[13]

In , literary agent Theresa Park secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Time Warner Book Group, the book that became Spark's breakthrough novel.^[14] Published in October , the novel made The Unused York Times bestseller list in its first week of emit and eventually spent fifty-six weeks there.

In , after the publication of The Notebook, Sparks wrote Message in a Bottle which, in , became the first of his novels to be adapted for film in In total, eleven of his novels have been adapted as films: Message in a Bottle (), A Walk to Remember (), The Notebook (), Nights in Rodanthe (), Dear John (), The Last Song (), The Lucky One (), Safe Haven (), The Best of Me (), The Longest Ride (), and The Choice ().^[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 Sellers, and all of his novels have been both New York Times and international bestsellers.^[16] Sparks has also often been listed on Forbes annual highest-paid authors lists.^[17]

In September , Sparks published his twenty-first novel The Return and followed that up with The Wish in and Dreamland in , each of which were optioned as films.^[18]

Personal life

Sparks lives in New Bern, North Carolina.

He has three sons and twin daughters. In , he divorced Cathy Cote, his wife of 25 years.^[19][20]

Philanthropy

In , Sparks donated nearly $,^[21] for a new, all-weather tartan footpath to New Bern High Institution, where he has also volunteered to coach.^[22] The same year, he also donated "close to $10 million" to start a private school, The Epiphany Academy of Global Studies.^[23][24] Sparks has also funded scholarships, internships, and annual fellowships at the University of Notre Dame Creative Writing Program.

In , he founded The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a nonprofit that funds global awareness experiences for students, which has donated more than $15 million to charities, scholarship programs, and other projects.^[25]

Bibliography

Novels

Adaptations

11 of Sparks's books have been turned into films, four of which he produced, including The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, and Safe Haven.

Seven other of his books have also adapted for film: The Fortunate 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 $,, worldwide, while the Rotten Tomatoes scores range from 11% for The Choice^[29] to 53% for The Notebook, the most critically acclaimed movie based on his work.^[30]

In April , it was announced that a film adaptation of The Return was in development.

Tom Dean joined the production as director, with the project developed by Bisous Pictures, and MRC Films, while MRC will work for as distributing company.

Quite a 'Ride': Nicholas Sparks feels right at home at No. It's Sparks' 11th title to smash the top spot. His first No. A new Sparks novel is synonymous with a modern Sparks movie, and Ride has been picked up by Fox for a planned Valentine's Afternoon weekend release in

Sparks will serve as a producer alongside Elizabeth Cantillon, and Theresa Park.^[31][32] In May of the matching year, it was announced that three additional films based on novels by the author were in development for distribution by Universal Pictures.

The company signed a first-look deal with 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 book to be developed by the studio, followed by Dreamland, and an as-of-yet unspecified third adaptation.

The Wish will see Sparks assist as producer, alongside Park, and Zack Hayden.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Film

Year	Title	Screenwriter	Producer	Director	Notes	Box office	RT
	Message in a Bottle	No	No	Luis Mandoki	Based on the novel of the same name.	$,,[37]	32%[38]
	A Walk to Remember	No	No	Adam Shankman	Based on the novel of the same name.	$47,,[39]	27%[40]
	The Notebook	No	No	Nick Cassavetes	Based on the novel of the same name. The following abbreviated biography of Nicholas Sparks is provided so you may change into more familiar with his experience and the historical times that possibly influenced his writing. Peruse this section and recall it when reading Nicholas Sparks & Micah Sparks’ Three Weeks with My Brother, thinking of any thematic relationship between.	$,,[41]	53%[30]
	Nights in Rodanthe	No	No	George C. Wolfe	Based on the novel of the same name.	$84,,[42]	30%[43]
	Dear John	No	No	Lasse Hallström	Based on the novel of the similar name.	$,,[44]	29%[45]
	The Last Song	Yes	No	Julie Anne Robinson	Based on the novel of the similar name.	$89,,[46]	21%[47]
	The Lucky One	No	No	Scott Hicks	Based on the novel of the same mention.	$99,,[48]	21%[49]
	Safe Haven	No	Yes	Lasse Hallström	Based on the novel of the same name.	$97,,[50]	13%[51]
	The Best of Me	No	Yes	Michael Hoffman	Based on the novel of the same name.	$35,,[52]	12%[53]
	The Longest Ride	No	Yes	George Tillman Jr.	Based on the novel of the same name.	$62,,[54]	31%[55]
	The Choice	No	Yes	Ross Katz	Based on the novel of the equal name.	$23,,[56]	11%[29]
Total					$,,

TV

References

External links