Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks is an international bestselling author. His novels usually grasp 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 , Jill Emma Marie 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 Earl Sparks, who was born in 1964 and is still living. He had one sister, Danielle Sparks, who was born in 1966 and died in 2000.

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 in 1988.

Nicholas Sparks and his wife, Catherine, met 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 several jobs such as; real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and even started his own 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”. In October of 1996, the novel was published. After that he wrote and published “Message in a Bottle” in 1998, “A Walk to Remember” in 1999, “The Rescue” in 2000, “A Bend in the Road” in 2001, “Nights in Rodanthe” in 2002, “The Guardian” in 2003, “The Wedding” in 2003, “Three Weeks with my Brother” in 2004”, “True Believer” in 2005, and “At