Best-Selling Novelist Nicholas Sparks Charms A Bristol Crowd With His Life Story

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Weaving tales about career choices, writing, his marriage and his dog with the same humor and skill that has ensnared readers worldwide, best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks gave some 700 fans what they wanted Saturday – a glimpse inside his highly successful world.
Sparks, who has penned favorites like “The Notebook,” “The Wedding” and “Message in a Bottle,” spent some two hours speaking at the Paramount Center for the Arts. His appearance was part of the Bristol Public Library’s Discovery Series.
The author, who lives in New Bern, N.C., told the crowd he first turned to writing at the urging of his mother, after injuries cut short a promising collegiate track-and-field career at Notre Dame. He soon crafted a 300-page novel that was never published.
“Everything was pretty good except for the writing,” he said dryly – eliciting laughter from the crowd.
“I planned on going to law school and becoming a lawyer, but I didn’t get accepted into any law schools. I waited tables, appraised real estate, bought and sold real estate, sold dental products by phone, started and closed my own business, founded and closed another business,” Sparks said. “I was 26 and my wife gave me a great piece of advice: ‘Nick, get a job.’ ”
Sparks said he began selling pharmaceuticals, but never gave up on his dream of becoming a successful author.
Within two years, he had published “The Notebook” – based on the story of his wife’s grandparents – and sold the film rights. With his most successful book, Sparks got extremely lucky, landing $1 million for his first published novel and a movie deal within days of sending his first letters out in search of a literary agent. But he waited for more than a year before quitting his sales job to concentrate on writing.
Sparks said his “epiphany” came after realizing a significant portion of his life had passed and he no longer had youthful dreams of glory.
“I never wanted to have another period like that, where I wasn’t chasing any dreams. That’s when I turned to writing again and I gave myself three chances to become successful,” Sparks said.
Over the past 15 years, he’s sold more than 50 million copies of his books and five have been made into major motion pictures.
In addition to his presentation at the Paramount, Sparks had lunch with 100 people at a fundraising event, spoke with the news media and toured the Bristol Public Library.
Kathy Newland, of Bristol, Va., brought her copies of his 14 novels to the Paramount, after being among the fans who dined with the author.
“I thought he might be stuck up or wouldn’t relate to other people, but he was great,” Newland said. “I was thrilled to death.”
An avid reader, Newland said she bought “The Notebook” when it first came out.
“Everything he writes is about something that happens to each of us,” she said.
Shirley Carrier, of Bristol, Tenn., also attended the luncheon and praised Sparks.
“He was wonderful. He signed books and posed for pictures. He was just so nice,” Carrier said.
Sparks got a surprise while touring the library, when he was approached by a former high school classmate from California.
“Nick? You’re Nick Sparks, right?” asked a smiling Laura Stevens, as Sparks stood at a bookshelf near the library reference desk.
“Nicholas,” he replied, while extending his right hand.
“We went to high school together. I was in the same class with your sister,” Stevens said.
Visibly surprised, Sparks then struck up a conversation about his late sister, Danielle, and Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, Calif.
“He was Nick in school,” Stevens said later. “I was two years behind him and on the drill team with his sister. I’ve been talking with classmates on Facebook all morning that he was going to be in Bristol. I can’t believe I got to see him.”
Sparks, who only makes three or four public appearances each year, said he typically draws large crowds like the one Saturday.
He came to Bristol because the event was sponsored by the library, he’d never been to this region and it was “relatively close” to his North Carolina home.
“Oregon would be tough – that’s three days – so there was a lot in favor of Bristol,” Sparks said during an interview prior to his public appearance.
He was paid $25,000 for the appearance, with funds coming from the Al Noble Trust, which supports the Discovery Series, library foundation Executive Director Anita Foster-Machado said.
His next book, “The Last Song” is scheduled to be released in September and work on the movie is beginning.
“They start filming Monday with Miley Cyrus. On this one, I wrote the screenplay first and then the novel. That’s the first time I’ve done that,” Sparks said. “It’s the story of 17-year-old Roni Miller, who moves to North Carolina to spend the summer with her estranged father – and she’s very angry at her father. I write love stories, so something will probably happen along those lines.”
Sparks said he just completed the first round of edits for the new book Friday, but declined to answer a question about whether death is a part of the new project. Among the common elements of many of his books is the death of one of the main characters. In addition to the death of his sister, he told the audience about the deaths of his mother, in a horseback riding accident, and his father in a car crash. The bestseller “Message in a Bottle,” which was made into a movie starring Kevin Costner, was based on his father, who died just as he found new love after years of grieving for his wife.
“The love story genre evolved from the Greek tragedies,” Sparks said. “One of my goals is to have readers experience the whole range of human emotions. This is different from a romance novel. I want readers to experience life in a microcosm.”
dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532