The Guardian

Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska in December 1965. He is an American novelist primarily, but has also developed into a screen - writer and producer of films. He is an Alumni of the University of Note Dame, and is recently separated from wife, Cathy. They have five children.

At 19, Sparks was inspired to begin writing by a comment his Mother made to him. After writing two early novels, Sparks sought to attend law school, but was rejected. He tried several other careers in the next three years before co-authoring a book that only sold 50,000 copies the first year. It was not until moving to Washington, DC in 1993, that he wrote his most famous and celebrated novel, The Notebook. The novel was discovered by a literary agent who found it in her agencies "slush pile". In 1996, The Notebook made the New York Times best-selling listing the first week it was released.

Sparks has had several international best-sellers and several have been adapted to film: Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One, Safe Haven, and The Best of Me.