Arts & Entertainment

Nicholas Sparks Visits Benchmark School

The bestselling author of 'The Notebook' talks about what inspires his novels.

Bestselling Author Nicholas Sparks spoke to a sold out crowd in the A. Palmer West Performing Arts Center at Benchmark School on Thursday about how he became a published author at 28 years old and what inspires his novels. 

Sparks, who wrote The Notebook over a period of six months in 1994, said the inspiration for his first published novel came from his wife's grandparents, who shared a similar love story to Noah and Allie, the main categories in the book.

Sparks said most of his novels are inspired by family. A Message in a Bottle was based on his father's life as a widow and his death and A Walk to Remember is similar to his sister's story and battle with cancer. 

Sparks, who was record-setting runner at University of Notre Dame, had to hang up his track shoes after an injury in college. Running had been his passion and it was many years later that he realized he no longer had a passion in life and decided to focus on writing. 

Sparks, who was in pharmaceutical sales at the time, said he sold The Notebook for $1 million, along with the movie rights, just days after sending his manuscript to his literary agent, whom he had only found days prior and was herself 27 years old. 

"She called and said, 'I think we may have something big here,'" Sparks said. 

Sparks newest novel The Longest Ride hit shelves in September. Deliverance Creek, a new Lifetime movie/pilot from Sparks, will debut soon and the movie adaptation of The Best of Me will hit theaters on Oct. 17, 2014. 


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