Nicholas Sparks is an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer, born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 31 December 1965. He writes romantic fiction, including “The Notebook”, “Message in a Bottle” and “A Walk to Remember”, and eleven of his novels have been made into feature films.
His family moved several times before settling in Fair Oaks, California, in 1974. He attended the University of Notre Dame on a track and field scholarship and studied business finance, writing two novels in 1985 and 1989 that were never published. After marrying in 1989 he moved to New Bern, North Carolina, and worked in pharmaceutical sales and other jobs. His first published book was “Wokini” (1990), a non-fiction work about Lakota spiritual beliefs co-written with Billy Mills.
In 1995 the literary agent Theresa Park secured a $1 million advance for “The Notebook” from Time Warner Book Group. Published in October 1996, it reached the New York Times bestseller list in its first week. Sparks returned to that story with “The Wedding” (2003), and his two 2005 novels, “True Believer” and “At First Sight”, follow the same couple, Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell. His other novels stand alone. “Three Weeks with My Brother” (2004) is a non-fiction book written with his brother Micah.
“Message in a Bottle” was the first of his books to reach the cinema, in 1999. It was followed by “A Walk to Remember” (2002), “The Notebook” (2004), “Nights in Rodanthe” (2008), “Dear John” and “The Last Song” (both 2010), “The Lucky One” (2012), “Safe Haven” (2013), “The Best of Me” (2014), “The Longest Ride” (2015) and “The Choice” (2016). Sparks was a producer on the last four of these. According to his website his books have sold more than 130 million copies, and “The Notebook” has also been staged as a Broadway musical.
His recent novels are “Counting Miracles” (2024) and “Remain” (2025). “Remain” grew out of a story he developed with the film director M. Night Shyamalan, whose screen version starring Jake Gyllenhaal is scheduled for release in the United States on 5 February 2027. Sparks still lives in New Bern.
Publication Order of The Notebook Books
| The Notebook | 1996 |
| The Wedding | 2003 |
Publication Order of Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell Books
| True Believer | 2005 |
| At First Sight | 2005 |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Message in a Bottle | 1998 |
| A Walk to Remember | 1999 |
| The Rescue | 2000 |
| A Bend in the Road | 2001 |
| Nights in Rodanthe | 2002 |
| The Guardian | 2003 |
| Dear John | 2006 |
| The Choice | 2007 |
| The Lucky One | 2008 |
| The Last Song | 2009 |
| Safe Haven | 2010 |
| The Best of Me | 2011 |
| The Longest Ride | 2013 |
| See Me | 2015 |
| Two by Two | 2016 |
| Every Breath | 2018 |
| The Return | 2020 |
| The Wish | 2021 |
| Dreamland | 2022 |
| Counting Miracles | 2024 |
| Remain (With: M. Night Shyamalan) | 2025 |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding (With: Billy Mills) | 1990 |
| Three Weeks with My Brother (With: Micah Sparks) | 2004 |
Photo: Lance Cpl. Cory D. Polom, U.S. Marine Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).