At 28 years old, author Nicholas Sparks wrote a story about how his wife’s grandparents met. This story became known by thousands as “The Notebook,” which turned into literary gold, sold to an
agency for $1 million in 1996. The book spent 56 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, and in 2004 the movie adaptation was released. Sparks told the story of “The Notebook”, and many others, Thursday at the ULM Lyceum series, “An Evening with Nicholas Sparks.”
He began by telling the audience how he became a writer. Sparks was 19 years old when he injured his Achilles tendon and was told he couldn’t run track anymore. “I lost the chance to chase a dream,” Sparks said. Sparks spent the summer feeling sorry for himself. He moped around the house with nothing to do until one day his mother said out of frustration, “Go write a book.”
Sparks wrote his first book that summer, a horror novel in honor of Stephen King. Though the book has never been published, this book made Sparks realize he enjoyed the process of writing.
After graduating from Notre Dame, Sparks had numerous jobs including waiting tables and selling dental products by phone. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Sparks and his wife transferred to North Carolina where he worked as a pharmaceutical rep. He decided it was time to start writing again and that’s when he wrote “The Notebook.”
He explained how some of his books are based on his family. “Message in a Bottle” is based on his father’s walk through grief after the death of Sparks’ mother. “A Walk to Remember” is about his sister dying from cancer. “The Rescue” is about his son’s medical problems. Ahmaad Solmone, a senior mass communication major from Hammond, said he hasn’t read any of his books, but will pick one up soon. “I like how the books have a personal connection to him,” Solmone said.
Only 200 people were given the opportunity to have their books signed by Sparks after the speech. Emily Plunkett, a senior mass communication major from Choudrant, was one of the few to get her book signed.
“Sparks is such as amazing author and meeting him was awesome. I can die happy now!” Plunkett said. Thursday afternoon, Sparks spoke to a master class about the writing process. He told students  that he starts each book by picking ages for the characters. “The age of the characters determines the conflict in the story,” Sparks said. Sparks said the moral of his message is, “Figure out what you want to be, then learn how to do it.”