圣母大学著名校友Nicholas Sparks 2

   　In 1990, Sparks co-wrote with Billy Mills Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding. The book was published by Feather Publishing, Random House, and Hay House. Sales for this book approximated 50,000 copies in its first year after release.

　　In 1992, Sparks began selling pharmaceuticals and in 1993 was transferred to New Bern, North Carolina. It was there that he wrote another novel in his spare time, The Notebook.[8] Two years later, he was discovered by literary agent Theresa Park, who picked The Notebook out of her agency's slush pile, liked it, and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Time Warner Book Group. The novel was published in October 1996 and made the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release.

　　After his first publishing success, he wrote a string of international bestsellers. Four of his novels have been made into films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004), and Nights in Rodanthe (2008), with two more planned for 2010: The Last Song and Dear John. According to his website, he has also the sold screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight.