1. Up Close and Personal with
NICHOLAS SPARKS
Romance Magazine May 6, 2010
“I don’t write romance novels. I write love stories.”
Sparks Fly
16 best-sellers, 6 movies is that the theme you
and a partrage in a pear choose?” He paused.
tree. Well, maybe not the “Well, in all love stories the
pear tree, but Nicholas theme is love and tragedy.
Sparks has become one of Tragedy is hard, and some-
the most influential au- times painful to write, but, feel a connection is impor-
Did You Know?
thors of modern day ro- at the same time, the sto- tant, when you can get the
mance. RM got the chance ries linger longer in peo- reader to think „I went
Sparks bases all his charac-
ters off people he knows, to sit down for a chat with ple‟s minds. I want people through the same thing‟ or
but modified to fit the story him, and we were sur- to remember the story „this situation reminds me
theme he wants.
prised to learn about the apart from the other books of that‟ is when you know
The Notebook was on the real Nick Sparks. “Thanks that are out there.” And you‟ve done your job.”
best seller list for 56 weeks for taking time out of your they do. When Spark‟s Sparks‟s most recent book,
Nick lives in South Carolina
day to meet with me,” he first novel, The Notebook, The Last Song, incorpo-
with his wife and children
His mother died tragically in began, handing me a cof- was published, it spent 56 rated music and forgive-
a horseback riding incident fee. “I called ahead and weeks on the best-seller ness into a love story,
His sister passed away of
your assistant told me your list and the contract was reaching deeper than just
cancer
Sparks met his wife, Cathy, favorite kind. I hope you sold for the movie within the typical falling in love.
on a spring break vacation don‟t mind.” Already, the same week of the “The Last Song incorpo-
and married her a year later.
Some of Nick’s characters within the first minute of novel‟s release. “If you rates forgiving yourself,
are named after his children the interview, Sparks had think I was excited about forgiving people you love.
captured my attention and that, you‟re severely under- The main character falls in
my heart. “Not many men estimating my response,” love, yes, but also mends a
take the time to do that,” I he says with a grin. “I broken relationship with
joked. “No wonder her father. There is
you‟re such a hit.” In more to the book
“The best kind of love is the kind
response I got a smile that awakens the soul and makes then just summer
and a casual, “oh, I us reach for more, that plants a fire romance.” The
think all men are that in our hearts and brings peace to movie tickets sky
way. They just wait for our minds.” rocketed, and re-
the right woman to views were out-
show it off.” As I sat and jumped up and down so standing. “I never imag-
talked with him, it was long I got a ramp and was ined my books receiving
clear that he was differ- hoarse for two days attention like that. It‟s a
ent. Just not in the way I straight from screaming.” good feeling.” Nicholas
expected. “I don‟t write Then, after that, it was his Sparks continues to create
romance novels,” Sparks career kicked off, and be- enchanting stories that
corrects. “Yes, I write gan to snowball, like an center around love, for all
about love and relation- avalanche. Every year he ages, for all readers. He
ships, but what I do came out with a new book, leads the way down the
would not be accepted by new characters, a new path of enjoyment, never
romance publishers. I story, new struggles, and ceases to provide the
write love stories, a com- the same intimate, com- tears, the laughter, the
pletely different genre.” forting, heartwarming sto- warmth. Every time, you
Most of Sparks stories are ries that captivate audi- can count on him to make
filled with captivating ences again and again. “I sparks fly.
stories of lovesick charac- like to target all audi-
ters who risk everything ences,” Sparks says, taking
for the other person. a sip of his coffee. “I want
Unorginial, right? Wrong. it to range from teenagers
“What separates you from to the elderly. That‟s why I
other authors is the trag- try to change up my sto-
edy you incorporate. Why ries. Making the audience

2. Up Close and Personal with Page 2
Inside Story Headline
This story can fit 150-200 own articles, or include a
words. calendar of upcoming events
or a special offer that pro-
One benefit of using your
motes a new product.
newsletter as a promotional
tool is that you can reuse You can also research articles
content from other marketing or find “filler” articles by ac-
materials, such as press re- cessing the World Wide Web.
leases, market studies, and You can write about a variety
reports. of topics but try to keep your
articles short.
While your main goal of dis-
tributing a newsletter might Much of the content you put
be to sell your product or in your newsletter can also be
Caption describing service, the key to a success- used for your Web site. Micro-
picture or graphic. ful newsletter is making it soft Publisher offers a simple
useful to your readers. way to convert your newslet-
ter to a Web publication. So,
A great way to add useful
when you‟re finished writing
content to your newsletter is
your newsletter, convert it to
to develop and write your
a Web site and post it.
Inside Story Headline
“To catch the
This story can fit 100-150 comment upon new proce-
reader's words. dures or improvements to the
business. Sales figures or
attention, The subject matter that ap-
earnings will show how your
pears in newsletters is virtu-
business is growing.
place an ally endless. You can include
stories that focus on current Some newsletters include a
interesting technologies or innovations column that is updated every
in your field. issue, for instance, an advice
sentence or column, a book review, a
You may also want to note
letter from the president, or
quote from the business or economic trends,
an editorial. You can also
or make predictions for your
story here.” profile new employees or top
customers or clients.
customers or vendors.
If the newsletter is distrib-
uted internally, you might
Inside Story Headline
This story can fit 75-125 Microsoft Publisher includes
words. thousands of clip art images
from which you can choose
Selecting pictures or graphics
and import into your newslet-
is an important part of add-
ter. There are also several
ing content to your newslet-
tools you can use to draw
ter.
shapes and symbols.
Caption describing picture Think about your article and
Once you have chosen an
or graphic. ask yourself if the picture
image, place it close to the
supports or enhances the
article. Be sure to place the
message you‟re trying to
caption of the image near the
convey. Avoid selecting im-
image.
ages that appear to be out of
context.

3. Romance Magazine Page 3
Inside Story Headline
This story can fit 150-200 own articles, or include a it.
words. calendar of upcoming events
or a special offer that pro-
One benefit of using your
motes a new product.
newsletter as a promotional
tool is that you can reuse You can also research articles
content from other marketing or find “filler” articles by ac-
materials, such as press re- cessing the World Wide Web.
leases, market studies, and You can write about a variety
reports. of topics but try to keep your
articles short.
While your main goal of dis-
tributing a newsletter might Much of the content you put
be to sell your product or in your newsletter can also Caption describing picture or
service, the key to a success- be used for your Web site. graphic.
ful newsletter is making it Microsoft Publisher offers a
useful to your readers. simple way to convert your
newsletter to a Web publica-
A great way to add useful
tion. So, when you‟re finished
content to your newsletter is
writing your newsletter, con-
to develop and write your
vert it to a Web site and post
Inside Story Headline
“To catch the
This story can fit 100-150 comment upon new proce-
words. dures or improvements to reader's
the business. Sales figures or
The subject matter that ap- attention,
earnings will show how your
pears in newsletters is virtu-
business is growing.
ally endless. You can include place an
stories that focus on current Some newsletters include a
technologies or innovations column that is updated every interesting
in your field. issue, for instance, an advice
column, a book review, a sentence or
You may also want to note
letter from the president, or
business or economic trends, quote from the
an editorial. You can also
or make predictions for your
profile new employees or top story here.”
customers or clients.
customers or vendors.
If the newsletter is distrib-
uted internally, you might
Inside Story Headline
This story can fit 75-125 Microsoft Publisher includes
words. thousands of clip art images
from which you can choose
Selecting pictures or graphics
and import into your newslet-
is an important part of add-
ter. There are also several
ing content to your newslet-
tools you can use to draw
ter.
shapes and symbols.
Think about your article and
Once you have chosen an
ask yourself if the picture
image, place it close to the
supports or enhances the
article. Be sure to place the Caption describing
message you‟re trying to
caption of the image near the picture or graphic.
convey. Avoid selecting im-
image.
ages that appear to be out of
context.

4. Magazine
This would be a good place to
Primary Business Address insert a short paragraph about
Your Address Line 2
your organization. It might in-
Your Address Line 3
Your Address Line 4 clude the purpose of the or-
Phone: 555-555-5555 ganization, its mission, found-
Fax: 555-555-5555 ing date, and a brief history.
E-mail: someone@example.com
You could also include a brief
list of the types of products,
services, or programs your or-
Your business tag line here.
ganization offers, the geo-
graphic area covered (for ex-
ample, western U.S. or Euro-
pean markets), and a profile of
the types of customers or
Organization
members served.
It would also be useful to in-
clude a contact name for read-
ers who want more information
about the organization.
We’re on the Web!
example.com
Back Page Story Headline
This story can fit 175-225 A listing of names and titles their calendars for a regular
words. of managers in your organi- event, such as a breakfast
zation is a good way to give meeting for vendors every
If your newsletter is folded
your newsletter a personal third Tuesday of the month,
and mailed, this story will
touch. If your organization is or a biannual charity auction.
appear on the back. So, it‟s a
small, you may want to list
good idea to make it easy to If space is available, this is a
the names of all employees.
read at a glance. good place to insert a clip art
If you have any prices of image or some other graphic.
A question and answer ses-
standard products or ser-
sion is a good way to quickly
vices, you can include a list-
capture the attention of read-
ing of those here. You may
ers. You can either compile
want to refer your readers to
questions that you‟ve re-
any other forms of communi-
ceived since the last edition
cation that you‟ve created for
or you can summarize some
Caption describing pic-
your organization.
generic questions that are
ture or graphic. frequently asked about your You can also use this space
organization. to remind readers to mark