Romance novelist Nicholas Sparks to speak in Bradenton

In the beginning, there was Stephen King, the undisputed master of horror. Then there was John Grisham, the master of the legal thriller.

Now there’s Nicholas Sparks, whose romantic novels have made him one of the most successful fiction writers of the past quarter-century.

Sparks will be in Bradenton for a presentation titled “An Evening With Nicholas Sparks.” It’s scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Neel Performing Arts at the State College of Florida in Bradenton.

“When I do these kinds of events. I talk about my books and the creative process,” Sparks said in a telephone interview from his home in New Bern, N.C. “And I answer questions. I like to take a lot of questions from the audience.”

Sparks’ talk is part of the same series that brought King to the Manatee Performing Arts Center in 2015 and Grisham and King, together, to the Neel stage last year. Both of those events were sold out and raised substantial amounts of money for the Manatee Library Foundation, ultimately benefiting the local library system.

Besides selling massive amounts of books, the three authors have something significant in common. They’ve all had many of their books turned into films that have reached even more people than their best-selling novels.

Sparks has published 20 novels in the past 21 years, starting with one of his most famous, “The Notebook,” in 1996. That was followed by “Message in a Bottle” (1998) and “A Walk to Remember” (1999). All three were adapted for the screen and became box office hits. Eight of Sparks’ later novels, including “Nights in Rodanthe,” have also become major motion pictures.

King has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with some of the film adaptations of his work, but Sparks said he’s usually very happy with the movies that his books spawn.

“In general, yes,” he said. “Sometimes I’m involved with them, as a writer or co-writer or a producer. It depends on how busy I am with other projects at the time. I’ve also been fortunate to work with the same people a lot.”

Sparks said that he, and maybe most viewers, consider “The Notebook” the best of the movies made from his novels. “A Walk to Remember” and “Message in a Bottle” also especially resonate with certain demographics.

As for the creative process, Sparks said that despite his prolific output, writing is never simple for him.

“I’ve heard people say that stories come to them fully formed,” he said. “That’s not the way it is for me.”

His novels start with one idea, and the kind of idea varies for each new project.

“It could be a beginning, or a theme, or an ending,” he said. “After that there are hundreds of other ideas, and I have to see which of those ideas fit and which I have to get rid of. I have to decide on the age of the characters because love for people in their 60s is going to be different than first love, when the characters are in their teens or 20s.”

Details: 7 p.m. Feb. 7, Neel Performing Arts Center at the State College of Florida, 840 26th St W, Bradenton. $150 reserved, $100 general, $25 educators. Through Feb. 3, general admission tickets are two-for-one. 941-216-8746, manateelibraryfoundation.org/an-evening-with-nicholas-sparks.

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Romance novelist Nicholas Sparks to speak in Bradenton."