Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1039286
So, what's he like? Refreshingly, much like you'd hope: warm, open, kind… It's a sunny day in late May when I enter Grand Central Publishing, Nicholas Sparks' book publisher. As I wait for the renowned author in the intimate-sized room I've been escorted to, I examine the shelves of books surrounding me. When I get to the shelves devoted to Nicholas' work, I linger on their book spines. There are a few different editions of each: The Longest Ride, The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, Safe Haven, See Me... Nicholas has a way with words, and a knack for crafting characters that resonate with us. In the last twenty years, he has penned twenty novels and watched nineteen of them land on The New York Times best sellers list (#20 is slated for release on October 16th and will undoubtedly make the list). Once Hollywood realized his talent, they swooped in and bought the rights for eleven of his novels and adapted them into blockbuster films starring Tinseltown's most well-known stars: The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams; A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West; Message in a Bottle, starring Kevin Costner and Robin Wright; Nights in Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. I don't normally get nervous before an interview, but in the moments before Nicholas walks into the room, I am a tad anxious at the realization that I am about to interview one of the most celebrated authors of our time, a man whose work I deeply admire, as much for his immense talent as for his prolificacy. Being a writer with the opportunity to sit down with a story teller whose tales have received universal approbation, feels much like I've been told that I can eat my heart's desire of pizza and not gain a pound. As soon as Nicholas arrives, the energy in the room shifts. The novelist-screenwriter-producer is dressed in a black V-neck with its long sleeves pushed up to his forearms, olive-hued pants, and black sneakers. I hand him my business card, which he carefully appraises. "I like it. It's pretty fancy. It's blue. It's playing toward the blue skies of Miami? Or is it the peacefulness you feel when you read Miami Living Magazine?" he asks in a pacifying tone. It's both, I would like to think, right? The small talk goes on a few more beats as he settles into the chair beside me. "It takes me a second to get situated. OK. Now, we're ready. Thank you for coming, first off." His kind, brown eyes and easy smile put me at ease. The North Carolinian, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska and grew up in California, is in New York City today for the 2018 Reimagined BookExpo; to do audio recordings for this book; and to chat with me. On October 16th, Nicholas' latest novel, Every Breath, will be released. It's been two years since his last novel (Two By Two), so fans are eager to get their hands on Every Breath. A throwback to his earlier stories (think, The Notebook, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, where there's "an outcome a few years later type-thing and a two-part story."), Every Breath introduces readers to Hope Anderson and Tru Walls, temporary neighbors who immediately connect during the few days they spend together. While their affinity for one another is strong, there are a couple of factors that challenge their bond, one being that they live on different continents; also, Hope is on a break from her boyfriend of six years. "One of the interesting things about Every Breath, my male character is foreign; he's from Zimbabwe, and of course, he's visiting North Carolina." He laughs at the latter as he had