Nicholas Sparks in Manila and 8 Things I Learned Straight from His Mouth

     

The date was 24^th of October. The last Friday of the said month. It is not an ordinary day to booklovers of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This was a red-letter day, the day Nicholas Sparks had a public encounter with his Filipino fans for the first time to greet them and sign their treasured purchase which is the author’s latest and 17^th novel, “Best of Me.”

     Upon stepping on the second floor of the Podium in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, you’ll get infused by the excitement and brimming welcome bestowed by the “reading” audience. You would not even think that a book author was the center of all these attention. Basing on all the teeny shrieks and giggly shouts, it’s as if a pop idol or rock star has conquered the stage, but it’s not. Although observers admit that he's a spitting image of Ryan Reynolds. I must confess as well that I didn't expect he'd be such dashing (shy smile).

     One group of girls even made a banner in gold letters, “there is sparks in Manila because of Nicholas.” Gadgets led by mobile phones, followed by compact and DSLR cameras, and tablets were littered all over just to capture each beating second of what can be considered a once-in-a-lifetime event both to hardcore and enthusiast romance-themed novel readers.

     For me, what’s most special was knowing basic information of a famous person not from google, facebook or Wikipedia but straight from the mouth of the author, “For those who doesn’t know me, I live in North Carolina. It is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.” Tell me, just how privileged I was? I needed to confess that apart from knowing Nicholas Sparks as THE guy behind “the Notebook” and a “Walk to Remember”, I didn’t know much about him beyond all the short reviews of his books which I read. I am not a big fan of romance-induced paperback or tomes as throwing myself into some kind of sappiness is not my thing. Although, I’m a bibliophile, I do make sure to read any latest reviews of the book which are raving in the market whether of already a famous author or a newbie.

     As an aspiring writer though, I decided to somehow try and check out Nicholas Sparks since I was already near the venue. Besides even though he’s a writer of a different genre, I surmised that I can still get some tips from him. After all, successful persons begets inspiration. Somehow, you have this positivity that you see your future in Him, or simply state, he moves you to continue just what you’re doing right now or propel you to greater heights and persevere on your dream to become a writer. More than being and seeing Nicholas Sparks, that is what drew me to this event, and I never regretted it.

    Straight from THE man’s mouth, I’ve come to know the eight things in its exact order: 

ü  Somebody has already gotten the movie rights for the Best of Me, but he would not reveal the Hollywood actors.

ü  He has already written 17 novels, seven are made to Hollywood movies. 

ü  A Walk to Remember is the book he loved to write the most because it is the easiest to write

ü  It takes him 70 days to write a novel, not in continuous mode though. He’d write a novel in 70  continual days at a time period of about 150 days. Each day, he’d write 5 to 6 hours a day.

ü  If he’s not writing, he described his normal day as boring as he also walks his dog.

ü  He’s married for 22 years, got five children ages ten to 20.

ü  All his novels were set in North Carolina

ü  He also relayed that there is “unofficial” Nicholas Sparks tour in North Carolina which passes by at the back porch of his house. He encouraged everybody that if ever they will take it, make sure to get the latest ride (about 7 PM) for the high probability to see him on the back porch, otherwise, they would just take a glimpse of the place sans his presence. (Haha!)

More of Nicholas Sparks

More of the Boy Abunda Interview in his TV program, the Bottomline, 05 October 2011 Saturday

What do you do during your writer’s block moment?

     I procrastinate, stare, delete, write the ending, work backwards

How do you know the ending?

     There are only 3: happy, bittersweet, sad, tragic

Most favorite book, the closest to him

      Three Weeks with my Brother, it is a memoir.

The most difficult to conceive

     The Wedding

Nicholas Sparks promises to come back to the Philippines. This is the only Asian country stop he has on his “Best of Me” book tour. It is also his choice.