Nicholas Sparks on The Choice and dating after his divorce (2023)

CchickenThe optionalIt will hit theaters on Friday and will be the eleventh feature film based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, the global phenomenon whose love stories have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. TIME caught up with the writer ahead of the film's release to talk about his drama, Stephen King and his post-divorce love life.

ZEIT: Many of your books have a medical element, including this one. There?

Spark:In the end I think it reflects reality, right? Even in my lifetime, I was 23 and my mother had a [fatal] horse accident and I spent those last few hours in the hospital. My sister went on with a brain tumor. When Cathy and I got married, she miscarried. My second son, Ryan, was diagnosed with severe autism. I can't tell you how many doctors we tried to detect this diagnosis with, it was a big challenge. So I think this is an essential part of life for most people. At the same time, it's often moments like this that make you question things. So to me it just reflects the truth, actually to me it reflects the truth a lot more than anything with a serial killer. I've never met a serial killer. I know they exist but I have never met one as I know many people who are dealing with a mother suffering from cancer, a sick brother or a sister who has had a mastectomy.

Do you think that's why readers are drawn to your stories?

When you write stories like these, you strive to evoke all of life's emotions so that when the reader is done, they feel like they've lived a mini life. They went through all these emotions, they were happy, sad, angry, frustrated and confused, falling in love and then falling in love and being challenged in love, all these great emotions. And if you take away one of those things, you're writing about a character who never gets angry, or there's no humor, or there's no sadness, it feels like a fairy tale. And there's room for that kind of story in the market, but that's not what I do.

Readers and viewers seem to love the North Carolina locations. Why do you think that is?

Because I think it relates to feelings of nostalgia or longing for a slower pace. Lots of people are incredibly busy these days and when you work and you have kids and you have a partner, husband, parents, siblings, pets, neighbors, you run from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep. 🇧🇷 Meanwhile, you have this show about someone who has time to just sit in the backyard and put on music with the dog and throw the ball around, and you're like, "I want this life!"

the characters in itThe optionalTalk about "the thing with God" early in your relationship. What is your answer to God's question?

I was raised Catholic, so naturally I believe in something bigger out there. In my sense, it falls on Einstein; The more I study the universe, the more I shake my head and say, "I don't know how all these random elements come together without a guiding influence." This is my own perspective, I could call it "Intelligent Design". To me, that resonates with more meaning. The big bang can fall for that. What is the truth anyway? I wonder. I think I'll find out. Or I won't!

How do your children like your books and films?

My daughters, not my sons, read everything, and my sons saw the films but read nothing. They show up on set from time to time when we're filming and they definitely go to the premiere and it's a lot of fun. But my daughter says the same thing as some of my readers: "You ruined men for me forever because they just aren't that romantic, dad." My daughter tells me! So what do you think about it? To me that's a wonderful compliment because it means they managed to escape the story and forget that I wrote it.

When you flip through the dials and stuff like thatThe notebookit's on what are you doing

I can check! Clear. I observeAn unforgettable tour.I haven't seen it for a long time and I think I saw it last week. I released this film 14 years ago. I looked at it and said, "Wow, that's holding up really well! I love that!"

What is your favorite book that you have written?

My personal favorite? Dude, that's a tough word. For the writing process, shall we sayAn unforgettable tour🇧🇷 My best work that would begive,the longest journeyjSafe haven🇧🇷 When you say what means more, well,The notebookbecause it started my career. The most personal, you would saythree weeks with my brother, because this wasn't fiction and was pretty much the story of my life.

And your favorite book by another author?

You can't do it to me! An author's favorite book? I don't know if this is possible. What about the complete works of Stephen King?

What do you like about that?

I like the fact that when you're writing you never lose sight of the fact that you're telling a story that you want readers to engage with. I think that's a lesson that stuck with me throughout my career, although of course we write completely different things.

The ABC sitcom you producethe next chapterit will be loosely based on her life after the divorce. what can you tell me about it

I don't know that "loosely based" is the word, it's "loosely inspired". It's the story of a man who's been married for a while, a novelist who writes love stories, gets divorced and what happens after that in a world that thinks it's very romantic. We're still early in the process and I'm still working with ABC and the writers to figure out exactly what kind of comedy we're looking for. And moreModern Familyor is it moreTeoria makes a big bang🇧🇷 or is it moreeveryone in the family🇧🇷 still don't know

I know part of that is character learning to this day again. If you date, how high is the bar for them to be truly romantic just because you are and what you write?

I have no idea. I guess you would have to ask her. Just take a look. In the end I think you just have to be yourself. Otherwise, what's the point? If you laugh a lot, then laugh a lot. If you go in and turn off this false sense of who you are, what's the point? You will not be that person. I don't even get the point. i only know who you are I like to think that I'm the kind of person who is more romantic than not. I do my best. I open doors, send flowers, I don't forget birthdays, I remember things, Valentine's Day... I wrote everything down.

What assumptions do you think readers are making about you that are not true?

I would say that maybe they don't know that I train as much as I do. Many people think of writers as artistic or introverted, and many of them are.

how much do you train

At least a few hours a day.

What are you working?

I do a lot of cardio, I do a lot of weights, sparring, taekwondo-like stuff.

What can you tell me about your next book?

Oh, my next novel I'm working on, and I rarely tell anyone, but what can I say, look: It's going to be a love story, it's going to be set in North Carolina, and it's going to have a few characters. what I think you'll really like, bugs and all. I know! I pretty much gave the story away. It's unlike anything I've done before.

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