I don't hate Nicholas Sparks

I was going to write about the time I explored Lake Lure, one of the events that led me to write my first book, when I saw a post about Nicholas Sparks this morning. It seems that yet another of his books is going to be turned into a movie.

Now, I've kind of knocked Nicholas Sparks in the past. My go to line is to ask people if they liked my books, then to go give them a good review, as it helps sales. And if they didn't like them, well, I'm Nicholas Sparks. In the hopes they go give him a bad review, see? (I'm not really Nicholas Sparks.)

I really have no contempt for Sparks; on the contrary, I have nothing but bonhomie for the hugely successful turkey guy. My hangup comes from a Facebook post I read a few years ago. Some NC page asked who their fans' favorite writer was, and in a landslide, Sparks was mentioned more than any other writer. Even worse, some of North Carolina's best and most famous were not even mentioned. O. Henry (not a native, but a North Carolinian nonetheless), Clyde Edgerton, Thomas Wolfe (!), David Drake and Orson Scott Card in science fiction writing, Haven Kimmel, Jerry Bledsoe, Tom Robbins, David Sedaris, Daniel Wallace... I mean, Daniel Wallace barely mentioned! Maybe he wasn't even mentioned.

No Carl Sandburg.

No Paul Green.

So, really, I'm more disappointed that the favorite author of most people in North Carolina is a guy who writes, by his own admission, the same book, over and over. Two people meet, they are slightly confronted by each other, have to overcome an external problem, grow closer, but can't be together for some reason, and they separate, benefiting from the closeness they gained.

Yeah, I read a few of his books. That's the thing. He's a good writer. He can put the words together well, and the story flows. He has appeal, he's fun, entertaining. And, honesty, if I thought I could make the money he makes off those things, I'd write the same book over and over, too. And he seems like a nice guy. He ran track, and built a new running track for the local high school in New Bern.

And I don't really blame him for the crummy movies made from his books; that's rarely the author's fault. And, I know, The Notebook is pretty good. What do you expect? I has James Garner in it. Rockford was awesome.

Soooo, yeah... If you ever see me knocking Nicholas Sparks, I do it with love. And maybe a little envy, but not much, I'm really not that kinda guy. But I do hope people would open their library up a little. There should be a competition for the best author in my home state. I'm going to keep working hard to be part of that.