Anne Faye

I was so excited to see Nicholas Sparks on the cover of the February 2011 Writer's Digest! He is one of my all-time favorite writers. WD has an in-depth interview with him: Bestselling Author Nicholas Sparks Explains the Creative Process . Sparks also talks about writing on his own website: Nicholas Sparks for writers I especially like his "grandmother rule:" "My grandmother's still alive; she reads me, and if she would get mad at me, then I can't write it."

All around me (at least in the virtual world), people are cranking out words for National Novel Writing Month. Many of them will accomplish their goal of writing a novel in the month, or at the very least write way more than they would have otherwise. I have been there and done that and loved the process. With my current goal of writing 10 minutes a day, I'm definitely taking a different approach with my latest work. Nevertheless, I am writing and that is what matters. I'm currently just under 2000 words. I figure if I average 1000 words a week, it will take me 80 weeks to reach my word count goal - a little more than a year and a half. I'm sure there will be times when my work load might be less and I might be able to write more, but we shall see. Still, I'm looking at finishing this project some time in 2012! Even though I know it will go by quickly, that seems a long way off. In other news, I finished reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks today. It was one of...

I follow Nicholas Sparks on Twitter. Today he did a book signing for his new book "Safe Haven" that lasted all day. He signed 5,600 books! I can't even imagine that. 

I just requested Safe Haven , the new book by Nicholas Sparks, from the library. I am currently the 32nd person in line. Hmm . . . wonder how long that will take. I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

As I hoped, I did get to watch Dear John Saturday night. It is always interesting to see how a book is adapted for the big screen. It is hard to have the same character development in a movie as in a book. The novel by Nicholas Sparks reveals a great deal more about what is going on in the main character's (John) head. Motivations are much clearer. Without that, some of the action in the movie seems a bit disjointed. Why did the characters act the way they did? It doesn't really make perfect sense  Overall, I feel that the movie was good. While not a classic, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. They mostly stuck to the storyline in the book, with a few minor changes here and there. One definite change was the ending (which I will not reveal for anyone because I don't want to be a spoiler). I will say that I did like the ending better in the movie! Anyone who enjoys a Nicholas Sparks' story or a good romantic movie will enjoy this film.

I gave myself a treat the past couple days and read Dear John by one of my favorite writers, Nicholas Sparks. The movie is coming out on DVD this week and I am planning on watching it this weekend. I wanted to read the book first. Somehow, it just isn't the same to see the movie first. I like to imagine the story first. Anyway, it was a great story about a woman and a soldier who meet when he is on leave and then try to keep their relationship going. Really, Nicholas Sparks never disappoints me. I wish I were that talented a writer. I especially liked this passage: "He sounds interesting. I've always loved people who have this . . . passion for life." "It's a passion for coins, not life," I corrected her. "It's the same thing. Passion is passion. It's the excitement between the tedious spaces, and it doesn't matter where it's directed . . . the saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply a...

Catholic Exchange has a very interesting interview with author Nicholas Sparks today. Check it out here: An Interview with Nicholas Sparks

I'm a huge Nicholas Sparks fan. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good love story. I recently picked up The Guardian at my local library. It is one he wrote a while back, but that I had never gotten to read. I greatly enjoyed it! It is different from most of his other books. It still has a strong romantic storyline, but it is also very suspenseful. In his "Author's Note," Sparks writes: The genesis of a novel is always a tricky process. Often it begins with a vague idea, or in my case, a theme, and for this novel, I chose the theme of love and danger. In other words, I wanted to write a story in which two believable characters fall in love, but I wanted to add elements of surprise and peril that would ultimately put both characters in jeopardy. I can't remember where I was when I made the decision to attempt such a story, but I do remember thinking that I was going to enjoy the process of trying to write a type of novel that I hadn't written before. ...