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Former Marines, Mark ā€œOzā€ Geist and John ā€œTigā€ Tiegen, were unable to quiet their minds and bodies on September 11, 2012.Ā  They were in Benghazi, Libya, when what they were trained and ready to do, not what they were actually there for, kicked in; and luckily for anyone who survived because many wouldnā€™t have, had these men not been willing, ready and able to be, not in their words,Ā heroes.Ā  Read more

Talking ā€œThe Choiceā€ with Nicholas Sparks

Interview with Nicholas Sparks for the release of his film ā€œThe Choiceā€

By: Ā Shari K. Green


PHOENIX, AZ ā€“ Nicholas Sparks, as you know, is the author of books such as,Ā Message in a Bottle, Ā The NotebookĀ and Ā The Best of Me,Ā Ā which have all been turned into big Hollywood money makers, not to mention the fact that these films widened his already immense and devoted audience with each movie; suddenly books had to be seen by his fans and the movies had to be readā€¦ pretty good deal for a Carolina Panthers fan.Ā  When he came to town for a chat, I had to go there with him.Ā  I asked and, yes, heā€™s for CarolinaĀ in the Super Bowl this weekend, of course, and Iā€™m for the Broncos.Ā  Weā€™ll see. Ā Anyway, he sat with me and a few others to discuss his most recent offering,Ā The Choice, opening in theaters starting February 5th.Ā 

Ā Very bubbly and fun, he walked in the room and gave us a ā€˜How are yaā€™ll doinā€™?ā€™Ā  Then he grabbed himself a Coke, offered everyone else one, as well, before finding a seat and introducing himself.Ā  He tells us that he generally has water the rest of the day, but touring means he usually has caffeine ā€˜til noon and this throws him off his normal healthier schedule, and how can you blame him?Ā  This is how he gets through these long days of interviews. Ā His energy was very nice to be around and I find him to be quite warm and genuine; a very kind soulā€¦ sincere.Ā  He looks you in the eyes when he speaks to you, making sure that not only he is heard and understood, but to be sure to give you the feeling that you are heard and understood.Ā  Heā€™s a very easy person to talk to and one Iā€™m glad I had the chance to spend some time with.Ā  Here are some of the questions from our time together.Ā  Enjoy!! Ā Ā 

*FYI There will be SPOILERS

Shari: Ā You are one of the only writers to give us these deep romance stories from the manā€™s perspective.Ā  Do you get stopped on the street and get asked advice on romance all the time?

NS:Ā Ā No.Ā  In fact, I donā€™t know thatĀ its ever happened before so how about that.Ā  Iā€™m not recognized by men.Ā  Iā€™m recognized by women sometimes, but never men.Ā  Unless Iā€™m supposed to be inā€¦ they know kinda where Iā€™m supposed to be, Iā€™m very seldom recognized at all.Ā  Like, for instance if people know Iā€™m in Phoenix doing stuff, they might see me in a hotel lobby and recognize me but had they not seen me on the news that morning, they might not.Ā  So, in the history of my career as far as I know outside of my hometown of New Bern, North Carolina,Ā I think Iā€™ve been recognizedā€¦ less than a dozen.Ā  I had a lady sit next to me on a plane, reading my book, staring at my author photoā€¦ and she didnā€™t recognize me. Ā So no; but to answer that question I do, often by journalists, get asked, ā€˜can you give romantic advice?ā€™Ā  And I say, ā€˜I donā€™t think so.ā€™Ā  He laughs.


Shari: So youā€™re not going to start a column or anything?

NS: Ā Absolutely not.Ā  I just try to write the best novels that I can.Ā 

 

Shari: Ā Being that youā€™re going through some change right now, what advice would you give to students on making a life changingĀ choice?

NS.:Ā In general?Ā  Iā€™d say, ā€˜chooseĀ your struggles wisely because it is your struggles that will define the life you live.ā€™Ā  What do I mean by that?Ā  If you ask people what they want, if you ask almost anyone what they want, everyone pretty much wants the same thing; they want a job they enjoy and great personal relationships, they want to be close with family and get along with friends, they want to be healthy, right?Ā  Everyoneā€¦ the answer is so common itā€™s ubiquitous, however, if you ask someone, ā€˜How do you choose to suffer?ā€™Ā  Thatā€™ll tell you a little bit about the person.Ā  I choose to write novels.Ā  I isolate myself from friends and family for hours on end.Ā  The time vanishes when one writes it feels as though you sacrifice a bit of your life.Ā  Iā€™m willing to put up with the torture of creation, you know, the struggles of writersā€™ block, to get to the end, right?Ā  Thatā€™s one of the struggles that I choose.Ā  So, choose your struggles wisely because how you choose toĀ sufferĀ will largely define the life you live.Ā 

Ā 

Shari: Is the suffering worth it?

NS: Ā Thatā€™sĀ the question.Ā  Most people donā€™t, I find, get what they want.Ā  They really just didnā€™t want it bad enough ā€˜cause if you really want something, you really will do what it takes to get there.Ā 

Ā 

Shari: Ā For someone who does spend a lot of time in their room, maybe on the computer or what have you, what would you maybe say to someone who needs to maybe break away from that mold and to kind of get into that ā€œromancesphereā€?

NS:Ā Ā I would say that unless thatā€™s what they truly want, they probably never willā€¦ and to accept that.Ā  And itā€™s okayā€¦ to each his own.Ā  (He thinks a moment and speaks again).Ā  Toā€¦ to step out of a box in which youā€™re very comfortable and put yourself in an uncomfortable position, you have to really want to do that and there areĀ certainlyĀ joys and wonders that can come about but thereā€™s also heartbreak and sadness which are also part of the game.Ā  You know, everyone wants a wonderful relationship; they pretty much want the view from the top of the mountain but ya gotta be willing to walk up the mountain.Ā  Ya gotta be able to do the climb so, if theyā€™re not willing to then have them accept themselves and to make the most of the lives they can with the friends they have and lifeā€™s about enjoyment.Ā  Lifeā€™s not only about work, itā€™s about enjoyment so as long as theyā€™re good, Iā€™m good.

Ā 
Shari:Ā  Has anyone made a decision that youĀ didnā€™tĀ like?Ā  One that you had no say in; thatā€™s the way itā€™s going to be?

NS:Ā Ā Has anyone made a decision IĀ didnā€™tĀ like.Ā  Sure!Ā  We can start with my children.Ā  (Laughs)Ā  Of course, you know?Ā  Andā€¦ I suppose it goes to the nature of the question that was up to require the decision, right?Ā  Most of the time I try to live my life by simple words that my mom taught me, ā€˜If someone says something you donā€™t like, or you disagree with, say, (And this is true though) itā€™s your life you can do with it what you wantā€¦ you can.ā€™Ā  Now how I deal with that, thatā€™s up to me, but you can do whatever you want.Ā  My childrenĀ hateĀ when I tell them that.Ā  They hate it with a passion, like, ā€˜Put all the burden on me!ā€™Ā  But itā€™s very true.Ā  I donā€™t know how successfulĀ youā€™veĀ been at running someone elseā€™s life, but I already found that itā€™s not very successful so I try not to give advice.

Shari:Ā  What are their age ranges?

NS:Ā Ā Fourteen to Twenty-Four.Ā  But itā€™s not just them, itā€™s siblings and people you work with.Ā  People are going to do what theyā€™re going to do and the only thing you can control is how you respond to it.

 

Shari: Ā Religion became a part of the narrative of the story, subtly and not so subtly; where Travis pulled away from his faith.Ā  Do you think that after the story ended, that Travis would go back to his faith?

NS:Ā My opinion is that it would be difficult for TravisĀ notĀ to go back to his faith.Ā  That would be my thought on that subject but, of course, thatā€™s just my opinion on the matter.Ā  And that was not an element that was within the novel.Ā  That was an element that came about in the filmā€¦ and so, I suppose an even better person to ask would be Ben Walker for his version of the character and the director (Ross Katz).

Ā 

Shari: Ā How did you bring Gabby (Teresa Palmer) and Travis (Benjamin Walker) together?!Ā  They had such great onscreen chemistry.

NS: Ā First we cast people who we thought were immensely talented and then throughout the casting process, we look for chemistry.Ā  How do they seem to get along, do they seem to be friendsā€¦ and Teresa has one of these personalities that draws everyone in, and so does Ben, in fact.Ā  And so, what they hadĀ was just magnetic, even in the read, so, when we put them on screen, when you get them in the big picture, it comes across as being incredible.Ā  But itā€™s something that we definitely look for.

Ā 

Shari: Ā The brother/sister relationship that you had occurā€¦ is there something in your personal life that you drew from because the sister is very likeable.Ā  Her character brought a lot to the film.

NS: Ā The sister in the novel was an even broader character.Ā  Iā€™ve been asked numerous times to write a story about the sister cuz she had it all together and she really did.Ā  She was as comfortable as he was, withĀ herselfĀ and I find that a wonderful element to someoneā€™s personalityā€¦ just the comfort with who they are.Ā  So, yeah, I was very close to my siblings growing up and Iā€™m still incredibly close to my brother; we actually took a trip around the world and I wrote a non-fiction book about that called ā€œThree Weeks with My Brotherā€.Ā  And, Iā€™d say Iā€™m close to my sister, too, but she passed away.Ā  She passed away from a brain tumor about sixteen years agoā€¦ soā€¦ yeah, the relationship between Ben and his sister was very much inspired by the relationship that I have with my siblings.Ā  I had parents that really stressed the fact that your siblings will always be around.Ā  Your friends will come and go but your familyā€™s there forever.Ā  In many ways, they are the people that you can tell anything to and they still keep coming backā€¦ right?

Travis Shaw (Ben Walker) and Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) in THE CHOICE. Photo Credit: Dana Hawley

Shari: Ā Up to the accident, you have your love storyā€¦ and then the accident happened and Iā€™m in tears; multiple times throughout.Ā  What about trauma do you think makes the story that much better?

NS: Ā Well, I write in a very distinct genreā€¦ itā€™s really called a love story as distinguished from a romance novel; a romance novel is really about romantic fantasy and itā€™s really supposed to be able to allow the reader to escape into a world and you go through conflicts but you pretty much know that the couple is going to get together in the end.Ā  Thatā€™s what itā€™s about and thatā€™s why you read them and itā€™s certainly a very valid, you know, itā€™s a wonderful genre; Cinderella.Ā  I mean, it works every time.Ā Ā ThisĀ is a love story and a love story is not necessarily romantic fantasy, although there are romantic elements.Ā  The purpose of that is to move the reader or the viewer through all of the emotions of life; to make it feelrealĀ so you might call it romanticĀ realismĀ versus romanticĀ fantasy.Ā  And that realism requires the reader or the viewer feelĀ allĀ of the emotions of life, cuz otherwise somethingā€™s missingā€¦ you know that; and the simple fact of life is that everyone goes through tragedy.Ā  Thereā€™s not one of us that will escape scot-free.Ā  Ā So, we have characters that feel real then they go through emotions that feel realā€¦ and they allow you, the viewer or reader to live someone elseā€™s but to feel like it was a full life; like you got itĀ allĀ even though it was just a snippetā€¦ a point in time.Ā 

Ā 

Shari: Ā You have romance down, for sure, have you ever, even if you did it under a pseudonym or something, considered writing maybe a horror novel ala Stephen King; try a different genre?

NS: Ā No.Ā  I donā€™t.Ā  Iā€™m very happy writing the kind of novels I write.Ā  One of the wonderful things about the genre in which IĀ work, is that Iā€™m able to pull elements from all sorts of genres and build them into my novels.Ā  For instance, ā€œSee Meā€, is my latest novel; itā€™s a love story; these two opposite characters meet, itā€™s my first Hispanic character and sheā€™s a lawyer and this guy is a reformed bad-boy and, okay, theyā€™re going to make it workā€¦ overcome these obstacles.Ā  And somewhere around the halfway point the novel starts devolving into a very twisty mystery thriller.Ā  Something like my attempt at what Harlen Coben would do.Ā  And Iā€™m not saying I did it but it was my attempt to do what he does so expertly wellā€¦ and part of the fun of that novel is, the tension is increasing and youā€™re not even sure whatā€™s going on.Ā  The reader is as confused as the characters in the novel.Ā  You can just feel the tension growing and growing.Ā  So, I can put elements of mystery into my novels.Ā  I put elements of the supernatural in ā€œSafe Havenā€ā€¦ take that for what itā€™s worthā€¦ itā€™s very light.Ā  Uhhā€¦Ā Epic.Ā  Iā€™ve doneĀ epicĀ sweepingĀ stories like ā€œThe Longest Rideā€.Ā  So, all of these elements that are particular to various genres, Iā€™ve been able to put into mine.Ā 

 

Shari:Ā  Have you ever or are you now, writing with a specific actor in mind?

NS:Ā Ā No.Ā  The only time I did that was for ā€œThe Last Songā€.Ā  If the movie got made it would be for Miley Cyrus and thatā€™s because I worked with Disney on the project.

 

Shari:Ā  Never??

NS:Ā Ā No.Ā  No.Ā  (Laughs)Ā  I neverā€¦ neverā€¦ no.Ā  (Laughs again)

Ā 

Shari:.Ā  I love the cast, especially the side characters, Tom Wilkinson and Tom Welling are terrificā€¦ ummā€¦ were there any jokes on the set or how was Ben feeling about stealing Supermanā€™s girlfriend?

NS: Ā There werenā€™t any particular jokes about that.Ā  It was a very familial set because we asked all of those characters to have arcs; even the father had an arc, you know, the sister had an arc.Ā  So, because they all had arcs, we all asked them to do various things emotionally andā€¦ we wanted them to be very comfortable, really experimentingā€¦ pressing themselves, going out on a limb, really (allowing) them to evoke these emotions in the viewer in a real way and we did that by having it become a family setting.Ā  When theyā€™re filming the backyard for the bbq, things like that, it was like we were at a backyard bbq.Ā  The dogs were running around, the kids were over thereā€¦ the sun, itā€™s beautiful, itā€™s warm, youā€™re in your shorts, youā€™re cooking on the grill; it was like, ā€˜I canā€™t believe weā€™re working.ā€™Ā  It was more like that.Ā 

Ā 

Shari:Ā  Whatā€™s it like seeing your novels come toĀ lifeĀ from a producerā€™s point of view?

NS:Ā Ā Itā€™s a lot of thought.Ā  I love the fact that viewers are going to see a new way to hear the story that I conceived.Ā  I have my chance to tell the story the way I did in the novelā€¦ but letā€™s see how someone else does with my story, you know?Ā  What kind of colors, who are we going to cast, how are we going to frame thisā€¦ what elements do we keep, what elements do we change to capture the whole spirit of the story and the characters.Ā  ForĀ me itā€™s a wonderful way to experience the story in a different medium.

Ā 

Shari: Ā Have you ever thought of just skipping the whole novel thing and just writing the screenplay and producing films yourself?

NS:Ā Ā Sure I have and Iā€™ve chosen to do that in television not as far asĀ film.Ā  Television is a bit more like a novel so you have a longer opportunity to tell a specific story.Ā  Iā€™m currently, for instance, writing a pilot for HBO but thatā€™ll give me ten episodes to tell a full story.

Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) and Travis Shaw (Ben Walker) in THE CHOICE. Photo Credit: Dana Hawley

Shari:Ā  The big ending, whether she lives or diesā€¦ what was the deciding factor for you?Ā  Was there a deciding factor?

NS:Ā Ā Well, it was during the course of the novel and, of course, thatā€™s what happens in the novel is what Iā€™m trying to say there; and I knew all along that she would come out.Ā  I knew.Ā  I didnā€™tā€¦ I didnā€™t want toā€¦Ā uhhh, I just knew but it was to bring the reader through all the emotions on the way to get there becauseā€¦ because sometimes these things happen; sometimes theyĀ donā€™t.Ā  When they do, thereā€™s a really magical and wondrous feeling with it.

Ā 

Shari:Ā  The husband in a film calledĀ 45 YearsĀ that just came out, says ā€œAll of the big decisions that we make, we do when weā€™re young; big decisions /choicesā€.Ā  And he had a real defeatist attitude which I donā€™t agree with.Ā  What is your take on that?Ā  I think we can make life changing choices every day.

NS:Ā Ā Of course.Ā  And at the same time, thereā€™s some validity (in it), when youā€™re young is usually when you choose your career, you might choose a partner or a spouse to be with; you might choose whether or not to have children and there are certain points in time when some of those are no longer valid.Ā  If youā€™re a woman and all of the sudden youā€™re fifty and you never had childrenā€¦ you canā€™t bear them.Ā  You might be able to adopt, but you canā€™t bear them.Ā  So, some choices, just by the nature of time itselfā€¦ yeah, they come and go and theyā€™re focus is more when youā€™re young.Ā  However, thereā€™s always major choices that one can make because thereā€™s always the kind of life that youĀ wantĀ to live and the newĀ strugglesor the newĀ sufferingsthat youā€™re willing to experience to get there; right?Ā  You want to go climb Mount Everest?Ā  Sure.Ā  Someoneā€™s done that in their seventies.Ā  Alrightā€¦ youā€™re willing to do that suffering; all the trainingā€¦ are you willing?Ā  Do you really want to climb Everest?Ā  That would be one example, but sure itā€™sĀ possible.Ā 

Ā 

I know what else is possibleā€¦ you running to the theater this weekend and checking out Lionsgate presenting a Nicholas Sparks / Safran Company / POW! Production of Ā The ChoiceĀ starring Ā Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer, Maggie Grace, Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling, Brett Rice, and Tom Wilkinson.Ā  Donā€™t forget to come back and let me know what you think of it!!!Ā  Have fun and Go Broncos!Ā  *Although, I have a feeling SparksĀ will win this oneā€¦ just like his film will. Ā Bring a tissue! Ā