Nicholas Sparks

There's something attractive about a man whose first purchase after getting paid for a best-selling novel is a new wedding ring for his wife — which is probably part of why People dubbed him as the "sexiest author" and Entertainment Weekly readers voted for him as their favorite author.

Of course, it helps that he writes good books too — books so good that he's had a novel spend more than a year on both the hardcover and paperback New York Times bestseller lists.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska on a New Year's Eve in 1965, he spent his first several years traveling, living in several different states. From the age of 8, he lived in California. He went to college at Notre Dame University — on a full track scholarship. While there he broke the school record as a freshman on the relay team. It was while recovering from a track injury that he wrote his first novel.

He was 28 when he sold his first international bestseller — The Notebook. Since then many of his books have become bestsellers and have been made into movies.

Bibliography

-- B. Redman