My dad saw an ad in the paper for a lecture at USF by Nicholas Sparks. He left it on the counter for me to see when I woke up at a crazily late time while getting over the jetlag. It was a free event where Sparks would give creative writing tips. We were surprisingly decisive and said we’d go. Along with millions of women in the world, I’ve enjoyed Sparks books. I’ve also thrown his book across the room because of terribly tragic endings. He describes a character so well and in depth that you fall in love with them seconds before he kills them off. He’s as good as he is frustrating, there’s no denying that.
So we made the 45 minute trip to Tampa and battled the traffic. We enjoyed Chickfila and Dad even said they were the best grilled nuggets he had ever had. Mom read the bio on the USF website on our way there. Turns out Sparks wrote his first novel at the age of 28. His work was rejected a few times, then his book was found one day. The finder/keeper of this book bought the rights from Sparks for $1 million, so Sparks was not a loser/weeper. I was inspired enough by this story before hearing the lecture.
It’s a good thing, because when we arrived, we were approached by a student in a green vest with a forlorn look on her face. “There are no more seats! You can wait until 9:30pm to get your book signed.” We never considered waiting the hour and a half for a signature, so we walked out and said, “Well, that’s too bad.” I said, “At least Dad had the best grilled nuggets he’s ever had. Totally worth the drive.”
So, blog readers…if I were to write a book this year, while I’m still 28 years old, what would you like it to be about? I could expand on a NZ story? Which blog post was your favorite? I could pretend the main character falls in love on a mountaintop while on working holiday? Any ideas?
Then I will lose the book somewhere and hope for that $1 million call.
beth of fresh air 
The main character MIGHT fall in love on a mountaintop when she returns to NZ…I like that storyline . There might be a novel there.
I think you definitely should write a book – and it could be about anything as far as I’m concerned and I’d love it. What I love is your writing and your voice. I think you could make any subject, plot line, genre worth reading. You tackle meaningful and deep just as well as fun and light-hearted and that’s a powerful combo! I get choked up when you add a little sentence like "once I’m able to hug Greg I’ll be quite satisfied" and then I crack up when you mention Erika being frustrated with unmeasurable statistics. One time I read about an author who said she just sat down everyday and waited for characters to show up, then she wrote about them! Go for it, girlio!