Nicholas Sparks on new novel Counting Miracles, how it connects with the Bible, and more
The author talks about where his ideas come from, how characters in his new book compare to those in earlier ones, and being a visual writer
Nicholas Sparks cannot always remember the way a book idea comes to him, but for the bestselling author’s newest novel, Counting Miracles, Sparks knows exactly how it happened.
“Not all my books are so clear,” Sparks says. “But the original inspiration for this one is I got this image in my head of this old guy, hurt and injured in a forest with no one around him, and his dog standing guard over him.
“I can’t tell you the second idea or the third idea, which led to the rest of the story, but the original inspiration I just couldn’t get that picture out of my head,” he says. “And you start asking yourself questions, and little by little, a story comes together.”
In Counting Miracles, the old man stranded in the Uwharrie National Forest near Asheboro, in the US state of North Carolina, is Jasper, an almost hermit-like figure who retreated from most contact with the public after a family tragedy years earlier.
Then there is Tanner, a former US Army Ranger, who most recently has worked for United States aid efforts in Africa, and who comes to Asheboro in search of his father. He meets Caitlin, a divorced doctor and mother of two. A romance begins as the town is captivated by reports of a sighting of a rare white deer in the forest.
