Here at ThinkTalk, we've been lucky to interview a bundle of successful and very talented writers, but one of my favorite Blank Page interviews was our talk with bestselling author Nicholas Sparks. He graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Business Finance. He received a full track scholarship to the university and after breaking a school record was hurt and couldn't run for an entire summer. To ease his boredom his mother sarcastically suggested he write a book, which is exactly what he did.

Sparks joined ThinkTalk host Nellie Yangmi to talk about the film adaptation of his novel Nights in Rodanthe. Sparks also took questions from students concerning the romantic nature of his novels, the adaptation process from novel to film, and about his personal writing process.

Sparks has devoted an entire section of his Web site to tips and advice for aspiring authors. He says that "learning to write is like learning anything else, and can be broken down into three general parts: research, read, and write." Check out what he has to say about writing and getting your first book published!