Best-selling romance novelist Nicholas Sparks is currently promoting his new movie "The Choice," which is about two unlikely people who found love when they least expected it.

Many people are actually criticising the author for repeating the tried-and-tested formula of his former hits such as "The Notebook" and "The Longest Ride," but Sparks said faith is the secret ingredient in all of his works.

"Of course faith informs my writing and I tend to be optimistic that God had a plan all along for everybody and I think it's up to each of us to make the most of that plan," he told The Christian Post. "So I believe often, God had a plan and then there's free will and I think all of my stories illustrate that point."

"At the same time I tend to believe that faith is less a destination than a journey and I think people's faith waxes and wanes throughout the course of one's life. I don't think there's any sin in that because that's why we call it faith," he said. "I think that God made it that way because He wanted us to choose to love Him on our own regard not because we had to or we'd go to the dark place after life ended."

As to how his lead characters Travis Shaw (Benjamin Walker) and Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) demonstrate their faith in the movie, Sparks shared that it is through pursuing a relationship even though it will change their lives for good.