What does Nicholas Sparks think about 'Fifty Shades of Grey?'

NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- Renowned romance novelist Nicholas Sparks admits he has read the erotic publishing phenomenon Fifty Shades of Grey.

Sparks was asked about the sexy bestseller during a roundtable interview with reporters in New York last weekend to promote the big-screen adaptation of his love story The Longest Ride.

"I have read the novel. I did not see the film," the author of The Notebook and Message in a Bottle said of Fifty Shades of Grey. "Am I a fan? What I would say is that I'm very comfortable writing what I write."

When he stopped there, Britt Robertson, the female lead in The Longest Ride, exclaimed: "Oh, I've got to know more! Come on! We'll talk later," but Sparks said nothing else on the matter in front of the press.

Co-starring Scott Eastwood, Alan Alda, Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin, The Longest Ride is set for release in U.S. theaters April 10.