"Room for Two"

I read Abel Keogh's book "Room for Two" about his comeback from the traumatic experience of having his wife kill herself while she was seven months pregnant with their daughter. I found it to be a poignant and heart-rending tale. From the first paragraph I got the impression he didn't get along with his wife, so I was surprised to find how deeply in love he was with her. It's a courageous story full of wonderful descriptions. I would have enjoyed even more details about some of the people and experiences he had, and his family members, but would definitely recommend this book. And don't worry, it has a happy ending.

The Idea

I'll share how the idea for my novel, "Forgotten Love," came about. I got to know my husband in college because it wasn't safe not to. He and his friends were quite the pranksters and it was safer to be on their good side.

He hates this part, but I never considered him for a romantic interest, we were just friends. He was much too wild for my tastes, and besides, I was writing to a missionary. But, he happens to be an excellent dancer, and we started entering disco contests together and my interest grew. Little did I know, he had designs on me all along, but he used to tell me, "You're so close to worthless it scares me to death." So I honestly believed that if either of us was to start liking the other, it would be me.

But "alls well that ends well," and we got married. I've always made up stories in my head to pass the time when I had nothing else to occupy my mind, and the first part of our marriage I commuted from Ogden to Salt Lake to work, which gave me plenty of time to think.

Considering the complexity of our courtship, one of the questions I asked myself was, "If I were to lose my memory then meet my husband again, would I be instantly in love, or would he have to woo me all over again?"

Thus, around this question I created a scenario that turned into a story and eventually ended up as a novel, "Forgotten Love." You'll have to read it to find out the answer!