Share Your Story in an New Edition of My Relationship Guides!

I’m gathering new stories for the updated editions of Life with a Widower and Marrying a Widower. If you’re currently in—or were once in—a serious relationship with a widower (whether you married him or not), I’d love to hear from you.

These stories are meant to help other women navigate the unique challenges of dating or marrying a widower. I'm looking for both success stories and relationships that didn’t work out.

I welcome all experiences but am especially interested in stories that explore:

• How adult or minor children impacted your relationship (for better or worse)

• The challenges and rewards of marrying a widower

• How you knew he was ready—or not ready—to open his heart again

If your story is selected:

• You’ll hear from me within 3–4 weeks

• You’ll receive $50 if your story appears in the published book

• Please keep your story to 750 words or fewer

To submit fill out the form below. Questions? Contact me here.

Your experience could be just what another woman needs to read.

NEW BOOK: From First Date to Soulmate: Finding True Love in the Age of Narcissism, Addictions, and Hooking Up

My latest relationship guide is now available. Perfect for those looking to finding someone they can happily spend the rest of their lives with. More information below.

Discover Your Path to True Love

Are you ready to find your soulmate and build a love that lasts a lifetime? Best-selling author and renowned relationship coach Abel Keogh brings you From First Date to Soulmate, the ultimate handbook for anyone seeking a deep, meaningful, and life-long connection.

Drawing on timeless love stories and over 15 years of professional experience as a relationship coach, Abel offers a unique blend of wisdom, practical advice, and inspiring insights to guide your journey. This indispensable guide reveals:

• The Key Qualities of a Soulmate: Understand what truly matters in a partner and how to recognize those traits.

• Dealbreakers Uncovered: Learn to identify and avoid red flags that could sabotage your happiness.

• Effective Strategies for Finding Love: Discover the most successful methods for meeting and connecting with your soulmate.

• Protection from Heartbreak: Recognize and steer clear of narcissists, addicts, and people seeking casual flings.

• How to Build a Lasting Relationship: Navigate the transition from dating to a lifelong commitment with confidence.

From First Date to Soulmate is more than just a book—it's your practical guide to finding and maintaining a fulfilling and enduring relationship. Whether you're starting fresh or seeking to deepen an existing relationship, this book will provide the tools and inspiration to find and keep the love of your life.

New Relationship Guide Coming January 2025

Finalized the manuscript for my latest relationship guide today. The book will be available next month. While I'm not sharing the title at this time, here's a partial peek at the cover. (I'm such a tease!) More details coming soon.

New Guide: 10 Uncomfortable Truths about Dating a Widower

My latest guide, 10 Uncomfortable Truths about Dating a Widower is now available to those who join my mailing list. To access it, fill out the form below and subscribe to my (usually) monthly newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.

New Book Coming Soon

Feel good to write these words again. More details coming soon. (Book co-written with Julianna Keogh.)

What kind of books to kids like to read?

Cleaned up the kids’ bookshelves today, deciding what books to keep/not keep. Most interesting was the fact that the older kids (16, 15, 14, and 12) more or less universally agreed what books to keep for our younger kids (10, 8, and 5).

About one-third of the books on the shelves were deemed “boring” or “preachy” and therefore are headed to a new home. Kept the ones that were “exciting” or “fun to read” for the younger ones to enjoy. This is from four different kids with four different sets of interests, opinions, and tastes and yet they could all agree on what made a good young adult, middle grade, or young reader books.

Moral of the story: If you want kids to read, give them stories that excite their imaginations and sense of wonder and draw them in quickly. Avoid the preachy nonsense because they can smell it a mile away and won’t bother finishing it. (And if you force them to read it as part of an English class, not only will you kill their love of reading, they will tear the book and teacher to pieces as they put it in never-read-again pile.)

(Photo is of pile books headed to a new home.)

Coming January 29: Dating a Widower, Second Edition

Dating a widower comes with unique challenges that you won’t encounter when dating a single or divorced man. For the relationship to work, the widower will have to put his feelings for his late wife to the side and focus on you. But how do you know if he’s ready to take this step?

Drawing on his own experience as a remarried widower, Abel Keogh provides unique insight and guidance into the hearts and minds of widowers, including:

• Why widowers date so soon after their late wife dies

• How to know if the widower is ready to make room in his heart for you

• Red flags that indicate widowers aren’t ready for commitment

• How to set and maintain healthy relationship boundaries with widowers

Dating a Widower is your guide to having a successful relationship with a man who’s starting over. It also contains 22 real-life stories from women who have gone down the same road you’re traveling. It’s the perfect book to help you decide if the man you’re seeing is ready for a new relationship—and whether dating a widower is right for you.

An Update on My Next Novel

For those who have been asking about my next novel here's an update: The above image shows the chapter, page, and word count of a novel I sent off to my editor on Wednesday. Last night I commissioned a very talented individual to work on the cover. If all goes according to plan, this means I should have a finalized cover in the next 30 days and a finalized book ready for market in July or August. 

Stay tuned for updates.

Book and Life Updates April 2017

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted updates on books, life, or anything else so I thought I’d do a short update on things then share some news about an old book.

Those wondering when my next book will come out, all I can say is soon. Very soon. I’m towards the end of my second rewrite. It’s been a slow process mostly because my free time is limited. I work on the book every day from 4:30-6:30 a.m. At that point the kids are up and life takes over. There are little kids to feed and big kids to get off to school. Then it's off to my job. Once I’m home at night there are sports practices for some kids, church activities for others, homework to do, and dinner to prepare and eat, and then it’s time to get the younger kids ready for bed. By the time everyone's in bed for the night, I’m too physically and mentally exhausted to write.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not complaining. I have a nearly-perfect marriage, seven wonderful kids, a day job that I love, and a home to keeps everyone warm, dry, and happy. Having lost everything that mattered many, many years ago, I wouldn’t trade any of that for more writing time because books are books and families are forever.

But the books will keep coming. I promise you. They won’t stop because for some reason I can’t stop writing the stories that filter through my head. In the meantime, here’s some news about my first book.

The nice thing about owning the rights to your own book is that you can do whatever you want with them. It’s been 10 years since my first book and memoir Room for Two was published. To celebrate, I’ll be posted the entire book in my blog. Starting Monday, I’ll post Chapter One and will continue to post a chapter for the next 16 weeks until the entire book is up.

So if you haven’t read Room for Two before, now’s your chance to try it out. If you have, then you can enjoy the journey again, one chapter at a time. 

Starting Monday.

Book Reviewers Wanted

As some of you may know, I'm coming out with a new book soon and possible a second one later in the year. The first book is along the sci-fi/fantasy genre and the second is a mystery/thriller. 

If you like to read one or both of these genres or future self-help books, I’m looking for a few honest book reviewers. If you’re interested in reviewing future books of mine, fill out the form here. I’ll be in touch soon.

Thanks in advance.