Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Research on Memory Loss for The Oblivious Billionaire

I was blessed with a small miracle on Sunday. I'd been feeling a bit stymied with my work in progress, The Oblivious Billionaire. In part, because it's a fluffy rom-com, and until Sunday, I didn't think it would have much depth.
It's the story of a rich man who loses seven years of his memory, and, of course, meets and falls in love with a woman who--although she doesn't suffer from memory loss--also needs to wake up to reality.
I'm about fifty pages in and I despite the great scenes I've planned, I was having trouble putting words on the page.
But on Sunday during church services, a cute girl shared a story of a woman that she met while serving a mission. This woman had lost seven years of her memory and didn't remember her conversion to the gospel or the friends she'd made since her baptism.
Because of the coincidence of the circumstances and the similar lapse of years, I felt as if heaven was urging me to write my story. 

I reached out to the woman, and she was gracious and kind. Her words are golden and suddenly my story doesn't seem as fluffy or shallow as I had thought. Here's a summary of her message. I hope you'll find it as touching as I do.



Some  surprises that I faced were not knowing or recognizing people I had known or met in the past 6 years when I lost  my memory. I went back and I acted the age I thought I was. It was hard with my friends because we had to be reintroduced and they had to try to explain our friendship and all the times we had spent together. It was also hard with my family because I had no recollection of where we now lived or how my siblings had grown and changed. I had no memory of my 4 yr old cousin. 

I would want people to know that is is a hard experience to go through but the only way for things to get back to normal is I have to be treated like normal. No one could expect me to be the person I used to be. Traumatic brain injuries permanently alter your personality. Even if you get your  memory back, you'll never really be the same. A few lessons I have learned from this experience are savor every moment and treat everyone as if that is the last time you'll ever see them. 
After this experience, I came to see that every day is special and everything can change in an instant. Take chances because you may not get another one. Tell people how you feel. After my accident, I came to  find that my fear of rejection was smaller than my fear of missing out on something amazing. I have also come much closer to God and have been strengthening my relationship with Him because I know today is the only day we are promised, and I want to do all I can to serve him everyday. 

The Oblivious Billionaire is the second book in my Misbehaving Billionaire's series. The first in the series, The Billionaire's Beagle will be live tomorrow.


Above all else, Letty detests liars. A good girl through and through, she’s always tried to walk a straight line, which hasn’t been easy given her father walked a crooked path that led him to prison.
Wes is attracted to Letty the moment he meets her. One of the things he loves about her is she thinks he’s just a beach bum working at the local hotel and she’s okay with him just as (she thinks) he is.
But when Betty the beagle gets kidnapped, the budding romance goes off the rails and Wes and Letty are forced fess up to their lies and exaggerations before their problems (and beagles) get completely out of hand and off leash.
Romantic comedy fans and dog-lovers will enjoy this sweet beach-side romp by USA Today bestselling author, Kristy Tate.


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