Of course I expected the world -- and my daughters -- to change. It's nearly thirty years since I passed on. Still, I hardly recognize the place. Day spas on every corner. Miniature telephones. And such racy television programs. Though I do love that "Sex and the City."

And yet, some things never change. Stubbornness. Pettiness. Families who fight. Like mine. Especially my older daughter, Shelby.

She stopped speaking to the family. Hasn't been home in years. And it's not as if her romantic life is so great, either. She may be this hot-shot journalist, but she's still thirty-eight and as single as a sock in the dryer.

Enough is enough, I thought. There must be a way to get her to come home. Make nice with her father. Pal around with her adoring sister. Maybe even reunite with that little neighbor boy she never stopped loving.

One tiny problem. We've been warned about tinkering with divine intervention. But here's a universal truth every mother in the afterlife knows. Whether dead or alive, the job never ends. So, my darling Shelby, that wake-up call YOU hear tomorrow morning? It's not the Ritz. Just a little help from above.

For centuries, artists have learnt from the art that came before them. This book explains how to make paint meaningful and imaginative responses to the works of the masters. There are step by step examples to illustrate how to get started and how to use thumbnail pencil sketches. Advice is given on how to make larger and slower drawings, and then oil-sketch copies of the masters' work. The author studies the composition, rhythms and colours of the masters and uses their work as a source to practise and understand paintings, and as a springboard for your own discovery and invention. This book explores how a brave and imaginative use of colour can reinterpret paintings to achieve a greater and more expressive effect. Images from the earliest art to the twentieth century are included to feed your creative imagination, and examples of contemporary interpretations to show you the way. With over two hundred inspiring images, it is a unique guide to developing your own artistic voice while studying and enjoying some of the art world's greatest treasures.

Quick Easy Meals: Grain Free Cooking and Lose the Belly Fat Are you tired of dealing with constant digestive problems and stubborn belly fat in your search for quick, easy meals? This book is here to help. You may have been promised quick weight loss by mainstream diets, only to discover that getting rid of a stubborn belly is a lot harder than it sounds. You might try, time after time, to cook quick healthy meals that can help you slim down and feel better, only to discover that food has once again failed you. The quick, easy recipes contained in this book are here to make a difference. They're designed to help remove problem belly fat and help you get rid of health problems caused by reliance on processed grains like wheat and corn. You'll find lots of quick dinner recipes, snacks, breakfasts and more, all designed to help you enjoy your food again. There's no need to worry about gaining when you use these quick meals.

Millie McCall is an exuberant, Harley-riding character who hosts scandalous poker parties for the local fellows wearing her red negligee. Young Jim Halprin is a stand-in at the party, forewarned to flee the moment the last card slaps the table. A swaggering Harley rider himself, Jim bonds with Mrs. McCall instead, as she absorbs lunar energy, shedding her disheveled appearance, becoming a tantalizing beauty. Jim rescues Millie's flashy Harley from destruction by juvenile predators but Millie laughs off the pranksters and leads Jim off on a wild chase in the wrong direction over the twisting roads of Orcas, the most rugged and dangerous of the San Juan Islands. Millie is evading her keepers and tormenting her husband, or so Jim soon learns. He finds himself on a mad ride on the night of the full moon, terrified to learn that Mrs. McCall's freedom ride is meant to last forever.

In Mindy's yoga-obsessed, thirty-is-the-new-wife neighborhood, every day is a battle between Dunkin' Donuts, her jaws-of-life jeans, and Beth Diamond, the self-absorbed sancti-mommy next door who looks sixteen from the back. So much for sharing the chores, the stores, and the occasional mischief to rival Wisteria Lane.

It's another day, another dilemma until Beth's marriage becomes fodder on Facebook. Suddenly the Ivy League blonde needs to be "friended," and Mindy is the last mom standing. Together they take on hormones and hunger, family feuds and fidelity, and a harrowing journey that spills the truth about an unplanned pregnancy and a seventy-year-old miracle that altered their fates forever.

"Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead" is a hilarious, stirring romp over fences and defenses that begs the question, what did you do to deserve living next door to a crazy woman? Sometimes it's worth finding out.