Book excerpt: Inspired by the many frustrations of parenthood and the ever-present fear of failure, SHOES ON THE STAIRS centers around a mother's struggle to accept what she has left behind after her death. Unable to find the promised white light after her death, Claire Blackwell, a harried mother of three, is forced to watch her family crumble without her. But when her youngest sees her, Claire believes she's been given a chance to mend the holes she's created. She soon discovers she has no control over the physical world, and her time with her family is running out. But when her son's childhood bully threatens to destroy her delicate family she must find a way to save them before it's too late.