Mother's — Linda Salisbury

When Lunie Pitts is laid off from her job at the Mosby Gap Building Department, she makes good use of her unexpected free time. She enters a contest for writing a novel in 30 days, cleans her already spotless home, and begins dealing with her deceased mother's house down the street. Mother was a hoarder and so is Lunie's brother, Dayton, who moves in with her temporarily because there is no room at Mother's. Lunie's circumscribed life quickly spins out of control when Dayton's gift of a stuffed moose with amazing mechanical attributes, becomes stuck in her front door, and friends Dayton makes on Facebook invade Lunie's life and home. Overwhelmed, Lunie seeks professional help online from the dubious Dr. Manngo, who offers odd, yet comforting, advice. She shares with him her childhood issues, such as Mother's frightening refrigerator with fuzzy leftovers, problems with Dayton, her bunny slippers, Dumpster nightmares, plus her dislike of neighbor Coreen Pomphrey's new reality TV cooking show, and her brother's walk-about business. However, Lunie is increasingly unable to get a grip on her own life and discovers that Mother is still a force to be reckoned with. Despite the many distractions, Lunie types away on her novel, never quite sure of where her characters are headed in their steamy relationships. But there are always surprises at the door, and they aren't all bad.