How to Be Dead - A Love Story by Laurel Schmidt explores what it means to be fully alive - even in the afterlife. A tale told with humor, heart and intelligence, it celebrates the power of memory and the lifesaving potential of an excellent espresso. Frances Beacon, longevity guru and best-selling author of Sex, Drugs and Social Security, is at the peak of her second career when a New York City cab catapults her into the afterlife. Shocked, confused, and royally pissed, all she wants is to go home. Instead, she's enrolled in the University of the Afterlife, where this over-achiever turns into a dropout after being hit with a tsunami of obstacles. Frances spars with a host of bureaucrats, misogynists, and a mysterious Court that can condemn her to frigus repono - permanent cold storage. But her fiercest opponent is her own heart, the thing she must explore and embrace to win her freedom. In this compassionate, comedic saga of self-discovery, Frances learns that the only way to live again is to learn how to be dead.