Nerve: A Novel

**2015 Beach Book Festival Award: Honorable Mention** This is a story written for mothers who remember what it was like to be young and confused, and still feel that way at times.
Jesse fantasizes about living the romantic, beat life. He wants to travel the world and feel the wind of real adventure on his face. When he meets Maya, raised by nomadic hippies, he thinks he's found a lifeboat to carry him from the dull to the sublime. He is thrilled when Maya reveals a secret from her past that compels them to hitchhike across the country together. 

Meanwhile, Jean is a mother navigating her own path through the work-family balance. When her tenuous relationship with her child is threatened, she has to confront some harsh truths about motherhood. Truths she wants desperately to ignore. 

Brimming with insight, humor, and generosity of spirit, Nerve tells a poignant yet unsentimental story about finding yourself and where you belong. 

Keywords: dating, relationships, parenting, parent and child, travel, voyage, family life, friendship, love, politics, spiritual, coming of age, hitchhiking