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The idea for Some Nerve was triggered by a conversation I had with the agent who handles the movie rights to my books. It had been widely publicized that Julia Roberts was flat on her back at a local L.A. hospital while she was awaiting the birth of her twins. My agent and I were dying for her to read An Ex to Grind and play the part of the heroine, Melanie Banks, so she said, "Why don't you sneak into the hospital as a volunteer and hand her the manuscript? She has plenty of time to read." She was kidding, of course, but my imagination took off. I came up with the story of a celebrity reporter who becomes a hospital volunteer in order to get the story on an ailing actor. And then I went straight to my local hospital in L.A. to speak to the head of volunteers. I asked her if I could observe for a few days, to research my novel. She said no. "We don't allow access to our patients for 'material,'" she said. "But if you'd like to become a volunteer, we'd love to have you."
Become a volunteer? Me? Sure, I admired those who offer their services to worthy causes, but I was busy grinding out a book a year, not to mention as leery of being around sick people as my heroine. And weren't hospital volunteers either teenaged candy stripers or seniors? I was neither. I was a writer with an assignment, like my heroine.
Then I reminded myself that I could afford to leave my computer once a week for a few hours. And I did love the notion of lifting others' spirits, which was exactly what I'd been doing with my books. So I signed up, was given my uniform and ID badge, and reported for duty. My "job," it turned out, was to wheel a magazine cart throughout the various wings of the hospital, offering patients everything from People to Smithsonian, and, in the process, ease their loneliness, be a shoulder to lean on.
My first few shifts were harrowing. Like my heroine, I was terrified of entering rooms where heart monitors beeped and breathing tubes whooshed and smells of illness permeated the air. I was sure I'd stumble into a room during a Code Blue and end up killing somebody.
But there were also humorous moments: when an elderly man peeled back his blanket and "flashed" me; when a psych patient in restraints proposed marriage to me; when a woman delirious on morphine accused me of being her husband's ex-wife. I learned early on that hospital volunteering is rarely dull.
Still, my primary focus in the beginning was on researching my novel. And then a funny thing happened: I stopped researching and started realizing that I might actually be making a difference in people's lives. A woman who'd just been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer thanked me for brushing her hair. A kid who'd been shot during a gang-related incident told me the Sports Illustrateds I brought him were the highlight of each week. A man who was wasting away from AIDS deemed me his "angel" simply because I helped him write a letter to his mother. I began to look forward to my weekly shifts in ways I'd never anticipated.
I continue to volunteer long after finishing Some Nerve. I've moved from L.A. to Santa Barbara and now spend once a week helping out at Cottage Hospital.
I'm not sure if the book inspired me to volunteer or my volunteering inspired the book. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.