Notorious in Nashville
by Phyllis Gobbell

Nashville is hot, but when architect Jordan Mayfair visits, she sees the collision of old and new. Jordan tries to save a historic building from a crooked developer’s bulldozers, discover what happened to songs a washed-up drunk named Notorious wrote, and solve a young truth-teller’s murder, but her greatest challenge comes when her daughter is kidnapped, and Jordan has only hours to find her.

5 out of 5 fairies

I only know about Nashville through media, but Gobbell made me feel like I was stepping right into its hot, sunny, music filled streets. The history and tension of old versus new just flows right off the page. Jordan is an excellent character, and I love how deeply she feels things, and what a caring mom she is, even though her kids are all grown. Her family and friends that surround her in this story have plenty of depth as well, and I can’t say I’d be shocked to find any of them walking around the streets of Nashville. It’s clear from the writing that Gobbell is very familiar with the city, and the landmark locations in it. There’s just a sense of authority that emanates from the page. I was intrigued by the mystery, but the kidnapping is what really got my heart racing. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, I highly recommend this one!

Lily:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview Phyllis, I’ve enjoyed reading Notorious in Nashville. Tell us a little about how this story first came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else?

Phyllis:  Notorious in Nashville is the fourth Jordan Mayfair mystery. The other three were set in Provence, Ireland, and Italy, but when COVID came along, I wasn’t traveling anywhere. (I would not try to set a book like this in a location where I hadn’t spent any time. That’s just me!) So I set this mystery in Nashville, where I’ve lived most of my life. Besides the elements of mystery, which I imagined, the collision of old and new is a big deal here, so that was a concept that I wanted to build on.

Lily:  You did a great job of bringing Nashville to life, I really felt like I was there! Which scene, character or plot line changed the most from first draft to published book?

Phyllis:  I knew where I was going with Notorious, but he became more fully dimensional than I had imagined he would be. 

Lily:  He was an excellent character, and I was intrigued by him after he showed up ranting at writer’s night. Which character did you relate to, or empathize with, the most?

Phyllis:  I have tried to make Jordan Mayfair as unlike me as possible. She’s tall, with red hair, an architect, Catholic with five children, and she raised her children as a single mother. None of that applies to me. But, alas, I think she sounds like me sometimes. She likes to make things right whenever she can, and she gets in the middle of other people’s dramas because she cares about them, and cares about justice.

Lily:  Those are all great characteristics, and I think they’re what make her such a likable character. Which location in the book would you most like to visit, and why?

Phyllis:  I am familiar with all of the locations in the book. Though the characters are fictional, the neighborhoods, restaurants, everything from the Symphony to the Bluebird are well-known to me.  (I have not been on a party bus on Lower Broad for a bachelorette party, though.) 

Lily:  That’s pretty awesome! Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?

Phyllis:  I describe it as hitting a wall. I will come to a place and stop, not knowing how to go from there. I have to let the story swirl around in my brain for a while. After a time, I go back and read all the way from the beginning, and that is usually what it takes to propel me forward. 

Lily:  That sounds like a great way to get around it, without getting too frustrated. If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?

Phyllis: I taught college English and had a family. Though I was writing during those years, I couldn’t get the momentum that I have now. I admire the writers who get published at twenty, but I wasn’t ready then. I had a lot of living to do, and I wouldn’t trade my years of teaching or raising my family. Writing short stories and memoirs, attending conferences, and getting rejections were all part of paying my dues.

Lily:  I’m glad you ended up publishing these mysteries, and it’s definitely never too late to follow your writing dreams (for anyone reading this thinking they’ve waited too long). Do you have a favorite drink/snack when writing?

Phyllis:   Too much coffee, I’m afraid.

Lily:  Coffee sounds like the perfect drink to keep things flowing. Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. Do you like things to be carefully planned, or do you prefer to just go with the flow?

Phyllis:  I’m a planner. 

Lily:  I’m a big planner too, but I’m trying to go with the flow a little more. What public spaces do you feel most comfortable in?

Phyllis:  I’m at home in libraries.

Lily:  Libraries are so peaceful, and you can’t go wrong with all those books! If you could go back in time and give your parents advice before you were born, what advice would you give them?

Phyllis:  Don’t worry about me so much, but I confess I became the same kind of parent.

Lily:  I’ve been told parents never really stop worrying about their kids, and I saw that protective side come out in Jordan. What is your favorite inspirational/motivational quote?

Phyllis:  I love quotes and are always scribbling down something I’ve read or heard. One from Annie Dillard speaks to me at this point in my life: “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” I am acutely aware that time is short. The idea that my books will outlast me is compelling. 

Lily:  That’s a beautiful quote, and a good reminder to enjoy life while we can. What is worth standing in line for? How long would you stand in line for it?

Phyllis:  Can’t think of anything much!

Lily:  I’m trying to think of something off the top of my head, and there are probably some book releases I’d have stood in line for before online ordering was an option. Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Phyllis:  I’d add that another book, PRODIGAL, is coming out in November. It’s not part of the Jordan Mayfair series; it’s a Southern novel about a young man trying to come home.

Lily:  Sounds like it’ll be a interesting story. How can readers discover more about you and your work?

Phyllis:  My website tells most everything anyone needs to know. I hope readers will go to the site and watch the video trailer about Notorious in Nashville. I also invite readers to email me if they have any questions! pgobbell@bellsouth.net. I love to talk with my readers. I love to meet with book clubs, whether in person or on Zoom.

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Phyllis Gobbell writes a little bit of everything—mysteries, true crimes, short stories, creative nonfiction. Notorious in Nashville is her sixth book, with a seventh to be released in Fall 2024.

Her award-winning stories have appeared in 2 Bridges Review, Bellevue Review, Zone 3, Well Read Magazine, Red Mud Review, Coastal Shelf, Tetrahedra, and HomeWorks. She received Tennessee’s Individual Artist Award for Literature. Treachery in Tuscany, the third book in her Jordan Mayfair Mystery Series, won a Silver Falchion Award for Best Cozy Mystery.

Other books in the mystery series are Pursuit in Provence, Secrets and Shamrocks, and now, Notorious in Nashville.

Before she began her mystery series, Gobbell co-authored two true crimes, An Unfinished Canvas and Season of Darkness, based on two high-profile murders that have become part of Nashville’s history.

An English professor for twenty years, she served on the faculty at Nashville State Community College, where she taught composition, literature, and creative writing and edited the college’s literary journal. Recently she has taught creative writing in Lipscomb University’s Lifelong Learning Program.

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