If It's Tuesday...It's Writers Group by Phyllis Gobbell

 I've known Phyllis for years virtually because she and I have shared two publishers, Five Star Publishing and Encircle Publications. Her Jordan Mayfair books are wonderful because you go on a trip to Italy without leaving your chair. Add mystery and suspense and you have a fantastic read! Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Phyllis Gobbell!

It started at a writing conference, four decades ago. (I was very young, of course!) The conference at Vanderbilt, with attendees from many states, brought in heavy-hitters in the industry. Writers with best sellers taught week-long classes. Agents and editors who were genuinely open to new talent conducted workshops. Speakers—Alex Haley was one—inspired us. And out of that came some emerging writers in Nashville who wanted to help each other achieve our writing goals. We began to meet every Tuesday night.

 

And still, if it’s Tuesday, it’s writers group. One of the first who got a publishing deal mentioned our group in his Acknowledgements, calling us the Nashville Writers Alliance. 

 

Though I am the one remaining founding member (which makes me feel old but also proud), there are others who have been in the group for twenty-five years. People ask how we’ve survived when so many writers groups come and go.

 

Meeting every week has been a factor in our longevity, and our members take their commitment seriously. Most of us won’t miss a meeting except for sickness, family obligations, or trips. It’s not hard to get back in the groove after one absence, as it would be with monthly meetings. Everyone knows it’s not a drop-in-occasionally thing.

 

We take turns hosting. There is an intimacy about meeting in each other’s homes, with wine and cheese or cookies. It doesn’t mean we’re all best friends, but we are friends. We’ve dressed up for Halloween and composed Halloween stories, and we’ve had poetry nights when we depart from our usual prose readings. We’ve had summer cookouts at one member’s farm. I don’t think we’ve ever missed having a Christmas party except in 2020.

 

In March of 2020, we had to adjust to life during a pandemic, so we began meeting on Zoom. Unlike previous meetings, when we each read aloud about four pages, we sent the pages via email on Monday. Most members preferred this method, and when we began meeting in our homes again a few weeks ago, we decided to continue sending out our work on Monday. This gives us more time at the meeting for workshopping, though I do love to hear and not just see the passage. If I decide to bring in something short to read aloud, I don’t think they’ll kick me out.

 

All of us are serious writers. We encourage each other, sometimes to a fault, but workshopping is more than patting each other on the back. And it’s more than proofreading (one reason I like listening, rather than looking for errors on the page). Workshopping at its best is getting to the heart of what makes the story work—or not—while keeping in mind each writer’s unique vision for his or her story. On a given night, we’ll go from thriller to fantasy to literary fiction and more. Whatever we’re writing, we bring our work hoping the feedback will make us better writers.

 

We’ve learned we can’t talk about politics. If we chit-chat too long about anything besides writing, someone will say it’s time to get to work. And that’s what we do. For a solid two hours, we work.

Every Tuesday night.

Phyllis Gobbell writes a little bit of everything, but her latest focus has been mysteries. The first book in the Jordan Mayfair Mystery Series, Pursuit in Provence, has just been released as an audiobook by Orange Sky Audio. Treachery in Tuscany (Encircle, 2018) is the most recent mystery, following Secrets and Shamrocks.

 Before she began her mystery series, she co-authored An Unfinished Canvas with Michael Glasgow and Season of Darkness with Douglas Jones, based on two high-profile murders in Nashville. She wrote “Lost Innocence” for the anthology, Masters of True Crime, a narrative that is now an audiobook.

 She has received awards in both fiction and nonfiction, including Tennessee’s Individual Artist Literary Award.

 An associate professor of at Nashville State Community College, she teaches writing and literature. When she’s not writing or teaching, she plays tennis, plays the piano, and spends time with her daughters and their families, all who live in the Nashville area.

 Browse her website, www.phyllisgobbell.com, for more about her and her writing.