WE are Book People
Meet the co-owners of Novelette Booksellers, Nashville's newest book shop.
Hi, I'm Jordan
Hi friends! I’m Jordan Tromblee, book lover and co-owner of Novelette Booksellers.
I grew up in the Central Valley of California and hopped up and down the west coast before settling my roots in Nashville. My partner had a wonderful opportunity to open a restaurant in East Nashville, so we packed our bags and headed east. Nashville welcomed us with open arms and we’ve met some of the best people in the world (including my fellow co-owner Deezy, hi Deezy!).
​
My love of books began in the school library in elementary school. I grew up in the era of being awarded Pizza Hut passes for a program called “Accelerated Reading”. Truth be told, I didn’t need the pizza to motivate me; I loved reading! My fondest memories of childhood are the Scholastic Book Fair and waiting for my newest copy of Harry Potter to stay up all night and read (PROUD Hufflepuff here). One of the first places I drove when I got my drivers' license was the town library.
​
As I grew older I never had that “ah-hah” moment where I knew what my dream job was. I went to school for Landscape Architecture at California State University Polytechnics, lost interest once it became more of a desk job, and dropped out and moved to Portland, Oregon. There I fell in love with a giant bookstore called Powell’s City of Books. I also fell in love with the culinary scene in Portland. I got a job waitressing a few blocks away from the book store and spent my days before work browsing the stacks--I always had a book on me. I knew at that time, my biggest passions were books and food. These continue to be my biggest passions to this day.
​
I eventually fell in love with a line cook turned executive chef. He taught me that you can truly turn your passions into a way of life. Together we fell in love with Nashville, and I knew I wanted to do something to help impact my community and share my passion. The indie bookstore dream then became a reality.
​
When I’m not reading or eating I can be found walking my dogs on the greenway, curling up with my cats watching 30 Rock, traveling, reading tarot cards, riding my bike, thrifting, knitting, and laughing with friends over coffee.
Y’oloha, I'm Deezy
I’m Deezy Violet, co-owner of Novelette Booksellers.
Virgo sun, Cancer moon and rising, an enneagram 4w5, and a lover of solitude. A New Jersey native, I met my bestie in school in Boston and followed him down to Nashville post-graduation to continue playing music together. Those of you who know the rock scene here in town may have heard of my band, Sad Baxter. I moved to Nashville thinking of it as a stepping stone for a year or two on my way to the west coast, specifically Washington State. A couple of years passed, and I realized I had made quite a cozy life for myself here, with the best friends anyone could ask for. With the friendship, food, creativity, and sense of community in Nashville, I realized I had found my true home.
​
Just like Jordan, I fell in love with books early on. My elementary school library regularly had reading challenges where you gained stickers on a chart for every book read, and y’all know I needed the most stickers. That’s my Virgo creeping in. I also impatiently awaited the Scholastic Book Fair and book order catalogs that we were lucky enough to be handed out during school every couple of months.
​
I fell in love with series like Harry Potter (Gryffindor here, sorry for being such a Millennial), the Magic Treehouse, and Animorphs, and was introduced to manga like Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z around the same time. I grew up loving to read fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, you name it. I moved away from any genre that didn’t feel realistic for a while in college and my early 20s, and finally fell hard for fantasy when I was 29 or 30, in part due to becoming obsessed with Game of Thrones, and in part due to me wanting to know if escapism to Hogwarts would still comfort me as an adult (it sure did!) I would say my favorite genres are literary fiction and fantasy these days, and I am a big-time lover of books that have to do with cults, revenge, or anything witchy. I identify as non-binary and am always looking for books with the representation of all gender/sexuality expressions.
​
When I’m not on the road with Sad Baxter or reading, I can be found glued to my Nintendo Switch (Stardew Valley anyone? ….Anyone?), pulling out a board game, rewatching Sex and the City for the millionth time, or contemplating life and anxiously awaiting my next therapy session while my tuxedo cats Ozzy and Rini dig their claws into my face on the couch. It’s very cute!
