Two Worlds of Storytelling: Newsroom and Novel

Caitlin Alexander is an Emmy award-winning anchor and Executive Producer at KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minnesota, and a published children’s author. While many viewers know her from the nightly newscast, Caitlin is also the writer behind the middle-grade paranormal novels She's Still Here and The Forever Bride, as well as the family-centered children's book Baby Celebrates Both: Christmas & Hanukkah.

In this conversation, we discuss building a creative life in Rochester, balancing newsroom leadership with novel writing, and why telling brave, age-appropriate spooky stories for kids matters. 

Transcript

Sponsor & Cold Open

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Growing Destinations podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities by visiting Experienced Rochester MN.com.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

I was sitting in my daughter's playroom. She's now in first grade, but she was toddling around in this playroom. I was sitting on the floor with my husband. And I said, what if there was a girl and she could see people who had passed? And what if there was this unresolved death and she had she was the only one that could solve this? Like, wouldn't that be cool? And before I knew it, we sat there just back and forth spouting ideas, and the basic draft of this story was born.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Welcome to the Growing Destinations Podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics. From tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, Bill Von Bank. Today on Growing Destinations, we're talking about the power of storytelling. On air and on the page, my guest is Caitlin Alexander, Emmy Award-winning anchor and executive producer at KTTC in Rochester, Minnesota, and a published children's author. Many know her from the nightly newscast, but Caitlin is also the author of the middle-aged paranormal novels, She's Still Here, and The Forever Bride. Along with the family-centered children's book, Baby Celebrates Both, Christmas and Hanukkah. Today we'll talk about building a creative life in Rochester, balancing newsroom leadership with novel writing, and why telling brave, age-appropriate, spooky stories for kids matters. Caitlin Alexander, welcome to the Growing Destinations Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Bill, thank you for having me. What a great intro.

Caitlin’s Path Back To Rochester

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Well, I watch you a lot on the newscast, so it's it's great to see your delivery of the news and in helping to inform the greater Rochester community. And I'm excited also to learn more about you as an author. But uh, let's start with your career journey and share with us what brought you back to your hometown of Rochester, Minnesota, and to the anchor desk of KTTC TV.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah. So I was that kid here in Rochester that would get in arguments with my mom on weeknights because I wanted to stay up late to watch the 10 o'clock news. I wanted to know what the top stories of the day were, what the forecast was going to be the next day. And of course, was always told no, you're typical kid stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

You're eight years old going to bed, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

So no, I would I knew from a young age I wanted to do broadcasts. So I went to University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and then worked there, uh, reporting, producing, anchoring. Then I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I reported, and then Memphis uh for after that. I reported and fill in anchored there as well. And then when the posting came open, I felt like it was a wonderful opportunity to come home and be close to family. My parents are 10 minutes away. Both my sisters live in the Twin Cities, and I missed it. I miss being able to get anywhere in 10 minutes, right? So it was the perfect way to come home. And this summer actually is going to be 10 years for me back home.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Wow, congratulations. So it just felt right.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

It felt right. It's good to be back.

How Local News Shapes Identity

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Well, you're helping to shape how Rochester sees itself every night on KTTC. How do you think local media influences a community's identity?

SPEAKER_00 3:14

That's a really good question. I think that this is a really difficult time kind of um for the concept of media, the concept of news nationwide. There's a lot of cynicism, there's a lot of um lack of trust between viewers and people putting out the news. I think what's really significant for me and what I love about local news is we are the people who live in your community. We're the people who go to the same places that you go. We care about the school system, we care about the same things that you do, and to provide those big, important, heavy real world topics, but in ways that make sense to all of us here and what we're seeing on the ground in southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Great point. What makes storytelling in Rochester unique compared to other places you've worked?

SPEAKER_00 3:55

I think that this is a really interesting place because you obviously have high medical expertise. Where else in the world are you going to get this kind of medical content?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Number one, Mayo Clinic again.

What Makes Rochester Stories Unique

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Again, exactly. Um, and then also you have such a different array of people that live here as well. Lots of rural communities, lots of different industries and professionals, so much to learn and to share. I think that this is a great place to tell stories. You get to do a lot of long form work as well, feature kind of stories, because you meet so many incredibly interesting people.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

And you mentioned it a little bit earlier. It's not just Rochester. You cover a pretty big area.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

We do. All of Southeast Minnesota and then northern Iowa as well. And we're trying to do more as well with our digital presence online. So when we do our Eagles Cancer Telethon in January raising money for cancer, we get viewership internationally from people that are watching us on these streaming platforms. It's kind of cool to have.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

It is very cool. Rochester has this interesting mix, both global medical destination, but also deeply Midwestern and community-driven. Does that dual identity inspire you creatively?

SPEAKER_00 4:59

It really does. I think that there's so many stories to be told in a place like this with such an array of people and array of expertise. And it makes you want to be a part of this community that's creating, right? And to put out content that is interesting and significant to people around you.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

And so many entrepreneurs, not just from IBM or from Mayo Clinic, but just within the community itself. It's it's inspiring.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Amazing entrepreneurs, people that have been running some of these small businesses for decades and decades. It's yeah, it's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

As executive producer, how do you think about balancing hard news with stories that build connection and optimism?

From COVID Spark To Publishing

SPEAKER_00 5:37

So it's a tricky spot to kind of pick, you know, as a history in journalism to put together, build out a newscast, build out content. You know, you hear a lot from people all the time. I don't watch the news, it's too negative. I don't like to hear about the news, it's too negative. And I always say, I think that's really too bad. You know, I was raised in a home where I was taught it's important to know what's going on in your community, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and to have that awareness. And that's something that I've carried with me, obviously, into this career, but just to talk around the dinner table about issues that impact people who are different from you. And I believe at KGTC, we do a genuinely good job, a concerted effort to include the good news, to include strat or a solution-based journalism, to take viewer complaints, concerns, and to use that to make a story that affects real change. So we, yeah, we have some of the harder stuff, but also a lot of the really good feature stuff. I'm really honored. I get to tell kids with courage stories. We do it once a month, highlighting children with um medical histories, uh medical challenges. And so that's always a highlight of my day to meet these kids and tell those stories as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Well, many people know you as a journalist first. When did the idea of becoming a published author take root?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

At this point, it's a very unoriginal answer, but COVID. You know, we all just have all this additional time and we can't go anywhere or do anything. I had all I've always been a huge reading nut. I've always loved to write the idea of writing, um, coming up with stories in my head, but it took COVID to actually sit down and be like, what if I actually wrote tens of thousands of words and told a real story? And that opened my eyes to the whole publishing world. You have no idea once you've written this draft, you know, what goes into, well, how would I make this a real book? How do I shop this to publishers? How do I shop this to agents? And I felt like I learned a lot during the COVID years.

Building A Middle Grade Mystery

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Your middle grade paranormal series. Tell us all about that. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

It's kind of silly. It came to me, I was sitting in my daughter's playroom. She's now in first grade, but she was toddling around in this playroom. I was sitting on the floor with my husband. And I said, What if there was a girl and she could see people who had passed? And what if there was this unresolved death and she had she was the only one that could solve this? Like, wouldn't that be cool? And before I knew it, we sat there just back and forth spouting ideas, and the basic draft of this story was born. I've always loved spooky stories, haunted houses, that kind of stuff. And I think that there's always room for more of that in what's available to readers who want it. Because all that matters to me is that if say my kids want to read a topic that doesn't interest me, it's like if you're reading, great. Right. What do you want? You can read whatever you want. So, um, so yeah, that's kind of how that got started.

Writing What You Know In Newsrooms

SPEAKER_01 8:18

So the book titles are She's Still Here and The Forever Bride and the protagonist, Kate Sablowski. Is that how I say the name, right? Yes. So Kate's mom works in television news. How convenient. How much of your own life inspired that dynamic?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So they say write what you know, right? So it's kind of been fun to put her in that position. It also gave her a reason to move to this new town where she encounters these new things as people in TV move around quite a bit. And it's been fun to write some of the scenes that take place when she's just hanging out at the station while her mom's doing stuff to write about the old tape rooms and stuff like that where the old archive tapes are. Again, it goes back to what you know.

Why Middle Grade Readers Matter

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Why middle grade readers? What makes that age group so compelling to write for?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

I didn't set out initially knowing that that was the demo. I, you know, really sought out, but it's such a cool group of readers. And to meet kids who have read that and are interested in that. This is where they're starting to form their reading habits. This is going to inform where they go with their YA, their adult reading, and to sample these different genres, make sure they have an array of different types, find what they really like. They also ask really, really good questions too. It's been an honor to go do school visits. I had a book club in Illinois. They read She's Still Here, and then the mom and Kate have a very snarky text relationship that they text between each other. So their assignment that week in book club was write a text from Kate to her mom, you know, just something kind of funny, punny and whatever. So uh middle grade is it's really close to my heart.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Very interactive.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

There's a strong theme of uncovering truths in your books, which feels very journalist-coded. Is that intentional?

Truth, Closure, And Series Design

SPEAKER_00 9:58

It is intentional. The truth has always mattered to me, it always will matter to me. And I think that uh I also don't do well with unresolved endings. I never have. So I like that you can find what the answer is. And if you read the books, they're meant to be read in order, right? But if you pick one up that isn't in order, then no problem. You're still gonna get your your ending to the story.

Creating Baby Celebrates Both

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Moving on to another book, you co-authored Baby Celebrates Both Christmas and Hanukkah with your husband. Whose idea was it first, and how did that initial conversation turn into a published book?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

I don't remember whose idea it was first, probably me, I guess. But it came to be kind of out of what we won't desired for our own family. We live in an inner faith home. I'm Catholic, my husband and our children are Jewish, and there are so many amazing traditions that go with both faiths that in our house we genuinely celebrate everything. If there's a celebration out there, we probably have some kind of decoration for it. But what we really wanted was something for even the youngest of readers, because you have some great picture books for kids that are a little bit older, but there was nothing for little toddlers. So we wrote something that was really quick for bedtime parents. Um, but also just uh lighthearted and fun to start those traditions early.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

How did you divide the work? Were were you both drafting, editing, brainstorming, or did you each take on specific roles?

Representation And Family Traditions

SPEAKER_00 11:19

I think I drafted probably most of it. And he did a lot of throwing out, adding in those sorts of things. I think he would tell you that between the two of us I tend to write more, but we also think there's more room to grow with that kind of idea. There's lots of other blending of faiths and traditions that could be dabbled with. So who knows? Maybe next time I'll have to do a bulk of the a bulk of the work.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Was the goal primarily representation, education, or something more personal?

SPEAKER_00 11:46

It was, I think, between representation and personal. This is something that we wanted just for our house, and we thought if we want this, there's probably other families that do too. And it's you'll see in my other novels too, my protagonist, um, Kate is Jewish. And just to, I try to have I've tried to write characters that my daughter can see herself in as she continues to read because I do believe in representation.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Is there another Kate Zablowski mystery or other books in the works?

What’s Next And Finding An Agent

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I don't know about Kate. Um, I've been really, really grateful that um Monarch Educational Services in North Carolina picked up this project. I actually wrote She's Still Here to be a standalone, but they requested that it be a series. So that was a really cool uh opportunity and blessing. But I have written um another novel. I'm always drafting something, and now I'm fortunate to have an agent as well, who actually is based in Rochester as well. Kind of yes. Uh so we're going out to editors and seeing what else we can do.

Practical Advice For New Authors

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Can you give some advice to inspiring authors in terms of how to get started?

SPEAKER_00 12:48

That's a great question. I would say write every day, write as much as you can. It doesn't have to be good to make it onto the page. That's what the editing process is for, which is where books are really written, in my opinion. And then just seek out feedback. Get it in front of as many willing eyes as you can, and you'll wind up with the best product you can. And then it's easy to go to the internet from there and seek out what path you want. I know many people have gone the self-publishing route. I have always gone traditional, where I wouldn't have to incur any expenses or anything like that. And you could find the right fit, then they can get your word out to readers.

Influences And Local Horror Writers

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Are there any authors that have inspired you?

SPEAKER_00 13:24

I well again, I'm always reading all the time. I love Mary Downing Hahn. She's written a lot of spooky stories for that kind of age age range, but back many, many years ago. So I really sought out to kind of create content that like I would just tear through those things, right? That's how I kind of have striven to write as well. But when you're writing books, you meet these other writers in your kind of field or your whatever. So you get these fun drafts that you get to read their books before their books. And I'm not yes. Meg Hofdahl is also another author who writes Wonderful Horror. She's in Rochester as well. So I've read um a lot of her work.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

At the heart of it all, why does storytelling matter?

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Stories are everything, I think, in all aspects of my life. I think that they connect us. I think that they let us show ourselves in the most intimate personal of ways. And I think that whether it's the news or whether it's a novel, stories are what's going to carry on after we're not here. Right? That we can leave these these moments, these legacies behind and put or put them out into the world for others to enjoy and share. So I'll always be a story girl.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Well, Caitlin Alexander, it's been great to learn a little bit more about you, your storytelling, both from the TV perspective and the pages of your books. Thank you for being our guest on the Growing Destinations Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Thank you, Bill. You do a great job. We love this podcast. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations Podcast. And don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, Minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene, its international culinary flavors, and award winning craft beer by visiting Experience Rochestermn.com.