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She's a Jackson native that has become one of Minnesota's top news anchors from her education at the University School of Jackson to TV news jobs across the country.

She is also a children's author.

Coming up next on Tennessee Writes, we sit down with news anchor and author Shayla Reaves to find out what inspired her book and how she's become so popular as a news anchor up north.

Stay tuned.

Books about Tennessee.

Books that come from Tennessee authors.

Books and stories with a Tennessee twist.

West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Writes.

Welcome to this edition of Tennessee Writes.

I'm Peter Noll.

It's time to jump into the world of Tennessee.. so grab a cup of coffee, your favorite comfy chair as we sit down with authors who have a Tennessee connection.

Some are from Tennessee, others call Tennessee home now, and they've all written stories with a Tennessee twist.

Today Tennessee Writes welcomes author Shayla Reaves who is also one of Minnesota's most popular news anchors.

She was born and raised here in Jackson attending USJ.

Her career has taken her from Ohio to Florida to name a few, but she now calls Minnesota home, but Shayla is also a children's author.

Please welcome Shayla Reaves.

Hi.

So glad to be here.

-Welcome.

Welcome to Tennessee Writes.

Have a seat.

Glad to be here.

Shayla, welcome to Tennessee Writes.

For those that watch our station religiously, you may have seen Shayla on before.

We did a show called Spotlight 11, where we told Shayla's story about her journey through television and to Minnesota, and it's streaming now.

On the PBS app, but welcome back- -Thank you.

to Channel 11.

I'm glad to be here.

Thank you for having me again.

Helping us kick off our show, Tennesse.. What has been going on in your life?

You're still in Minnesota.

I'm still in Minnesota.

What's not going on?

I say sufficiently busy, but since I was last year, I've had a chance to visit with more schools, more students, and look for those opportunities to connect Echo In The Distance with more readers.

It's been incredibly exciting and I go where I'm invited, and so the invitations have continued and I've continued to travel the area.

Before we started taping, we were just talking about all the changes in the media industry.

Is it hard being in television these days?

I could see that it's possible because people have so many different ways to get news.

You don't have to come home and crowd around the television in the evening, you can get news on your phone, you can get it on the go.

A lot of people now in television are trying to keep up with how people digest news.

You have more of a move to the streaming platforms, looking for ways to engage people where they are.

I think it can feel a little tricky or challenging, especially in an industry where you need to make money.

How do you make streaming profitable?

I think that's been one of the big question marks that we're still trying to figure out in media.

I don't feel like it's any different in Minnesota.

You're anchoring a new online streaming news product show.

Yes.

What's been great is we've embraced st.. to now have what was originally a morning show from 5:00 to 7:00.

We now go essentially from 5:00 to 10:00.

If you think of all of our morning programming across the board, we do 5:00 to 7:00 on television, we do 7:00 to 9:00 on streaming, and then on the other side of that we have a morning feature show from 9:00 to 10:00.

It's back on television.

We've found a way to create that continuity and keep viewers engaged, both engaged in the streaming space and then also on television.

Have you in all your places that you've worked-- you must have worked the morning show schedule before.

Oh, yes.

Now, you're on it five days a week.

What time do you show up at work?

Oh, that's great.

The alarm goes off nice and early about 3:30, four o'clock in the morning.

Every morning.

Yes, and then I have.. and then I go on television just before 6:00 AM.

Then I do live reports in the 6:00 AM show, sprint back, participate in our streaming show, and then our 9:00 AM show, I'm also involved in a talker segment that we have with a 9:00 AM morning team.

Then I anchor the noon show every day.

Traffic in a big city must be crazy.

You go out, and for those of you that haven't seen her live shots, it's like she's on ice rinks, corn mazes, holding chickens, everything.

Everything.

Then you're back in studio.

Have you ever been late stuck in traffic?

Yes.

I spend part of my day out in the field m.. and then I always end my day in the building anchoring the newscast.

It can get tricky sometimes trying to get back into the building during rush hour, but we try to plan for those moments or those days.

If we think it's going to be a busy day and hard to get back, we'll try to have someone step in in.. at least for the streaming show.

We move and adapt where we need to.

Our news coverage sometimes takes us to Wisconsin.

We cover Minnesota, parts of Wisconsin, and we just adapt and go as we need.

If you're doing a live shot from a pig farm in Sibley County and you've got about an hour to get back, do you bring multiple changes of clothes?

Some mornings, yes, I have to.

I try to plan the night before because I get up so early, I do not like to think any more than I have to when I'm getting up at 3:30 or four o'clock in the morning.

It's what can I do the night before to get prepared?

If I know I'm going to be out in the field, especially when you're doing things like sometimes covering the fair or you're reporting in the building and then having to go out and cover the fair, then you need to be prepared for what you're going to be doing out in the field, and then you also have to be prepared for what you need to do in the building.

I try to make sure that I do all those things the night before so getting up in the morning is a quick shower, get myself dressed, get out the door, and I don't have to figure out what I'm going to wear.

Around 3:30, your day begins.

When does it end?

Usually, it ends around one o'clock.

When I'm working my regular shift and not filling in for anyone else, my day will end at around one o'clock.

What time are you closing your eyes?

Oh- -In bed.

that's cute.

It depends on the day.

Sometimes I find myself in community activities and things that keep me up a little bit later than I might plan to be.

Going to bed could be maybe ten o'clock some days.

You don't stay up for the 10:00 PM news.

Not always.

It depends on what I'm working on or what's coming up the next day.

I usually try to prepare ahead of time for whatever my assignment is, so I'll either stay at work a little bit and do that before I leave so I can put work down when I get off work, or if the timing requires it, I will work on it at home the night before so that's one less thing I have to do in the morning.

Aside from work, what's going on?

What's not going on?

I am leaning into my crafting and my creativity.

I've been doing a lot of that.

I was invited recently to participate in-- There was a Dayton's shopping center or shopping mall that used to be in the Minnesota area.

It shut down, but they've returned to a new market set up, Dayton's Market.

They allow small businesses and small vendors to come in, and during the holidays, they have a holiday market.

I was invited to participate with my book and also participate with my crafts.

For the first time, I'll be able to see how they interact and engage with each other and how those are received in that type of space.

It's open for 44 days 8 hours a day and-- Are you working a booth selling stuff and signing books?

The way it's set up there, they have people that actually man the space during the day.

I only have to show up once I have my area set up, I have to make sure that it's stocked and I can pop in a couple of times a week to make sure that there's enough there for all the people that will come through.

Fortunately, I don't have to be there all day every day because that would be very challenging with all of my work obligations to be able to do that.

I'm also glad you didn't say I'm flying my mom Linda up from Jackson to work it.

I don't know if she would want to come up and do that.

She's retired.

I'm not sure if she's ready to go back to work.

If you give her a commission, maybe.

She'll say, "We'll talk about it."

[music] Echo In The Distance, it came out how many years ago?

-It just came out last year, 2023.

-Last year.

It is a children's book, but it's really for everyone.

Absolutely.

It started out as a spoken word piece that I've turned into an illustrated book.

It doesn't read exactly like every children's book.

It doesn't have the sing-songy rhyme, but there's just something special about the book.

I feel like it connects with readers of all ages.

I say, when we started this process, my publishing partner said, "Oh, we have to give this an age range or a grade level."

I said, "Oh, I hadn't thought about that before."

We settled on grades three through five, but what's been interesting about the book and the journey is there are kids that are a lot younger than that or that are connecting with the book.

Some are two, three, four years old.

When I went to the state fair in Minnesota, a father had approached and said, "This has been my daughter's favorite book for the last three or four months.

We have to read this almost every day."

That must almost make you cry.

I was overjoyed and I wanted to talk to her about, "Well, tell me about this," because she was two, three years old, very young under the age range it was intended for.

I think because it began as a spoken word piece, some of the sounds connect with young listeners.

Even though they may be too young to understand the words, there's something in the reading of it that they are engaging with.

I just love when I have opportunities to read to young children.

They are just captivated.

They're focused when you're flipping the pages.

They just want to see what's next and what's coming.

You really have the intention of the room, which is special about this book.

It connects with readers of all ages because I think that while the youngest readers may not understand all the words, the sounds connect with them.

For older readers, I think sometimes art can do what words can't always do.

We were very intentional in some of the artwork and the pairings with the language.

My illustrator and I even went through the book and said, "Oh, this would be great to create conversation around some of the pages that may be for an older audience to sit down and maybe through art, they can understand the lived experiences of others in a way that maybe they've never been able to get there just through conversation."

Talk to us, for someone who's thinking, what is the book about?

You can tell Martin Luther King Jr. is on the cover.

Give us the elevator.

The elevator, okay.

Echo In The Distance takes a look at Dr. King's dream, his I Have a Dream speech, the history that followed.

The goal of the book is for young readers of all races to be able to find themselves in the book and then also realize that they have agency and no matter what you look like, you can play a part in realizing Dr. King's dream.

In the writing of the book and the language, I wanted to, even as a person who wasn't around when he originally delivered his I Have a Dream speech, how do you connect readers to an experience outside their own?

Through language, it's like a lot of just watch, just listen, and imploring the reader to take that moment and imagine you were in the crowd.

What was it like?

Looking out, seeing the sea of people, and being a part of history, imagine if you were there.

Then also imagine what this moment is that you can be a part of moving the needle a little bit forward towards realizing that dream Dr. King shared so many years ago.

Tell us about the journey.

It started as a spoken word, but that was when you were in college.

Correct.

It got dust every year until last year.

What was the genesis of that finally getting here?

It was always a thing that I wanted to do, is put a book into the world.

When I was a college student, I didn't have the resources on my ramen noodles budget to put a book into the world.

It always stayed in the back of my head as something that I wanted to do.

Like most things, you get busy with life and television, we move a lot.

Moved to a lot of different cities, had a lot of different experiences, but I just decided just to stop sitting on it in 2022.

My illustrator and I, I connected with her.

I loved her beautiful, vibrant illustrations.

I said, "You know what?

I don't know if you've done a children's book before, but I would love to partner with you on this project."

I love bright colors.

I wanted to see what she could do with words like mine in this piece.

She had never done a children's book and said, "I want to grow in this way."

We worked together for a year trying to be as thoughtful as possible and matching my words with her illustrations.

We got to the place where we said, "We feel that this is ready."

The book came out on Juneteenth in 2023.

Wow.

I always get this question because we have several copies of this from Spotlight 11 that are in the station here and people will see them in the meetings, and they go, "Tell us about that book because that cover draws you in."

Yes.

You talked about the artwork is intentional.

Tell us about that process.

I'm a creative person.

If it was up to me, I would have just told my illustrator, "I don't want you to feel boxed in, just see where my words take you."

My publishing partner says, "You have to be a little bit more intentional and give her a little bit more direction."

I was going through pictures from the civil rights era from Dr. King delivering his I Have a Dream speech and what was it like in Washington DC at that time.

I was trying to see what she could create as far as building connection through art and words and history with some of the guidance that I gave her.

I looked at pictures from that period and I would send her some that I felt spoke to different parts of the book.

There's one illustration in there that I knew we had to come up with something powerful for that people are people, not color-coated crimes line.

I remember I was asleep or I was trying to go to sleep and it just popped in my head a Superman character because Superman is this character that connects with all kinds of people no matter what you look like, it's this universal character that brings people together.

I wanted to take that character that connects with everyone and instead of the S on his chest, I put a heart because heart is a superpower and we get to choose what to do with our heart every day.

I wanted to remind people in the book to see the humanity in others.

Now the neat part about it and when we talk about creating space for conversation is that particular line appears twice in the book.

It appears next to the superhero character and then it also appears later in the book with two children hugging.

I think depending on what your lived experiences are, you may connect more with one image than the other.

It's one of those spots in the book where you could literally get people around a table together, ask them what image do you connect with the most and just the conversation that comes from that, what you can learn about how your neighbors experience the world, the art can help guide you in that process because some people go through life every day feeling like they're ripping that shirt open and just wanting you to see their humanity.

They want you to see their heart, where other people go through life every day and they feel that we're already here, we're already in this space of love and connection and there's not a space that we're still trying to get to.

Just to sit down with different people and say, "Which picture do you identify with more, this one or this one, " and just listen to each other.

Sometimes the art can take you to a place that words alone can't.

[music] Now, we have come to the part of Tennessee Writes we call our lightning round where we ask our local authors to answer book-related questions as many as you can in two minutes.

If you don't know the answer or can't think of the answer, just say pass.

The goal is to get as many answered as you can.

The clock will start after I ask the first question.

All right, no pressure.

You're going to play?

I'm going to play.

Favorite book of all time?

I enjoy Elaine Welteroth's More Than Enough.

What book are you reading right now?

I am currently crafting away but I would say book that I recently read is Daddy Can You Hear Me?

Which is one of my favorite children's books.

Last book you finished reading?

Oh gosh, that-- oh, sorry.

That was one that I recently finished reading.

Yes, sorry about that.

What author living or dead would you most like to have dinner with?

I would love to meet Maya Angelou.

Paper books or eBooks?

I like paper books still.

Who would you want to play you if your book or life was made into a movie?

Oh, wow.

That's a good question.

Let me pass.

Favorite place to read books?

I like to read-- I'll read in bed or on a couch or something like that.

Favorite place to write books?

I have to be sitting up to write, so probably kitchen table.

On average, how many books do you read in one year?

This year I've had a lot.

I would say probably on average two to three, but I've had to read more this year.

What book has most influenced your life?

I'm going to pass.

What book is on your list to read next?

That is a good question.

I don't have the name of this book.

I bought it maybe three or four weeks ago, but it was one on learning a new style of writing which is screenwriting.

I've always wanted to learn that, so I can't think of the name though.

How many books are on your nightstand right now?

Three.

Who did you give your first published copy of Echo In The Distance to?

Parents.

What celebrity would you most like to go on a walk with?

Oh, that's good.

Let's say Oprah.

That's two minutes.

[music] Shayla, your book is powerful in its written form but I think it's just as powerful if not more when you read it.

Would you read your book to us?

I absolutely will, and I've had this memorized since I wrote it many years ago, and I would like to recite it for you.

Shayla Reaves reading Echo In The Distance.

He bellows boldly.

The sweet sound of anticipation runs from tongue to lips to dance in a distant echo.

His body trembles as his words flow freely into air.

Voice tearing into tangled blue skies parting the thick clouds of ignorance with words resonating towards the sun.

Do you hear the echo in the distance?

It runs within the crowded river of watchers gushing through the horizon.

Waves of endless observers edging it onward.

Just look as they roar.

Watch their hands ring wild with applause.

Watch their eyes gleam glad with the promise that tomorrow's sun should yield a brighter day.

Just watch his eyes so stern fearless design unwavering in the surge of promise that arises.

He looks ahead.

The creep crawl of tremulous times is mounting in the wind.

Just listen as the thunder rumbles.

Each rumble of resistance cackling in the clouds.

Watch the clouds as they fill with rains of frustration tip-tottering as the drip drop drift of tears drops down the faces from the eyes, the watchers' eyes.

Suddenly thunder splits the skies, ripping hearts, persecuting lives, slitting the evil, dismembering the lies, devouring ignorance, impassionate cries engulfing injustice entangled in time, swallowing fear and fragile minds, digesting change, desegregating the times.

People are people, not color-coded crimes.

When all has been spoken, the staggering winds have blown and battered men and women still stand, just listen.

Listen.

Do you hear the echo in the distance?

It's knocking on the horizon.

The timeless tap of progress pounds from past to present to now.

Now I am faced in a river of watchers.

Captivated, captured in the sweet sound of anticipation lapping against my ear.

A tugging whisper pulling at my mind.

Anticipation tears at my soul untangling the clouds within me.

The voice is now within me mesmerizing my mind.

Words that run with character.

Words enveloped by a rush of color are made manifest in the peaking sun.

I am that sun after the storm.

My rays, the sentiments once hidden in time.

Truth, acceptance, understanding, the outstretched arms that reached, teaching the lesson that rolled from tongue to lips to transcend time.

People are people, not color-coded crimes.

People are people.

Just listen.

Listen.

Do you hear the echo in the distance?

It's the dream.

[music] What's next?

Is there going to be a second book?

What big projects are coming up?

Has this become a children's animated Pixar special?

Speak it into existence.

I love that.

Great.

Got to put it out there.

I am always busy.

Always going where I'm invited.

I hope to be in more places into the fall and the spring sharing Echo In The Distance.

I've been a writer my whole life.

I would say creative writing was my passion before I even knew that I wanted to be a journalist.

I have at least a couple more books that I hope to put into the world.

Can you give us a teaser?

Children's books?

Yes.

Children's books.

There's a book that I wrote that w.. and the experience that I had with my dad growing up.

I hope that that book brings comfort to women and girls who have lost their father as well.

My dad died in 2022.

The other book that I want to do, it's about Ella Fitzgerald.

It's got some really fun sounds.

It's a lot of fun to read.

I can't wait to turn that into an illustrated book as well for kids, because it almost feels as if it takes you to song by the end of the book.

Now, is Echo In The Distance an audiobook?

Do they do audiobooks for children?

They do audiobooks.

I don't have an official audiobook, but I do have recordings of me reading it.

Eventually, I do plan to have an audiobook version, but right now it's hardcover and softcover versions available wherever you buy your books.

Where do you send people if they're like, "Shayla, where do I get my book?"

Where do you send them?

I send them, you can go to Amazon, you can go to Ta.. you can go to Barnes and Noble.

All of their online spaces carry the book, Walmart as well.

Just wherever you buy your books.

If you do a quick Google search, all the places will come up where you're able to find this.

Also find it on my website, if you go to echointhedistance.com, I have a link there with a link to all the places where you can find it.

Plus, if you want larger quantities, you can reach out to me directly for that.

Very sadly, we have come to the end of this edition of Tennessee Writes with Shayla Reaves, author of Echo In The Distance and also Minnesota news anchor.

Thank you so much for stopping by on your quick trip home.

Please come visit us again.

Absolutely.

I would love to.

Please do.

Before you leave, would you sign your book for us?

I would be happy to do so.

As you sign it, speak it.

As I like to tell everyone that connects with my book, I always like to leave a positive message.

That message is, thank you for sharing your light with all of us.

The world needs what you have to offer.

I always like to leave those words with readers and connections.

Hopefully, they'll put the best of who they are in the world, too.

[music] There you go.

Thank you.

For comments about today's show, or to suggest a Tennessee author for a future program, email us at tennesseewrites@westtnpbs.org.

Tennessee Writes, on air and streaming now.

The program you've been watching was made possible through the generous financial support of West Tennessee PBS viewers like you.

Please visit westtnpbs.org and make a donation today so that we can continue to make local programs like this possible.

Thank you.

[music]