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Introducing Catherine Hickland — Author

Catherine Hickland‘s Lindsay may be behind bars somewhere near ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Llanview, but Hickland herself is on the road promoting her new book, The 30-Day Heartbreak Cure: Getting Over Him and Back Out There One Month From Today.



We caught up with her to ask why she had to write this book, and what she learned in the process.
Soap Opera Weekly: Was this a hard book to write? How was the experience?
Catherine Hickland: It took a very long time to write the proposal, which is what you sell the book on. You have to guide the publishers to why they should buy your book and not someone else’s. I did exhaustive research on this kind of book to see if there was one out there like it, and to my astonishment, there wasn’t. It shocked me! I was like, “Yay!” But there are a lot of great books on it that [touch on] the subject. Then I had eight months to write the book after it was sold. Some days were harder than others, but there were days where I just thought, “Oh, what am I trying to say here?” It takes a lot of discipline. You have to devote some time every day to the writing, and my girlfriend said, “Write three pages a day,” and that was the best advice ever. Three pages a day, you can handle. And at the time I was writing it, I had a lot going on. So it was just [about] staying focused. But I also happened to absolutely love the subject. And the next two books I have are [also] about relationships. I’m in love with writing, because I’m in love with people. When [I’m] writing for people, it becomes this very joyous, amazing thing.


Weekly: What kind of books do you like to read for your inspiration?
Hickland: Dr. Phil is one of many, but the first book I remember reading cover to cover when I was young was by Dr. Leo Buscaglia: Living, Loving and Learning. And I remember thinking, “Oh, my God, I wish I could write books about love, because it’s such a wide, beautiful subject,” and people always think of relationships when they think about love, and love is so much bigger than that. I’m inspired by Dr. Wayne Dyer, Alan Cohen, Louise Hay — great people who write great books. And I just love people of a spiritual nature in self-help — they always put out a good book. That’s the kind of author I want to be. So I’ve had really good role models whose books I read.


Weekly: Should men read this book?
Hickland: Men can definitely read this book! It’s so amazing how many male callers I get on Sunday night — it’s incredible! [Hickland does a weekly radio show.] They always say, “What about us?” And I say, “Look — here’s the deal. We feel different and we heal different, that’s the truth.” Well, there is a book out there that says we’re from different planets, but we are all from planet Earth. If a man reads the book, he’s going to see himself in it in two ways: how he affects us and how much alike we all are…because hurt is hurt. And girls do the same maddening, bad things that men do, so I would say, [in] many places in the book, “Before we get on our high horse of indignation, we do this, too, but right now, we’re talking about him.” The book is not a male-bashing book. It is about taking responsibility, and where we go from here, and how we do it. That’s where self-empowerment comes from — not being a victim; not being a blamer.


Weekly: Now, tell me a little bit about the prison workshop you do. What exactly is that?
Hickland: The Prison Fellowship Ministry, out of Houston, is just an amazing organization that goes into maximum-security prisons. They asked if I would be interested in coming along and talking to the girls, and I said, “When, where, what time? I’ll be there.” It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and I am continuing my work with that as much as possible. There’s something called The Bonita House there. It’s a place where mothers [who had their babies in prison and aren’t with them at the moment] learn how to be mothers and go to school, get their GEDs, and learn how to be friends and how to have a life. It’s amazing how many people were raised without life skills. In one prison, I went back three months later and these girls looked incredible. It’s not me, believe me — it isn’t me — but if I can be any part of a facilitator for God or love, or just giving love to people, I’m there. I’m just happy to be there. I love it. It makes everything else in my life almost insignificant. That’s why I’m always saying to people, don’t be focused on that one thing that’s not bringing you any joy right now. Get out and be of service to people. You will be shocked at how little that thing becomes. The Prison Fellowship Ministry is just awesome, and it’s my great honor to be a part of it.


Weekly: It’s kind of funny, because Lindsay is actually in prison on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
Hickland: Isn’t that the most ironic thing? I was literally in maximum security prisons. When I got back to New York, I hadn’t told anybody about The Prison Ministry at all. All of a sudden, I get to work, get my script, and Lindsay was going to prison; that’s how I found out. And I thought, “God, aren’t you funny?” (Laughs) Because here I am going into prison [on OLTL], and I just had been there last weekend! I was so shocked.


Weekly: And how is Cat Cosmetics?
Hickland: The cosmetic business is great. Of course, we’re feeling the economy like everybody else is, but we’re just going [forward]. We’re taking care of people the best we can. We’re doing a huge sale right now and have been since November, and we’re probably going to keep doing this until things get better. That’s the joy of owning a company. I can just make the decision to do that. People don’t have as much money to spend, and we have to help them out.



If you want to catch Hickland in person or listen to her weekly radio show, go to www.CatherineHickland.com for dates and details. For what’s new in her beauty business, go to
www.catcosmetics.com.

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