Setter Spotlight: Kristen Houghton

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Kristen Houghton is the author of the best-selling book, “AND THEN I’LL BE HAPPY! Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness and Put Your Own Life First” published by GPP Life, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

As a nationally syndicated Lifestyle columnist for both The Huffington Post and the new innovative twodaymag.com, her lifestyle and relationships columns reach millions of readers worldwide. She has been writing about making positive life choices, relationship issues, and how to live a personally successful life for major print magazines and online for over ten years. Known in the media as the "Relationship Guru", Kristen Houghton is in demand as a TV and radio contributor in NYC and Los Angeles. She also became a skirt! setter in December. 

When/What was the moment that made you know you were going to be a writer?
I was probably six. I've always been a storyteller. I used to write short stories in a serial form when I was in middle school. Each couple of days I'd add to the story. My friends loved to read them and always asked me for more. I taught world languages on the high school and college levels and even then I wrote every chance I got. I left education and began writing full-time. It was the best thing I ever did.

What do you love about blogging that you can’t get from any other kind of writing?
Blogging allows you to write a column of sorts; something like the old-time newspaper and magazine men and women from the past. It is very subjective and you really write about how you see the world and events in a very subjective manner. I love it!

What is the “unhappiness epidemic” as you see it? In your book And Then I’ll be Happy! what are a few of the TOP tricks to avoid putting your happiness on hold?

We as women are always putting ourselves last in everything. That causes a lot of frustration and dreams put on-hold. So many women put themselves last that it has become an epidemic of sorts, the "unhappiness epidemic". I wrote an article called "The Elusive State of Happiness" for Family Magazine and I was floored by the reaction it got. My email account was flooded and the snail mail I received at my office was unbelieveable. Women weren't allowing themselves to be happy.

In "And Then I'll Be Happy!" I startle women by telling them to put their own lives first.  This is in no way a selfish act; it is a practical one. Life needs to be proritized to suit your needs. Your child does not have to be in every afterschool activity; he or she can choose the ones most important to him or her. Your relationship with your significant other should enhance your life; it should never be another full-time job. And allow a little messiness in your life; perfection is over-rated. The last tip I would give is to never postpone what you want to do. Follow a dream, go for a goal, don't wait until later. A happier you makes everyone's life happier.

Did you put your happiness on hold or what made you interested in the topic?
Oh yes! I was a great saboteur of my happiness. Everything had to be perfect including my weight and of course, nothing ever was. I refused to allow myself to be happy until I had reached a magic number that was totally unattainable or until everything was "just right" in my life. I also put myself last making sure everyone around me was happy and taken care of. I had little left over for me.

You also write horror stories under CK Houghton, why horror? What do you like about writing it?
I love horror! I grew up watching re-runs of "The Twilight Zone" and Rod Serling was an absolute master at psychological terror. I also love, love, love Anne Rice and Sephen King.   I love writing horror because as a writer, I am in complete control of the terror and can weave a tale of the human side of fear of the unknown. We want to believe that a shadow is only a shadow and not really something of which we should be frightened but we're not always sure.  Truthfully some of my  stories scare me.

What is the best advice you ever heard about writing?

Author John Jakes said, "Be persistent. Editors change, editorial tastes change; markets change. Too many beginning writers give up too easily." Words to live by, seriously.