Harry Langdon, Hallmark Channel Naomi Judd Click photo for larger image.

The mother of two successful entertainers -- Wynonna and Ashley Judd -- country singer and five-time Grammy Award winner Naomi Judd stepped off the musical stage in 1990 when she discovered she was battling hepatitis C, a potentially deadly virus. As a survivor and single mother, she faced it head on, becoming extremely interested in all forms of healing. She is hosting a new weekly talk show on the Hallmark Channel, "Naomi's New Morning," which will air Sundays with encore presentations during the week. Her children's book "Gertie the Goldfish" -- based on her own pet goldfish, Gertie -- is out in time for the holidays.

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Q. Are you concerned the talk show field is saturated?

A. This is a left turn from talk shows. Folks have been trying to get me to do a talk show for 15 years -- I guess since I left the stage with Wy. I resisted because I can't be confined. But, I really felt like TV wasn't representing the real human interest stories, and reality shows are not real.

Q. You raised the girls as a single mother and then you married?

A. Larry [Strickland] and I have been together since 1979. He was Elvis Presley's backup singer. After Elvis died, Larry formed his own group called Memphis. Wynonna and Ashley call him Pop. He's been their father figure for 26 years, so there you go.

Q. Was it your goal to become famous?

A. Oh, absolutely not. The goal was to heal my relationship with Wynonna and to find a place for Ashley, Wy and I in the world.

Q. Forgive me for not knowing, but I thought you always had a good relationship with Wynonna.

A. (Laughing) No. You need to read my autobiography, "Love Can Build A Bridge."

Q. Yes, I do, and yes I will, but tell me more.

A. In fact, it was interesting a couple of weekends ago. I was home by myself. I had been on the road for a long time, and frankly, when I'm out there on life's highways I am so porous, and I'm an empathic intuitive. I just pick up everybody's stuff. I mean, before I walk into Wal-Mart I have to do a little cleansing exercise and sort of get ready for the barrage of stimuli. It's part of my joy. I think we are here to grow in love and wisdom. Anyway, I was home unpacking, doing my laundry, folding Larry's Fruit of the Looms and I thought, I'm going to watch a Lifetime movie. I want a tearjerker, drama, comedy, mystery. I turned it on, and it was my life story. (Laughing) It's so surreal sometimes, I just have to do the bend-over, double belly laugh.

Q. That has to be bizarre, since that wasn't your goal.

A. (Laughing) It's pretty interesting. In fact, I was going to get my M.D. I took myself through nursing school in my 30s. The girls and I were both in school during the day. Of course, they were very young, and I would take them to the launderette, the Wishy Washy, and we'd do our homework. We'd stop at the store, buy food with food stamps, I'd cook supper and clean our one-bedroom apartment, put them to bed, and then I'd go cocktail waitress until 2 in the morning. Get four hours sleep and do it again. Wynonna was only 12, and she had this astounding gift [her voice]. When we moved to Nashville, we pitched Wy's demo to every company on Music Row. They all turned it down. We had been working together, because frankly, it was the only way I could get her to do stuff. Then some people heard the demo of the two of us -- the duet -- and we got signed on the spot. When things like that happen synergistically, to me, I see the world in signs and symbols and archetypal language. So it was meant to be and for us to have music as the psychological glue to keep us together.

Q. Was it hard for you to leave the limelight and the stage behind when you found out you had hepatitis C?

A. It was a personal ground zero for me, as you might imagine. That is when I embarked on this whole new part of my life. Studying how people heal. I started studying with some of the most acclaimed experts in medicine, science, chemistry, physics and certainly psychiatry and psychology. I do a lot of seminars and a lot of conferences with these people with outrageous degrees. (Laughing) The extracurricular activity when they come to hang out with me at my farm here ... and it's good for Wy and Ashley because we share this valley.

Q. What valley?

A. We live out in the wilderness, on 1,000 acres of pristine wilderness together. Wynonna is on one side, and Ashley is on the other. We call it "Peaceful Valley." But they never know who is going to show up at supper. So when they say, "Pass the mashed potatoes," they get to meet these cutting-edge thinkers.

Q. When they were little was there sibling rivalry?

A. Of course, and it was exaggerated because I was all they had. I still get flashes of it. Well, it used to be sibling rivalry; now it's more sibling revelry. I think they are at a point where they appreciate the fact that we have a very small family, and we work at it. We really struggle to communicate because we are, all three, so emotional. We are very emotionally charged women. We are fiercely independent and creative. We have all hauled over broken glass to get where we are.

Q. It speaks to what a regular family you basically are.

A. We really are. Just everything is to the 10th power.

When I saw Wy on "Oprah" -- you know she struggles with her weight -- and it just brought tears to my eyes when she said to Oprah, "I'm not where I want to be, but I'm sure as heck not where I was." I thought I am so satisfied that both my girls have their priorities in order. Wynonna is sort of the poet of country music. Ashley is my big-screen Judd. But they know life is more important than show business.