Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Book Believers: Grandmother and granddaughter team Betty Auchard, left, and Brianna Mahin-Ayers, who have both written short stories for a collection of books titled 'Chocolate for a Woman's Blessing' and 'Chocolate for a Teen's Soul,' will give a reading in Campbell May 12.
Grandmother and granddaughter team chronicle life's hard lessons
Both women writers will come to Campbell to give readings and sign books
By Erin Mayes
When life throws Betty Auchard and Brianna Mahin-Ayers lemons, they write about it. The grandmother and granddaughter duo have each had short stories published in two separate books: Chocolate for a Woman's Dreams and Chocolate for a Teen's Soul, which they'll promoting in Campbell on May 12, at a reading and book signing at Barnes & Noble in The Pruneyard.
Auchard, a Los Gatos resident, wrote about her husband's death and titled the piece "Driving Denny." She'd never really written before and says she considered the writing she was doing an emotional outlet.
"I had shared my stories with my friends--a lot of friends," she said. One of them told her she ought to try to get her stories published, but she didn't think anything of it until she read a few stories from Chocolate for a Woman's Dreams.
"I knew that she was right," Auchard said. "My stories fit."
Her story was published in the book about a year after her husband died, and Auchard said this helped to distract the pain of her loss.
"That was a little upper for me, and I didn't feel quite so blue about the anniversary of my husband's death," she said.
Auchard then encouraged her granddaughter, Mahin-Ayers, to send her stories in to the editor, who immediately chose to run "Southwick's Sweatshirt" in Chocolate for a Teen's Soul, another book in the Chocolate series. Mahin-Ayers was only 16 years old when the book was published.
Now 18, Mahin-Ayers is a senior at Leigh High School, where she is in the top 10 percent of her class. She's been accepted to the UC-Davis and plans to major in English. Mahin-Ayers is currently taking four advanced placement courses at Leigh, as well as playing the trumpet in the marching band. She said writing is relaxing for her.
"It's my therapy away from calculus and Spanish and physics," she said.
Auchard, 70, said that when she first started writing a little more than two years ago, she was hacking away at the computer for up to eight hours at a time.
"I have to admit, I'm obsessed," she said. "I'm not a student, I'm not a wife, I don't have to ask permission."
After grinding away at her new-found passion, she fell ill temporarily from lack of nutrition and rest.
Now retired, Auchard taught art at Pioneer and Leland high schools. Her classes included ceramics, photography, weaving, painting, drawing and fiber construction. She'd earned her art degree from San Jose State University when she was 37, after she'd had a chance to raise her four children.
Auchard met her late husband, Denny, at a wedding when she was a freshman in college, and said it was love at first sight. They were married five months later. Denny was a professor, counselor, trainer, and ultimately the dean of education at San Jose State University until his retirement in 1988.
The two of them retired the same year, bought a motor home and decided to tour the country. In 1990, she and Denny traveled the United States for five months, stopping at campgrounds occasionally, where Auchard would hold art classes.
In 1998, Denny died, and Auchard's artwork took a turn to the literary.
"I wasn't in much of a mood to do anything except for survive after Denny died," she said.
But somehow, she picked herself up, dusted off her keyboard and hasn't budged since.
Auchard said that, although she loves writing and is pouring her heart and soul into it, her highest hopes are for her granddaughter.
"I think about how we've got a generation between us," she said. "I just feel like Bri has a good shot--she's got a head start."
Mahin-Ayers said that she hopes college will lend her enough experience to inspire her material.
"I write about everyday stuff. Just life stories and anecdotes," she said. "With school, there may be a lot of freedom and I can get a lot of experience behind me."
Auchard and Mahin-Ayers will be at Barnes & Noble in The Pruneyard, 1875 S. Bascom Ave., on May 12, from 3 to 4 p.m.
Campbell, California
