On Feb. 8, the local branch will hold its annual Achievers' Reception and Celebrity Luncheon in honor of seven Bay Area Pen Women: writer, poet and painter Betty Auchard of Los Gatos; poet, playwright and English teacher Judith Sutton, artist and photographer Luisa Tosi Claeys, and painter Maggie Blackwell, all of Saratoga; painter Janet Gold and symphony musician Jan Turnage, both of San Jose; operatic singer and recording artist Erie Mills of Pleasanton; and artist and art museum curator Susan Landauer of Oakland. The lunch takes place at the San Jose Elks Lodge, located at 444 W. Alma Ave.

Post-lunch entertainment also comes from the ranks of local Pen Women, including singer Susan "Zee" Zerwick and ventriloquist Carol Greene, both of Los Gatos; MC Michelle Gabriel of Saratoga; and fashion designer Jeri Scaife of Oakland, who will show her textured and tapestry fabrics. The afternoon also includes an auction to raise funds for scholarships for high school seniors who excel in the visual, literary or musical arts.

"I'm brand-new to the group, so I'm very honored to be recognized," Auchard says. "I'm a new writer; I started writing 4¹/2 years ago, when my husband, Denny, died. I was writing in the margins of bereavement books and on scraps of paper after he died. I was writing for myself at first; I had no idea I was writing for the public."

"Since then it's taken on a life of its own. Now I'm obsessed with writing. I'll do it before I feed myself!" the Los Gatan admits, laughing. She says she has her daughters to thank for this addictive habit, as it was their encouragement and compliments that inspired her to try getting her work into print.

Auchard—a painter who obtained a teaching credential after her children grew up and worked as an art teacher for many years—is now a published author several times over. Four of her insightful short stories and essays have appeared over the past three years in Chocolate for a Woman's Dreams, Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings and Chocolate for a Teen's Spirit—books in a female-oriented series edited by Kay Allenbaugh and similar to Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Presently, Auchard is working on her own book, My Second Act, a compilation of the memoirs and stories she wrote after became a widow. "All of my stories are about rediscovering and reinventing myself. Surviving—and thriving—are critical to your recovery after losing your life partner," says Auchard, who also gives inspirational talks and presentations on this topic.

She's also been getting more involved with poetry. So far it's only been published on her website—www.bettyauchard.com—but once My Second Act hits bookstore shelves, a poetry collection might just be the next "act" in Auchard's busy life.

The National League of American Pen Women began in 1897 to promote the development of professional women in the humanities. Approximately 5,000 members now belong to the more than 200 branches located in the United States and the former Panama Canal Zone.

Tickets to the Pen Women's luncheon are $27 per person. The reception begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon and a program at 1 p.m. Checks payable to NLAPW can be sent to Sharon Haugen, 4156 Snowbank Court, San Jose, 95135. For ticket questions, call Haugen at 408.238.2340.