Finding a Voice

The Ventura County Writers Club kicks off the new year with local authors Lori Wolf and Maurine Moore in interactive sessions Tuesday.

Wolf, a former community college English instructor whose first novel is “Gothic Doo-Wop,” will discuss how to find one’s voice in writing. She defined voice as a writer’s fingerprint on the page, a way of expression that differentiates one writer from another. She said that voice can be shaped, among other things, by the writer’s self-awareness, knowledge of the intended audience and use of language.

“For instance, Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a very poetic, sort of ironic voice, while James Ellroy has a very beat-like voice,” Wolf said. Ellroy’s voice resembles that of Jack Kerouac, she said, “but Ellroy is a much better writer than Kerouac. A writer’s environment--the way the writer sees the world--can shape a voice.”

The workshop will include handouts of writers with distinctive voices, with the audience attempting to identify the voices. A brief writing exercise will follow, she said.

Wolf, who teaches occasional classes at the Learning Tree, said her novel is about a dysfunctional family coming to terms with its secrets. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in literary journals including “Blue Unicorn,” “Collages” and “Bricolages.”

She’s working on a P.I. series now with a male protagonist. When not exercising her literary voice, she works as a copy writer for a nutritional supplements company.

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Ventura resident Maurine Moore, author of “Ventura: Mystic City by the Sea,” will follow Wolf’s workshop with another audience-participation session called “Chasing the Dots.”

“When I was writing the book, which talks about the mystical things that happened in the city of Ventura, I found it was important to run down the details,” she said of the workshop title.

A certified handwriting analyst, Moore will identify those characteristics in a person’s handwriting that are supportive of literary talents.

“I’ll have people write something down and have them look at what they have written as we discuss it,” she said. Moore said that whenever anyone buys her book, she offers to do an analysis of their signature.

Moore is a member of the National Assn. of Document Examiners and the California Chapter of the American Assn. of Handwriting Analysts. She has been involved in criminal defense cases in Wyoming and Colorado as a document examiner. She’s also taught the basics of handwriting analysis at all three Ventura County community colleges and at The Oaks retreat center in Ojai.

HAPPENINGS

* Today: noon. Reed Arvin will discuss and sign “The Will.” Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 374-0084.

* Today: 7 p.m. Pajamamania celebrates new and classic stories for kids. Borders, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.

* Sunday: noon. Author John Dunning will discuss and sign “Two O’Clock, Eastern Wartime.” Mysteries to Die For, 374-0084.

* Tuesday: 9:30 a.m. Stories about being friends. Ventura Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., 339-9170.

* Tuesday: 7 p.m. The Second Tuesday Contemporary Book Group will discuss “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. Borders, 497-8159.

* Tuesday: 7:30 p.m. The Ventura County Writers Club will hear Lori Wolf, author of “Gothic Doo-Wop,” discuss finding your voice as a writer. Handwriting analyst Maurine Moore will discuss her book, “Ventura, Mystic City by the Sea,” and present an experiment in analyzing handwriting. Contact Joanne Sehnem at 579-9414. Borders, 497-8159.

* Wednesday: 7 p.m. The Great Books Reading Club will discuss “Too Far Afield” by Gunter Grass. Ventura Barnes & Noble, 339-9170.

* Wednesday: noon. Joanne Dobson will discuss and sign “Cold and Pure and Very Dead.” Mysteries to Die For, 374-0084.

* Wednesday: 8 p.m. Poetry workshop. Ventura Barnes & Noble, 339-9170.

* Thursday: 7 p.m. The reading group will discuss “The Raven and the Nightingale” by Joanne Dobson. Mysteries to Die For, 374-0084.

* Thursday: 7 p.m. Phillip Mountrose will sign his book, “Getting Thru To Your Soul.” Ventura Barnes & Noble, 339-9170.

* Friday: 7 p.m. Storytime with “Curious George Rides A Bike” by H.A. Rey. Ventura Barnes & Noble, 339-9170.

* Friday: 7 p.m. Martin J. Smith will discuss and sign “Straw Man.” Mysteries to Die For, 374-0084.

Plan Ahead: “Prepping for the Media,” sponsored by the Ventura/Santa Barbara Region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Simi Valley Library. Instructors Kim Dower and Bill Applebaum of Perfect Pitch Productions will lead the workshop. Contact Alexis O’Neil at 581-1906 for more information.

Information about book signings, writers groups and publishing events can be e-mailed to anns40@aol.com or faxed to 647-5846.