WORDS AND IMAGES : 2 Mystery Writers to Appear at Store

Americans continue to read mysteries in huge numbers, and hundreds of new authors (many of them women) have been signed on by publishers to feed this appetite for whodunits. This popular genre has spawned a number of successful specialty bookstores throughout the Southland with names such as Sherlock’s Home, Scene of the Crime, Mysterious Bookstore, Book’em Mysteries, Dangerous Visions, Mystery Annex, etc. The newcomer on the block is Mysteries to Die For, just opened by Audrey Moore at 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. The bookstore has been initially stocked with 3,000 new hardcover and paperback titles and will double that figure shortly. The first of many events showcasing authors is scheduled at 1 p.m. Sunday featuring Ken Kuhlken and Stan Cutler, authors of “Venus Deal” and “Shot on Location.”

*

Capra Press of Santa Barbara has just reissued Robert Easton’s “The Happy Man.” Originally published 50 years ago, the acclaimed novel captures the spirit of California ranch life before World War II. The publication of “Happy Man” launches Capra’s Western Classic Series, which will include books by Bret Harte, Max Brand and Jack London. Capra has also published Easton’s “This Promised Land” and “Power and Glory.” Easton, a clear-eyed chronicler of California history and captivating storyteller, will be at Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St., Santa Barbara, at 3 p.m. Sunday.

*

The Ojai Film Society will screen “Antonia and Jane,” the English film directed by Academy Award winner Beeban Kidron, at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave. The movie explores the peculiar relationship between two very different women, friends since childhood, who meet once a year for lunch. The five-minute film “Creature Comforts,” which won the 1990 Academy Award for best animated short subject, will also be shown.

*

The Prueter Library will screen “Trains” and “Ships” as part of the continuing film series on California at 7 p.m. Monday in the library at 510 Park Ave., Port Hueneme. Call 486-5460.

*

The deadline to enter the California Writers’ Club annual competitions is May 1. Winners in the categories of adult and juvenile novels, short stories, screenplays, poetry and nonfiction will receive cash awards. For detailed contest rules send a SASE to CWC Contests, 5115 Vesper Ave., Sherman Oaks 91403, or call (818) 784-1944.

*

April 18 to April 24 has been proclaimed National Library Week. And did you know that 100 years ago on April 21 Ojai residents hosted a garden party to raise funds for the building of the Ojai (then Nordhoff) Library?