VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Event to Help Writers Hook Up With Agents : The annual all-day seminar will be held in Oxnard, and will offer important contacts with the publishing world.

Achieving success in any profession depends on ability, contacts, timing, attitude and a bit of luck. Writers can give their luck a nudge by reaching out to anyone who can gather them into the publishing fold.

Such an opportunity will be offered at the Ventura County Writers Club annual Editors and Agents Seminar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at Casa Sirena, 3605 Peninsula Road, Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard. The panelists include literary/screenplay agents Susan Travis, Fred Price and an associate from the Sandra Dijkstra Agency; and editors from Crosscurrents, Santa Barbara and Pasadena magazines.

Xenos Books, a small house that publishes a variety of subjects, will be represented by editor Karl Kvitko. The columnist will moderate the event, which costs $28 and includes lunch. Call 986-3584.

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Susan Dey and Stephen McHattie star in the television movie based on local author Sherry Gottlieb’s erotic thriller “Love Bite.” The movie airs on Lifetime during Halloween. Gottlieb will sign her novel at 1 p.m. Saturday in Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura.

Joe Lansdale, author of “Mucho Mojo,” will sign his new adventure mystery, “The Two-Bear Mambo,” at 4 p.m. Saturday in Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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Storyteller, author, humorist and singer Bill Harley, whose commentaries are heard regularly on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” will present his “Growing Up Is a Full-Time Job” at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Performance Studio, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. The evening is sponsored by Adventures for Kids Bookstore and costs $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Call 654-6459.

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Actress Whitney Kershaw will read to youngsters at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Ojai Table of Contents, 208 E. Ojai Ave.

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Bill Harley will give an informal concert and sign his picture book “Nothing Happened” at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Harley will also conduct a “How to Think Like a Kid” storytelling workshop for teachers and parents from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Cowan Conference Center, 570 Airport Way, Camarillo. The $35 fee includes dinner. Call 388-4411.

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The Poetry Shop, 1321 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, continues to sponsor readings, discussion groups and a monthly poetry hike. Call J.P. Gorham at 496-7638.