Screenwriter-Producer Pens Mystery : David Debin, whose credits include game shows, sitcoms and films, will be at Mysteries to Die For.

In the early days of Hollywood, the studio moguls lured respected novelists to the West Coast to write screenplays. They came for the money, and they were accused by New York literati of selling out. They even accused themselves of selling out.

So when successful screenwriter-producer David Debin (a new Santa Barbara resident) starts writing novels, he need not fear the money-grubbing label. His credits include game shows, made-for-television movies, sitcoms and films. He also co-wrote the first draft of the movie “Dick Tracy,” which was sold to Universal.

Debin’s first mystery thriller, “Nice Guys Finish Dead,” introduced the irreverent journalist-crime fighter Albie Marx. His second Albie Marx mystery, “The Big O,” published by Carroll & Graf, is a wild romp about Hollywood deal makers and their world. You get to guess who the book’s characters are in real life.

Debin will be at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, at 1 p.m. Saturday.

*

A milestone for Adventures for Kids. It is celebrating its 15th birthday with a special 15% off everything sale today, Friday and Saturday in the bookstore at 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura. And special guest, musician-author Barney Saltzberg, will join the celebration at 2 p.m. Saturday to perform and sign “Where Oh Where’s My Underwear?”

*

Apparitions and ghostly creatures will be the honored guests when author Richard Senate presents his collection of short stories, “Tales of Terror,” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Phantom Bookshop, 451 E. Main St., Ventura. The spooky evening will also include lectures on local ghosts and psychic gifts by Senate and Debbie Christenson Senate. Brian Black will describe ghostly taped voices.

*

Lynne Kelsey, whose television credits include story editor on “The Paper Chase” and scripts for “Murder She Wrote,” will conduct a six-week class on “Writing for Prime Time Television Series” beginning at 6 p.m. Monday at Learning Tree University’s Thousand Oaks campus, 1408 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Call 497-2292 for details. Tuition is $95.

*

Rod Lurie, the controversial film critic for Los Angeles Magazine, will tell aspiring Siskels and Eberts how to write reviews that inform and challenge moviegoers in a six-week workshop beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Chatsworth campus of Learning Tree University. Tuition is $95. Call 497-2292 or (818) 882-5599.