Let Your Love Light Shine

You have exactly 14 days to construct that perfect Valentine. The epistolary lover will be well-served by “How to Write Love Letters,” new from Shooting Star Press. Author Michelle Lovric offers 60 samples of romantic love letters--from impassioned to forlorn--and provocative quotes from famous love letters: “If you are the dreamer, I am what you dream. But when you want to wake, I am your wish . . . “ (Rainer Maria Rilke).

So if you’re wobbly when it comes to wooing, riffle through this “anthology of passion” and be emboldened to declare yourself. C’mon, little songbird, you can do it.

Events

This afternoon, learn “Seven Steps to a Perfect Wedding” at the Four Seasons Hotel. The $45 tickets are available at the hotel, 300 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills, or by calling (213) 480-3232 . . . “Early Violence Prevention,” a free parent workshop, will be held tonight, 6-7:30 p.m., at Buonora Child Development Center, 19325 Sherman Way, Reseda. Call (818) 885-6200 for details . . . Beginning Thursday, “Sex, Lies and Family Tapes,” a group for women in transition, will meet 7:30-9 p.m. The five-week series costs $75. 2101 Business Center Drive, Suite 145, Irvine. Call (714) 253-5701 to register . . . On Feb. 3, “A Magical Afternoon” will benefit battered women’s shelters. The silent auction, sponsored by the Los Angeles and South Bay chapters of Professional Women in Travel, will be held at the Magic Castle of Hollywood. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. $45, lunch included. Reservations required. Call (818) 769-4575 or (213) 688-9291 . . . Children in second through fifth grades are invited to boat safety classes starting Saturday at the Balboa branch library, 100 E. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach. The program, 10 to 11 a.m., will continue Feb. 10, 17 and 24. Free. Registration recommended: (714) 717-3800 . . . On Tuesday, children 4-8 can listen to “gentle stories of family living” at Pages Books for Children and Young Adults. Free. 10 a.m. to noon. 18399 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana; (818) 34-BOOKS . . . There will be free playwriting seminars for children in third through sixth grades at four locations throughout Los Angeles on Feb. 10. The three-hour sessions are sponsored by L.A. Parent magazine. Call (818) 846-0400, Ext. 253, for locations and times and to register . . . A “Family History Workshop: Photography, History & Memory” will take place on Feb. 10 at UC Riverside’s California Museum of Photography. 2-5 p.m. $8 per person, $10 per family; members free. Enrollment is limited; call (909) 787-4787 to reserve your space . . . Valentine story time, games and crafts will be hosted by Vroman’s Bookstore on Feb. 10. 10 a.m. Free. 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call (818) 449-5320 for details.