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Michelle Dresbold is coming to town, so mind your P's and Q's. And whatever you do, don't write your M's like a devil's fork (you're a serial killer) or your lower-case G's like a frowny face (80 percent of felons do this).

Dresbold, a graduate of the Secret Service's Advanced Document Examination program, is considered one of the nation's leading experts on handwriting identification, personality profiling and threat analysis.

Over the years she has consulted for private attorneys, police departments and prosecutors. Next year she'll start training FBI agents in handwriting analysis.

Dresbold will be at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort on Friday to talk about her famous handwriting cases, involving forgery and murder.

Of course, some handwriting quirks don't mean anything.

"Sometimes you are writing and somebody bumps you and what are you going to do about that?" she says.

But Dresbold says more often than not, handwriting can tell you a lot about a person.

In her new book, "Sex, Lies and Handwriting," Dresbold delves into the handwriting (or, as she calls it, "brainwriting" because the marks you make on paper come directly from your brain) of such famous — and infamous — figures as Bill Clinton, Jack the Ripper, Adolf Hitler, Lizzie Borden, O.J. Simpson, Osama bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh.

We asked the author to take a look at the handwriting of some local personalities — including a musician, a chef, a meteorologist, an Olympic swimmer and a former beauty queen.

Whew! Not a serial killer in the bunch!

A local musician who performs with the band Luca and has recorded music for Neko Case, Mostly Bears and Howe Gelb.

"His handwriting is a wild man's handwriting. It's kind of free. He doesn't like to follow somebody else's conventional rules. Obviously, he likes music, because his handwriting is very rhythmic. It is very similar in a way to John Lennon's. His signature is just his initials, but it's very large, which means he does want some recognition. He did a little doodle, which means, 'Look at me I'm special.'

"Also, he can be very stubborn. There's a D that's split. I always say that's like a mule who's feet are split in two and you can't get that person to budge — in other words, once he makes up his mind, that's it.

"His handwriting is not what the teacher taught you in school. We know he's not a conventional person. He's taken what he learned in school and has created his own style. He also doesn't put a period or comma after "and sing" so he also doesn't necessarily know when it's time to stop, and can go a bit overboard sometimes."

Luca responds: "Being compared to John Lennon is always good, even if it's only handwriting. I wouldn't say I'm a wild man. I can't even drink. I'm diabetic."

KOLD meteorologist.

"Her handwriting is very rounded. It's very feminine handwriting. Her handwriting is also straight up and down. It doesn't lean to the right or left. You find people like this like to have control, like to work with facts and figures, like things that are science-related. Her handwriting looks like somebody who would be into gardening, science or plants. The roundedness indicates somebody who loves animals of all kinds and would adopt from a shelter. She dots her i's and everything exactly above the stem — very precise. When you dot the i's exactly like that you're usually very precise. She also leaves a lot of space between her words. That might mean that she needs a lot of space. Doesn't want to be crowded. Doesn't want somebody telling her what to do. Her P's are very rounded and gentle, which means she's a peacemaker and doesn't like fighting. Nothing is out of place. Everything is exactly as it should be. And all her letter formations are how the teacher would have taught. She's not wild. She doesn't break rules. You're not going to get her dancing on the table naked."

Jordan responds: "I wrote about my dog, so that was easy to figure out. But I have a degree in botany, so that rings true. I do love plants."

Crowned Mrs. Arizona and Mrs. America in 2006 and became Mrs. World in 2007.

"She has an exceptionally 'good girl' handwriting. It's very rounded, and every letter is made very pretty and neat. This woman does follow what the teacher taught. Tradition is very important to her. At the end of her letters, the S has a very long stroke — you'll find that with people who are very generous. She's still a little bit in that girly stage, where girly things are very important to her, like shopping, beauty and other feminine things. Things that make young girls happy still make her happy. The dreams of a young girl are still her dreams. She also has the T's that are split, so she can be stubborn. Her handwriting is very balanced, so I would imagine that she likes things neat and organized.

"Also, she leaves a very big left margin, which means that she wants to get past her past and move on to her future. Her O's and A's are very clear, which means she's honest and trustworthy."

Tucker responds: "I thought it was right on. She was totally correct about my personality. I was very surprised. I liked how she said that I was very generous and neat and organized. I don't really think that I want to get over my past. I like my past, so I didn't think that was correct."

A 2004 Mountain View High School graduate who won a silver medal as a member of the American 4-by-100-meter freestyle relay team that competed in this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.

"Usually, when people send me athlete writing samples they're from football players. This does not look like a football player's writing. This person, her handwriting is straight up and down. She's pretty logical, gets down to business. When she starts something she finishes. She doesn't like to leave anything hanging or leave something halfway. She does a combination of print and cursive. People who do that are bright and think ahead and are always trying to streamline things. Efficiency is very important to this person.

"Her handwriting is neat and puts her i dots right above, so she's a very loyal person. Her e's are very well formed, which means she's a good listener. If somebody tells her there's a better way to do something, then she listens very carefully."

Nymeyer responds: "I think that's amazing that she can tell all those things from the way I write my letters."

The owner of Janos restaurant and J Bar. The James Beard Foundation named Wilder the Southwest's top chef in 2000.

"If you notice his signature, he has this huge lower loop. When you have huge lower loops it indicates sensual desires. It can be a desire for sex, for money, for things that make you feel good. He likes to present himself as a sensual person, which I'm sure he is.

"If you look at the F, the top part and bottom part are almost exactly the same size. That shows he's very well organized. Also, this person is used to putting on a show. His signature is how he appeals to the public and it's a little flamboyant.

"Finally, the more pointed the top of your S, the more you believe in your point of view. This person's S is very pointed. He has a very strong way of saying, 'When I believe something, then my point is right.'"

Wilder responds: "I think it's mostly probably right. I wish I was as organized as my F. I think probably everything else is pretty right on."