The jungle is wild and tropical - and a deadly hush of anticipation hangs in the humid air. A man eludes pursuit in the murky water of a swamp pool. His scant clothing ripped and torn, he is obviously exhausted - and terrorized. His face is wild with panic, and he is near collapse. Cowering in fear, he is unaware of the threat of a deadly python, approaching silently from behind. Closer and closer...

Perhaps you've encountered that strange, unsettled feeling of familiarity - haven't you been here before? Hasn't this experience already happened in exactly the same way? What if that wasn't you. What if that was your duplicate, the result of an atomic experiment that has taken an unexpected turn, creating a process that can replicate and manipulate living matter - with untold potential, but terrifying consequences.

Every one of us is the host to an almost unimaginable array of independent microscopic organisms - such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi - with which we share a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship. They have evolved along with the human species, and their survival is the key to ours. There are ten times as many of these microbial cells as human cells in the body. What if these microorganisms were sentient?

In the 1960's, the US Government was experimenting with something called a Cybernetic Organism - or Cyborg. A human individual, a man, who by replacing some of his organs, and substituting and adding mechanical or chemical devices or compounds, was given the capacity of existing and functioning in different atmospheres and climactic conditions. In other word, creating a man with the means to exist on other worlds.

Fire For Effect is a WWII story, but not of the ordinary kind. Based on a true incident, it involves a little known, but vitally important branch of Military Intelligence - the IPWs - Interrogators of Prisoners of War. It is the story of a battle of wits between two officers, good men both, with strong convictions, integrity and a firm sense of duty - but on opposite sides. And it concerns a potentially catastrophic event about to happen.

A test pilot, veteran of Desert Storm, crashes while testing a top secret military device. His injuries rob him of his memory, reducing him to the level of an animal - but an animal with the intelligence and reasoning power of a man, and the fear and desperation of a hunted beast. He leads the men who would save him on a fantastic chase through the desolate and hostile country of Death Valley, pitting animal instinct against sophisticated technology.

When in the late 1990's I wrote the screenplay, Zappp , it was a catharsis exercise in creation. The story is alight comedy concerning the comeuppance of anunscrupulous, thievish movie mogul and an unethical, amoral motion picture studio. I had just been the victimof this kind of larceny myself - not once, but twice -and began to feel sorry for myself, so I availed myselfof the wisdom of Aristotle, who advocated the easing ofdestructive emotions by bringing them to consciousnessand affording them expression. Being a writer, the resultwas Zappp