"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" spotlights the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. Civil War, pitting brother against brother, North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb. Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three life-and-death stories in screenplay format:

'Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce, and expanded to feature-film length by incorporating the Siege of Vicksburg.

'Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's short story 'Cu Chi."

'Dawn's Early Light," P.O.W. drama inspired by a Leo Tolstoy tale and a cinematic rendition thereof by Sergei Bodrov Senior.

"Contemporizing the Classics: Poe, Shakespeare, Doyle" is a how-to on the art and craft of transforming a classic into a feature-film screenplay with a modern storyline.

The introduction probes an issue that weaves throughout: role of artistic license in balancing fidelity to the original versus dramatic needs of the script.

Contemporization of a classic being the most flagrant form of dramatic license, the introduction presents three guidelines for a considered exercise thereof.

Each part debuts a feature-film script that resets a classic work(s) in the present.

Part One offers a contemporary visualization of Macbeth, in the process turning an Elizabethan tragedy into a dramatic comedy.

Part Two applies the guidelines to several renowned works by Edgar Allan Poe.

Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles" having frequently screened as a period piece, Part Three gives the hound a twenty-first century twist.

Not everyone enjoys a globe-hopping lifestyle a la Indiana Jones and 007, or endures the emotional peaks and valleys of a Scarlett O'Hara or Blanche Dubois. But most of us do come of age sooner or later, which makes it easy to relate to the pivotal events involved in growing up. First crush. Dawn of sex drive. Loss of virginity. Breakup with sweetheart. Senior prom. Graduation day. Going off to college.

In like vein, we're all familiar with the issues confronting adolescents. Forging an identity. Fitting in. Handling peer pressure. Bonds/bounds of friendship. Erosion of childhood illusions. Bridging the generation gap. Leaving the nest.

"Threshold: Scripting a Coming-of-Age" offers film buffs and prospective screenwriters insights into the essential elements. Chapter 1 develops the four cornerstones of all scripts irrespective of genre. Chapter 2 covers the genre's distinctive features. Chapter 3 analyzes one classic coming-of-age in depth: "River's Edge." Inspired by actual events, the 1987 film confronts its seventeen-year-old protagonist with a daunting threshold rarely encountered by mature adults.

The book debuts three feature-film screenplays: "Homies"; "What Up Dawg"; "What Are Brothers For?" The respective protagonists--13, 19, 21--face age-appropriate challenges involving peer pressure, authority figures, and post-graduation blues.

Action, action, yet more action. No action film worthy of genre would be caught dead without its fair share of red-hot lead and no-holds-barred fisticuffs, high-octane pursuits and gravity-defying gymnastics. Then again, non-stop action soon wears thin absent a rooting interest in Last Man Standing. She was the first woman to cross finish line. Rooting interest inheres not in overt action, no matter how artfully choreographed or breathtakingly executed. Rather, rooting interest comes from empathy for the protagonist and, more precisely, from the dramatic action embodied by the protagonist's struggle to accomplish a worthy goal opposed by a formidable foe. Action is a double-edged blade, overt action being a necessary but insufficient condition to sustain viewer interest, which soars and ebbs to extent that dramatic action intersects with-injects meaningfulness into-gunplay and fistfest, acrobatics and pyrotechnics. Lights Camera Action spotlights the essential elements of action comedy, action romance, and action adventure. which a screenwriter must weave together in order for an action script to hum and shimmer, pulsate and zing.

As a teen, prosecutor Ben Santos fathered a daughter out of wedlock. Hell-bent on a career in law, he lost contact with her. A dozen years later, his failure to embrace fatherhood is his one abiding regret. Blood money claims the life of a pregnant woman. A jail snitch badgers her husband into implicating himself. Conviction seems a safe bet until the criminal lawyers go to work, bending the rules of evidence so as to profit from the husband's cellblock confidences. Santos is initially gun-shy about handling the case. His one previous murder trial ended in a hung jury. The rapist-killer, released on bail pending retrial, claimed the life of another victim. At trial, Santos parries the aggressive ploys of Vietnam Veteran-defense attorney Francisco Duran. Even so, Duran backs him into a corner. At the eleventh hour, Santos devises a strategy worthy of Solomon. Duran counters with a cynical plea-bargain proposal. Momentum turning, Santos insists on submitting the case to the jurors despite risk of another hung jury. On the home front, Santos and his teacher wife are working on a baby of their own. As trial nears its climax, Santos rushes Carmel to Delivery.

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" tells the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. The Civil War, pitting North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb, brother against brother. The Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. The War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three stories in screenplay format:

"Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce.

"Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's novel "Solomon's Bluff."

"Dawn's Early Light," inspired by a Leo Tolstoy story and a cinematic rendition by Sergei Bodrov Senior.

Not everyone enjoys a globe-hopping lifestyle a la Indiana Jones and 007, or endures the emotional peaks and valleys of a Scarlett O'Hara or Blanche Dubois. But most of us do come of age sooner or later, which makes it easy to relate to the pivotal events involved in growing up. First crush. Dawn of sex drive. Loss of virginity. Breakup with sweetheart. Senior prom. Graduation day. Going off to college.

In like vein, we're all familiar with the issues confronting adolescents. Forging an identity. Fitting in. Handling peer pressure. Bonds/bounds of friendship. Erosion of childhood illusions. Bridging the generation gap. Leaving the nest.

"Threshold: Scripting a Coming-of-Age" offers film buffs and prospective screenwriters insights into the essential elements. Chapter 1 develops the four cornerstones of all scripts irrespective of genre. Chapter 2 covers the genre's distinctive features. Chapter 3 analyzes one classic coming-of-age in depth: "River's Edge." Inspired by actual events, the 1987 film confronts its seventeen-year-old protagonist with a daunting threshold rarely encountered by mature adults.

The book debuts three feature-film screenplays: "Homies"; "What Up Dawg"; "What Are Brothers For?" The respective protagonists--13, 19, 21--face age-appropriate challenges involving peer pressure, authority figures, and post-graduation blues.

"The Thriller: Scripting Seat-Gripping Suspense" plumbs nine-score thrillers for recurring features that build nape-prickling, heart-pounding suspense. Fodder for analysis embraces domestic and foreign fare, classic and contemporary, ranging from "Ghost, Speed, Seven, Psycho, " and "The Silence of the Lambs" to "La Femme Nikita" and "Yogen Premonition]."

Text eschews a connecting-the-dots, painting-by-numbers approach, in belief that formulas drain the lifeblood of creativity and inevitably spawn a ho-hum product. That said, the eight factors culled from the covered films constitute useful tools in the screenwriter's arsenal.

Perhaps the best groundwork for a thriller is infiltrating the ATF/FBI/IRA, or a brigade of arms-running mercenaries. Short of that, watching films and reading scripts will work wonders. In that spirit, the book debuts three feature-film scripts for critical scrutiny: mystery thriller "Stateline"; police thriller "Cashing Out"; supernatural thriller "Birthmarks."

"Contemporizing the Classics: Poe, Shakespeare, Doyle" is a how-to on the art and craft of transforming a classic into a feature-film screenplay with a modern storyline.

The introduction probes an issue that weaves throughout: role of artistic license in balancing fidelity to the original versus dramatic needs of the script.

Contemporization of a classic being the most flagrant form of dramatic license, the introduction presents three guidelines for a considered exercise thereof.

Each part debuts a feature-film script that resets a classic work(s) in the present.

Part One offers a contemporary visualization of Macbeth, in the process turning an Elizabethan tragedy into a dramatic comedy.

Part Two applies the guidelines to several renowned works by Edgar Allan Poe.

Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles" having frequently screened as a period piece, Part Three gives the hound a twenty-first century twist.

As a teen, prosecutor Ben Santos fathered a daughter out of wedlock. Hell-bent on a career in law, he lost contact with her. A dozen years later, his failure to embrace fatherhood is his one abiding regret.

Blood money claims the life of a pregnant woman. A jail snitch badgers her husband into implicating himself. Conviction seems a safe bet until the criminal lawyers go to work, bending the rules of evidence so as to profit from the husband's cellblock confidences.

Santos is initially gun-shy about handling the case. His one previous murder trial ended in a hung jury. The rapist-killer, released on bail pending retrial, claimed the life of another victim.

At trial, Santos parries the aggressive ploys of Vietnam Veteran-defense attorney Francisco Duran. Even so, Duran backs him into a corner. At the eleventh hour, Santos devises a strategy worthy of Solomon. Duran counters with a cynical plea-bargain proposal. Momentum turning, Santos insists on submitting the case to the jurors despite risk of another hung jury.

On the home front, Santos and his teacher wife are working on a baby of their own. As trial nears its climax, Santos rushes Carmel to Delivery.

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" spotlights the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. Civil War, pitting brother against brother, North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb. Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three life-and-death stories in screenplay format:

'Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce, and expanded to feature-film length by incorporating the Siege of Vicksburg.

'Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's short story 'Cu Chi."

'Dawn's Early Light," P.O.W. drama inspired by a Leo Tolstoy tale and a cinematic rendition thereof by Sergei Bodrov Senior.

Action, action, yet more action. No action film worthy of genre would be caught dead without its fair share of red-hot lead and no-holds-barred fisticuffs, high-octane pursuits and gravity-defying gymnastics. Then again, nonstop action soon wears thin absent a rooting interest in Last Man Standing. First Woman to Cross Finish Line. Rooting interest inheres not in overt action, no matter how artfully choreographed or breathtakingly executed. Rather, rooting interest comes from empathy for the protagonist and, more precisely, from the dramatic action embodied by the protagonist's struggle to accomplish a worthy goal opposed by a formidable foe. Action is a double-edged blade, overt action being a necessary but insufficient condition to sustain viewer interest, which soars and ebbs to extent that dramatic action intersects with-injects meaningfulness into-gunplay and fistfest, acrobatics and pyrotechnics. Lights Camera Action spotlights the essential elements of action comedy, action romance, and action adventure. which a screenwriter must weave together in order for an action script to hum and shimmer, pulsate and zing.

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" tells the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. The Civil War, pitting North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb, brother against brother. The Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. The War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three stories in screenplay format:

"Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce.

"Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's novel "Solomon's Bluff."

"Dawn's Early Light," inspired by a Leo Tolstoy story and a cinematic rendition by Sergei Bodrov Senior.