Prior to freelancing, he worked as a Senior Associate Editor at PC World magazine in San Francisco. He has also worked for various technology magazines in the UK, including Amiga Format, Amiga Shopper, Internet Today, and Internet Magazine. While it is true that all of the aforementioned publications closed after he left, he contends that this had nothing to do with their inability to function without him. In addition to writing for magazines and web sites such as PC World and JIWire.com, Richard runs the video-editing web site Videotastic (http://www.videotastic.com). Richard lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Kath, his French Bulldog, Fester, and an ever-changing variety of cats (some of which are permanent, some of which are fosters looking for homes). Two of those cats graciously agreed to model for illustrations in this book in exchange for extra wet food and catnip.