Several of Richard's short stories have won awards and/or been published. 

Magpie (Available on Kindle) Herman Schlenker is master of his rural estate, a paradise of manicured lawns, fruit trees, bountiful vegetable garden,wonderful wildlife, beloved pets. All is well until the magpies show up. Dozens of them, squawking, eating, defecating, turning his paradise into hell. Herman views the situation as a war, him against the birds, and the birds are winning. Then Herman resorts to his secret weapon.
Sophie's Gift  Faded words on a corroded metal dog collar tag read, "Sophie is a very special dog." The folks at the Green Haven Living Center would soon suspect these words meant their new canine arrival had the power to sense an oncoming death. Or, could it be that Sophie was an angel of mercy, releasing those who were ailing, or had lost the will to live? In either case, her sensory power hinted a get-rich-quick opportunity for scruffy Willie and his chubby girl friend.
The Gamer In a near-future world, men have been replaced in professional football by robotic replicas, autonomous, human-like machines origianlly developed for the military.  Humans are not altogether left out of the gridiron scene, as there is still a need for controllers to operate the mechanical players.  Enter the super gamers, young people, shunning meaningful contributions to society, interested only in the mind-numbing rewards a virtual setting can provide.  The success of these operators is limited by the speed and effectiveness in communicating with their machines.  What if there were a way to link the minds of an operator with the machine he controls...maybe even to make them part of the machine?
The Salesman Jerry is his company's leading Soytato saleman, skilled at convincing outer-world merchants they need to buy mega-tons of Earth's most nutricious crop.  But he's afraid his best sales pitches will be ruined when his meddlesome and obnoxious boss, Riley, tags along on a sales trip to the frontier planet Corinthia.  As his worst fears are realized, with Riley's interference forcing rejection after rejection, Jerry ponders ways to neutralize him.  He opts for a seemingly innocent opportunity to distract his boss, but instead, figures from the shady Corinthian underground spirit Riley away.  Though now working alone, and his sales pitches start to bear great results, Jerry's guilt over Riley's disappearance ruin his sense of victory.  Can he find his boss and free him from whatever black place he'd fallen into?
The Seventh Dog Second place winner in the IDAHO magazine 2010 short story competition - Dog lovers will appreciate this story of one man's lifetime of dogs. read it HERE
The Last Greenhead Published in IDAHO magazine. Richard's personal recollection of hunting trips with his Dad and bird dogs.
Bird Politics Published in IDAHO magazine. Personal recollections of birds acting in wonderous and interesting ways, emulating humans in their approach to life and death, dealing with greed, class struggles, parenting pitfalls.