In his breakthrough children's novel, Adventures of the Elements, Richard James derives his motivation from his educational experiences and his desire to create an entertaining and fun learning atmosphere. Richard achieves his goal of creating educational material by masquerading science and education as entertaining children's novels, trading card games, and media. The oldest of five, one brother and three sisters, Richard dedicates the adventures to his family especially his siblings who were inspirational in character development. An Eagle Scout and valedictorian, Richard received a degree