Richard was born in Ilkeston in Derbyshire, UK and lives in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands. He works as a General Practitioner (family doctor)with a North Birmingham practice. He is 43 and married with two children.

He is a Young-Adult sci-fi, historical fiction and historical fantasy writer. He also writes book and board game reviews and online articles on historical and gaming related topics. He owns his own small publishing house, Mercia Books and is part of a board game design house Medusa Games.

A keen player of board games and other games he is one of the directors of UK Games Expo (the UK’s largest hobby games convention). He is a board game designer and his first Board Game, ‘The Great Fire on London 1666′ was published by Medusa Games and Prime Games in October 2010.

Author website: http://www.richarddenning.co.uk

Tomorrow’s Guardian Review

When schoolboy Tom Oakley discovers he can transport himself through time, he draws the attention of evil men who seek to bend history to their will.

Tom’s family are obliterated and he soon faces an impossible choice: To save the world he must sacrifice his family.

Tom Oakley is a normal boy, growing up with friends and family until he starts having funny turns, hallucinating about jumping in time an space as well as dreams where he finds himself in other peoples bodies reliving the terrifying final moments of their lives he starts to think that he is going mad. Add to this the general concerns of bullying, school work and the life a young boy on the cusp of becoming a teen he starts really worrying about his mental well-being.

Mixing in historical fact and real characters to the story Richard Denning has created a fantastic yarn that educates as it entertains. The historical detail is richly detailed and described, from the battle formations of the Zulu armies to the Great Fire of London.

What really made the story stand out for me was the opposing side – all good time-travel stories have an adversary and Tomorrow’s Guardian is no exception. Captain Redfeld makes a brilliant counterpoint to Tom’s guide Septimus who has less than pure ideas on how to usehis power. Redfeld is open about his desires to use his powers to change the world rather than for personal enrichment, making offers that Tom struggles to reject.

Battles across time have been done before and the ultimate enemies have been around for some time but all the concepts are neatly handled. The choices Tom is faced with are as old as time itself – using power for the good of all or the good of a few and how fart would you go to protect loved ones.

Tense and gripping stuff – Tomorrow’s Guardian is a classic time jumping yarn that mixes high adventure, historical fact with a nail-biting finale. This book will be fantastic for pre and early teen readers that love action adventure with a dash of history and mystery.

View other stops on Richard Denning’s blog tour here

‘YOU’RE THE LAST OF THE WEREWOLVES. DON’T FIGHT IT, SON; EMBRACE IT. CONQUER IT.’

Forced to flee the family he loves, Drew seeks refuge in the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia. But when he is captured by Lord Bergan’s men, Drew must prove he is not the enemy.

There is something about epic fantasy that makes me geek out in a major way, and Rise of the Wolf is no exception. I had only ever heard about Curtis Jobling in connection with is you know who and when I was sent a copy of Return of the Wolf to review, I was not too sure about what to expect. The werewolf on the cover looks too friendly and fluffy to be a ravening beast of terror– although in hindsight after reading the book it fits in with Drew’s personality.

Even better is that although it looks like paranormal fantasy (the cover has a full moon, a moodily handsome main character and is shiny) it is not paranormal fantasy, it is epic fantasy and although it has therianthropes (were-beasts), magic and teenagers in peril it is not paranormal fantasy or even an urban romance.

Brief disclaimer: I do enjoy YA Paranormal Fantasy/Romance but I have been reading so much of it lately.

Having a good old-fashioned sword & (some) sorcery with added werelords made a welcome change.

Rise of the Wolf is a brilliant beginning to looks like an awesome series!

Why did I like it? The structure is almost perfect for the beginning point of a series, the introduction of Drew, who is very much a homebody with very little interest in the wider world until something very bad™ happens and he has to flee for his life. As the story progresses we learn with him – about who he is, how his world works and how were-beasts get their abilities as well as touching on politics and social inequality with oblique references to humans as second class citizens. Fantasy worlds have always interested me, and, as I have previously mentioned I am a big fan of epic fantasy, and in this type of series the characters usually have an entire world to play in. Hints and brief descriptions of far-of lands are peppered throughout the book which bodes well for travel in future titles of this series. I also really enjoyed the flashes of horror that cropped up – werewolves experiencing monster attacks is something new for me! The politics was also interesting as a sub-plot with past betrayals and old broken alliances hinted at and at the end the son of a dead Wolf-king versus the King of the Beasts.

My 15 year-old inner reader LOVED this book, I am currently 20 years older than him and I loved it too!

Another Christmas Eve review written in rhyme. This time Andrea Cremer’s new YA novel Nightshade gets the treatment…
‘Twas the night before Christmas, in old London Town
The snow lay outside, turning slushy and brown.
I wanted to go out, but it was too cold
So I picked up a book, of which I’d been told!

This book it is great, but over too soon
and when you crawl into bed and look at the moon.
Do not feel sad as you turn out your light
Because there will be more, so you can have a good night!

There is only one thing to say after reading this book and that is ZOMG! this book is fantastic!

A strong female lead, mysteries, wrapped in enigmas, teasing revelations throughout the book (but not enough to make everything clear), raging teenage werewolf hormones, the perils of interspecies romance.

It is a massive cliché to say this but: I did not want this book to end, sadly it did and it left me wanting more! Damn it, the second book is not out yet, they say that delayed gratification is good, but I want it now!