Then, in 1989, while working at a TV station in Tucson, Arizona, Rich saw an advertisement for a local theater company's playwriting contest. Determined to give it a try, he wrote and entered a one-act play, titled THE DIVIDING LINE, which was selected as one of the contest's winners and which was performed as a public staged reading. THE DIVIDING LINE was later fully produced by that company, and Rich has continued to write plays ever since that initial success.

To date, he has written more than 20 plays of various genres, most of which have been publicly performed, and a number of which have been fully produced by theater companies. He also writes original music and lyrics for some plays. He has won playwriting awards, including the 1996 Playwriting Fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and a 2007 Individual Artist Award in Playwriting from the Maryland State Arts Council. He twice served as President of The Old Pueblo Playwrights (in Tucson) and is currently a member of Playwrights Forum (Washington, D.C.). He is also a member of the Dramatists Guild. In addition to being a playwright, Rich is an actor and director.

Rich is currently an attorney practicing in Washington, D.C. (He asks that you try not hold it against him.) His practice is called Amada Law Office, and he offers a special service, "Law & Author," for authors who need to know the answer to questions about the law for the courtroom dramas or other stories they're writing that involve legal issues. You'd be suprised how little writers know about the law....Well, maybe you wouldn't. :-)