Raphaelish

The first area of creative expression I seriously devoted myself to was photography. Regardless of whether my subjects were children, or landscapes, or one of those crazy weddings I assisted with, I had one great challenge with each shot: To make that photograph MINE! I practiced, I chased storms, I bribed my nephew, I played with light until I knew exactly what to do in order to illuminate my subject so that emotion could always be discovered and evoked.

The wedding photographer I assisted for two years rummaged through my newly developed photographs one day while I was doing paperwork in his office; he came in holding this shot I'd done of my nephew, and he said, "You've got a unique composition. I could pick your photographs out anywhere." Highest. Compliment. Ever.

I fell out of love with photography when the craze for digitals took all the fun out it for me, so I don't shoot very often nowadays. However, exploring photography taught me a great deal about observation that I strive to translate into my writing. As writers we have the opportunity to introduce our readers to image rich slivers of memory and imagination that are stamped with our own distinct styles--effectively making our stories unique, recognizable, and unforgettable.

Today's featured writer possesses a personality that is instantly endearing, and he very effectively infuses his stories with depth of emotion, experiences, observation skills, imagination, and sense of humor. Whether you've met him in FLAMECHAT, or just enjoyed the fiction he's submitted to the FLAME, I'm sure you've found him quite unforgettable. Without further ado my darling FLAMES, I give you Raphaelish!

BIO:

Hi. I'm Raphael but most people - online and off - call me Raph. I hail from Sydney, Australia and I'm a student. I'm one of those crazy people who's been writing since they could hold a pen. In my eyes, I burst onto the literary scene when I was eight, after penning my first novel, The Fish Who Was Rude. It was six pages and handwritten, with pictures, but it counts as a great literary accomplishment because I scrawled "by the award-winning author" underneath the title. From that point until now, I've been writing as often as I can. For a long time, I focused on longer works, but never really got that far with them. Now, I feel like I've really found my niche in short stories and am loving writing them.

Aside from writing, I also love photography, tennis and reading, although my reading and my writing differ a lot. I'll read pretty much anything, but my favourite genres are mystery and speculative fiction, whereas I tend to write realistic fiction. Either way, I have a lot of fun with both.

Brigit's Flame was a godsend to me. At the time I joined, I was at the tail end of recovering from a long and protracted illness. Nothing serious, but I hadn't written, or really read, for over a year and that was really difficult for me. I found LJ and the Flame and everyone here welcomed me with open arms. The people here are beyond amazing: both fantastic writers and fantastic people. As a result of joining the comm, I also got to write again, and the critique I've received here has been invaluable. I feel so at home here, too, and so lucky that I was able to find this community and you guys!

THE CHOSEN PIECE:

I had a lot of fun writing this, and I think it really exemplifies one side of my writing; the side which is probably the dominant one at the moment. This piece represents the writer in me that is romantic, somewhat angsty and melodramatic, and obsessed with those tiny little moments in life which can seem to change everything.

THE LINK:
http://raphaelish.livejournal.com/2581.html

 

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