It all started from a wild and vivid imagination…

As a child, Christopharo would see visions of strange creatures and events that some would consider supernatural and others believed were the product of an overactive imagination. Perhaps it was a little of both. Regardless, to this day, Christopharo’s imagination still runs wild, but it’s typically restricted to the confines of his lucid dreams or the stories and artworks he creates.

Christopharo’s imagination guided him through an adventurous career, in which he became a professional artist in the entertainment industry. He contracted his services to various movie studios, TV networks, and other exciting companies. For a time, he was even an illustrator at a toy company where he worked on comic books and action figures.

After his experience in the toy and product industries, he decided to design and develop his own toy line based on his love for fantasy and arcade machines. However, after numerous rejections from various companies (due to cost restrictions), he considered trying a different approach. Christopharo thought that it would be fun to make the driving concept behind his toy line into a short story. And this is how Christopharo went from illustrator to author, because the short story he intended to write turned out not to be that short after all. The story (titled Arcade Dawn) has expanded into a series of books — and has proved to be one of the most difficult ventures Christopharo has embarked on.

That creative shift also brought him back to something deeper — the storytelling spark he carried since childhood. As a child, Christopharo loved hearing and telling stories, but he found drawing and painting were a much simpler way to express them than writing. This is because he struggled (and still struggles) with dyslexia, ADHD, and other challenges that made writing extremely difficult. And so, the visual arts became his creative outlet. It wasn’t until after he graduated high school, when personal computers became more accessible, that Christopharo began dabbling in writing. He still had a void to fill from an almost all‑consuming passion that drove him to create. Christopharo had stories in his head that had to be told. Much of his work revolves around passion and how it drives people — a passion shaped by his neurodivergence, his Italian family, and the fiery temperament of a Pisces on the cusp of Aries.

Changing careers from illustrator to independent writer and artist has been a rewarding challenge for Christopharo, one that required learning new skills and adapting to new creative demands. Along the way, perseverance, accessible writing tools, family encouragement, and ongoing mental health care have helped him navigate the challenges of neurodivergence and continue creating the stories he feels compelled to tell.

Christopharo enjoys crafting nostalgic escapery for middle‑aged geeks — stories designed to evoke a return to innocence through imagination and mythic storytelling. His work often weaves themes of mental illness, self‑discovery, and self‑empowerment into character‑driven narratives, reflecting both his personal journey and his belief in the healing power of imagination.

Christopharo currently lives in Southern California, surrounded by his enormous geek collection. He is actively developing his multimedia blog and vlog series, Shelf Life, while continuing to write and illustrate new fantasy concepts for The World of Christopharo — including future installments of Arcade Dawn and additional creative projects that expand his growing universe of nostalgic escapery.