Virgil Ray Magruder, Jr.

My name is Ray Magruder, I reside in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I'm a full-time law student. I enjoy lifting weights and competing in Powerlifting competitions when I have the time.

Question 1: What inspired you to start writing?

I was inspired to start writing through television, actually! I'd dream up all these fantastical, nonsensical plots I'd seen done on TV and want to take them a step further. Call it overconfidence but I thought I could do it better than the shows I watched.

Question 2: How have your past experiences influenced you as a writer?

I'm very grounded in my writing, and any element of my work that is fantastical or abstract is a background player to my character's physical interactions. Grit first, always. I don't know where that comes from, possibly the copious amount of time I've spent in nature as a child. You see the trees first, then you think about if you're in a forest.

Question 3: What have you written that you're the most proud of?

I'm torn between a short story I wrote that was published in the Delta Journal at LSU, 'Querencia,' and my novella I'm currently working on getting published!

Question 4: When did you first call yourself a writer? 

Probably midway through my junior year in college. It took a while for me to feel like I could adopt the moniker, even though I've been writing since I was eleven. Sometimes I still don't think I'm worthy.

Question 5: What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

Pantser, full blown. As elementary as it is, many of my stories spawn from a thought written down in my notes app, and they blossom from there. I usually think of situations before characters, and plot even further down the line.

Question 6: If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose?

Ocean Vuong, so we can sit down and talk about his books!

Question 7: What is your kryptonite as a writer?

Literally anything- I procrastinate so hard. Being a freelance writer is terrible for my soul. I need deadlines! But there's nothing like a threatening email from a client or a friend to get me to start typing.

Question 8: Do you play music while you write — and, if so, what’s your favorite?

I don't understand how you could. My head's running a million miles a minute and is looking for any reason to not focus- music would destroy me!

Question 9: Are there any books or authors that inspired you to become a writer?

Cormac McCarthy is a current favorite. But I think reading Fahrenheit 451 in high school was when I really started thinking about how powerful books can be. And then, of course, you hear about book bans in libraries and you start to question why that would be if they were simply 'words on a page' and not so much more.

Question 10: If you could invite any three people for dinner, whom would you invite? 

Ghandi, Socrates, and Ernest Hemingway. Maybe they could straighten Ernest out.