Maurice Carlos Ruffin is very proud to be from New Orleans.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:What is the first thing ever that you remember writing?
I remember loving an animated series called Kidd Video.
Author Maurice Carlos Ruffin and the cover of his book, ‘The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You’.Vaughn D. Taylor; One World
They had to find a way back to the real world.
They had this ship that looked like a humongous tabby cat!
I decided to make a version more to my liking.
Author Maurice Carlos Ruffin and the cover of his book, ‘The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You’.Vaughn D. Taylor; One World
So I recast it with my all my friends as the main characters.
We were on an Earth that was mostly flooded.
And our mission was to use our yellow cat hovercraft to find dry land and start a new life.
I worked on that idea during recess for days and days, but it was only in my head.
I never actually wrote it out!
What is the last book that made you cry?
Full disclosure: I’m far more likely to cry listening to music or watching a film.
ButHomegoingby Yaa Gyasihad me all in my feelings.
Also,The Handmaid’s TaleandOrlandoget me every time.
I’ve read them both thrice.
The last movie that had me bawling wasImitation of Life(1959).
That funeral scene got me.
The last song that made me cry was Joanna Newsom’s “Sapokanikan.”
She’s doing the most.
That song is so dense it casts a spell.
Which book is at the top of your current To-Read list?
Where do you write?
I like coffee shops.
I love my big dinner table at home.
I spent a year in a house John Grisham donated to the University of Mississippi.
It had a great big table that was my favorite writing spot of my whole life.
It’s the standard by which I’ll measure every place I write in the future.
Which book made you a forever reader?
I read all the follow-ups she wrote too.
But if I’m being totally transparent, my love of books started with comics.
I loved reading Chris Claremont’s run onUncanny X-Menin the ’80s and early ’90s.
No one was better at writing stories that were so romantic in every sense of the word.
It was true of me, for sure.
I tip my hat to Ms. Pauline.
What is a snack you couldn’t write without?
A lack of guilt is very helpful when sitting down to write well.
If you could change one thing about any of your books what would it be?
I would give a free copy of my short story collection to every teenager in America.
What is your favorite part ofThe Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You?
It’s kind of unique.
So I feel like the book is at the vanguard of a movement I hope will happen.
I want to see books flooding out of New Orleans.
We have so many stories to tell!
What was the hardest plot point or character to write?
I wrote a story called “Rhinoceros” set during the pandemic and George Floyd protests in New Orleans.
It was challenging to write something so in the moment.
After all, the pandemic isn’t over yet.
But it was also a lot of fun to write.
Write a movie poster tag line for the book:
Get New Orleans.
