Hi, I’m Ray.

I’m a Mississippi-based writer, baker, and storyteller with deep Georgia roots and an enduring connection to Phoenix, a city that unexpectedly became one of the most meaningful places in my life.

I write about reinvention, resilience, memory, travel, faith in second chances, and the quiet moments that often shape us most. Sometimes that looks like essays about desert sunsets and belonging. Sometimes it looks like children’s stories inspired by my cat Oakley. Sometimes it looks like family recipes passed down through flour-covered kitchens. And sometimes it looks like fiction.

I’m the author of Phoenix: Permission to Exhale, the Oakley series, and The Georgia Sweetshop Cookbook, with my novel Defiance currently in progress.

When I’m not writing, I’m usually baking, feeding backyard wildlife, spending time with Oakley, or planning my next trip west.

This website is home for my books, essays, observations, and the stories I’m still becoming brave enough to tell.

Desert heart. Southern soul. Always writing toward home.