About Ryan

Ryan Bush was born in Wyoming to a family of avid readers, and those two influences have stuck with him all his life.

As a child, Ryan read every book he could get his hands on - even when he wasn’t supposed to be reading. Sometimes a good book would get in the way of kid Ryan’s chores and homework, much to his parents’ dismay, but the love of good stories was hard to quench. He snuck books wherever he could, and often lost a good bit of sleep whenever he came to a particularly exciting chapter.

Like many other homeschooled kids, Ryan was introduced to fantasy through CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Those books were some of his favorites growing up, but it wasn’t until he found an illustrated copy of The Hobbit at his grandparents’ ranch that his love for fantasy was truly realized. Filled with photos from the animated classic, that book transported young Ryan to the magical world of Middle Earth, from whence he never fully returned.

In high school, he worked on his grandparents’ ranch during the summers, growing to love the Wyoming wilderness and the history that could be found there. In particular, he wanted to study historical artifacts through archaeology, and in his senior year he joined a summer archaeology program for high schoolers, working on excavating a Paleoindian ochre mine. Those few months of excavation were some of the most fun he’s ever had in his life.

He attended the University of Wyoming in nearby Laramie, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in archaeology and a minor in statistics. While in college, Ryan’s dad wrote and published a novel, and helping edit that book gave Ryan the writing bug as well.

While moving around the country for archaeology and fohis future wife, Ryan started writing a novel. He thought the book was brilliant and would surely get picked up by Hollywood. Neither of those things was true, but he kept plugging away, honing his craft little by little.

In 2022, he wrote a few short stories he was quite proud of, so he self-published them on Kindle. Shortly after, a few of his flash fiction pieces were picked up by Havok, a flash fiction company. The validation of a neutral 3rd party actually liking his work was thrilling, and it renewed his desire to write whenever he had the chance.

Since then, Ryan has continued plugging away at fantasy novels, hoping to have one ready to publish someday. But in the meantime, he’s found that short stories scratch the writing itch, while still creating something fun to occasionally share with family and friends.

If you’d like a complete list of Ryan’s writings, they can be found on his Substack here. And if you’d like to read some of his favorite short stories, they’re available for download on Kindle!

Thanks for reading!