Ryan Burruss has worked as a professional writer, editor, and marketing director in the business world for the last 25 years. In the latter decade of that span, he also boasts fiction bylines in such literary journals and magazines as Prairie Schooner, The Carolina Quarterly, Whiskey Island Magazine, and New Orleans Review, among many other esteemed publications.

He is the author of American Crow, a midcentury gothic horror novel published by Counterpoint in October 2026. A voracious reader and student of history, Ryan is inspired by the great writers of the past, as well as the many strong voices populating the 21st century.

In addition to his writing pursuits, Ryan maintains an active visual arts practice, focusing on graphite, charcoal, ink, watercolors, and oils as his focal media. His work leans heavily toward the figurative and he is greatly influenced by the Tonalist movement of the early 20th century and midcentury pulp illustrators. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

Artistically and across outputs, he revels in painting with words and telling tales through brushstrokes.

A native of Maryland and semi-retired father (his son being an adult in the world, causing his own mischief), Ryan now resides on Colorado’s Front Range with his wife and their small herd of alpacas.