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Welcome to Gnat Smoke Press
Gnat Smoke Press is a publication company dedicated to bringing you the finest quality poetry and fiction from John Ryland. As a southern small press, we revel in southern hospitality and great southern writing. We are unique, perhaps a little quirky, but we always aim to please. Stay a while, have a look around, just be careful which curtain you pull back. Some of them are hiding ghosts.
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I'm just making it up as I go.
I saw a post on SM where a reviewer gave a book 3 stars because "it read like she was just making it up as she went." Naturally the...
rylandlink
Mar 312 min read
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Increments of success
Winston Churchill one said that "Success is not final, failure is not fatal." And for a writer there are no better words of...
rylandlink
Mar 162 min read
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The Good, the bad, and the ugly
So...I usually just blog about writing and my process, but I've faced some mild backlash for the type of writing I do. I've been told "I...
rylandlink
Sep 29, 20242 min read
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Miles to go before I sleep...
When Robert Frost penned those words so long ago, he probably never imagined how often his words would be called on by subsequent...
rylandlink
Aug 10, 20242 min read
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The Malcontent
For years I've heard the word "Malcontent" used to describe a hoodlum, an anti-social person who doesn't, or refuses to fit into...
rylandlink
Nov 21, 20232 min read
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Booktober
I always tell my kids "You gotta do the work." Most things don't just happen for most people. Whether you're in sports, a hobby, or your...
rylandlink
Oct 22, 20232 min read
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All I want is....
Whenever I talk to other writers, I can see that twinkle in their eye, that glimmer of hope that someday, maybe someday, they'll be a...
rylandlink
Oct 4, 20232 min read
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While you were waiting...
In the military, there is an old adage that goes, "Hurry up and wait." It doesn't make a lot of sense, but then again, I tend to be...
rylandlink
Aug 15, 20232 min read
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It's a long way to the top...
There's a line in an old AC/DC song that goes: It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. I've thought about that line a lot...
rylandlink
Jun 12, 20233 min read
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What is and what isn't
Being an author is a peculiar thing to be. Honestly, there isn't even a consensus of what an author actually is. Do you have to be...
rylandlink
Mar 25, 20234 min read
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Focus is the key.
As I get older, my eyesight has begun to fail me slightly. I need readers almost all the time now and staring at a computer screen isn't...
rylandlink
Feb 9, 20232 min read
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The middle
A lot is made of new beginnings, and rightly so. New beginnings are exciting and fun. The possibilities are endless. A fresh new start. A...
rylandlink
Dec 27, 20222 min read
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Enjoy the ride
Imagine if you left Miami Florida and drove to Los Angeles California, but you never stopped along the way to appreciate the scenery....
rylandlink
Nov 29, 20222 min read
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You gotta do the work.
That's what I tell my kids. If you want to get better, you gotta do the work. Whatever it is that you want to get better at. Writing, and...
rylandlink
Nov 1, 20222 min read
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Why?
I know a lot of writers. I've met writers of every race, gender, creed, and color. I know romance writers, erotica writers, mystery,...
rylandlink
Oct 9, 20223 min read
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Experience ...
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. There may perhaps be no truer adage than that. So many times, we go into...
rylandlink
Sep 11, 20222 min read
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Finding Inspiration
I was recently at an event and people asked me where I get my story ideas from. I tried to explain as best I could, but I could tell that...
rylandlink
May 15, 20222 min read
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The journey of a thousand miles...
There's an old adage that says, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." While that is certainly true, the first step...
rylandlink
Apr 19, 20222 min read
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The unknown writer...
In a previous blog, I talked about the fact that writing isn't for the faint of heart. It takes time and patience, two things that are of...
rylandlink
Mar 27, 20222 min read
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Horror in real life
People aren't afraid of being alone in the dark. They're afraid of NOT being alone in the dark. Some of the scariest moments of my life...
rylandlink
Oct 17, 20212 min read
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