Massachusetts-born Donna Lethal won her first writing contest in fifth grade and is working on her second novel, a true-crime tale set in Lowell, Mass. Intending to teach film studies, Lethal attended the New School in NYC, but decamped for California after 9/11. She has also lived in Boston, New York, and London. A regular contributor to Dowager Quarterly, The Hair Hall of Fame, Find a Death, The LA Beat, and Cold Dirt Press, she also penned a chapter in Sterling's "Weird Hollywood" guidebook. Her vintage beauty collection has been featured in Elle Girl Korea and mixed-media collages and photographs have been shown in Los Angeles galleries. Her first book, "Milk of Amnesia," was published in 2011 with an expanded Kindle edition in July 2013. Lethal divides her time between the Mojave Desert and Hollywood, where she leads writing workshops for youths and seniors.