Dea Lenihan is an author/illustrator who studied painting, illustration, and drawing at Rutgers University and Montclair State University. She also studied with Bob Budiansky, an artist most known for his work on the Marvel Transformers comics.

She has designed best-selling coloring books for adults. The first book she illustrated, The Open Pillow, was featured for a Special Storytime Weekend at The Eric Carle Museum of Storytime Art. Her second illustrated picture book, American Pie, written by Lynne Marie, is coming Spring 2022 from Spork/Dancing Flamingo Press.

She lives on the coast of New Jersey where she collects vintage writing instruments and ghost stories. She can usually be found drawing with Buddy the conure on her shoulder.