Ryan Leone

Ryan Leone grew up in Santa Barbara, California. He was expelled from three high schools for drug related offenses, spending much of his teenage years in and out of institutions. Despite these setbacks, he got several poems and short stories published in various anthologies. He was later accepted to a prestigious internship program in Boston for television writing but was quickly asked to leave because of his growing drug problem. He spent the next decade in innumerable jails and rehabs throughout the country. In 2008, after a two year federal investigation, he was indicted for his involvement in an international heroin cartel based out of Mexico. He spent four years in prison and wrote his first novel, Wasting Talent, during his incarceration. It was published in 2014, and he recently had an essay appear in Beatdom. Rehabilitated and off drugs, Ryan Leone currently resides in Los Angeles with his fiancé.