Growing up in Pennsylvania's Bucks County, Donna Esposito was inspired by the lives of past residents James A. Michener, Margaret Mead, Pearl S. Buck, and Oscar Hammerstein II. She earned degrees in molecular biology and genetics from Lehigh University (where she hosted "Sunday Swing" on the campus radio station) and Cornell University (where she enjoyed learning to jitterbug and Lindy Hop). After overseeing a genetic testing laboratory for a dozen years, she made a radical career change to explore her other longtime interests in writing, museums and archives, World War II history, plants and ethnobotany, and the South Pacific.

Donna's first novel, Flying Time, was published in 2016, setting off an unlikely series of events that led to visiting the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Palau, the Marianas, and Sicily to explore WWII sites. While visiting Guadalcanal, she was involved in the repatriation of an American soldier, missing in action since 1943, and has researched numerous World War II servicemembers to bring closure to their families. Her 2023 novel, Ivy Linden and the Treasure of Skull Island, draws on her WWII travels, along with her love of plants and other cultures. Set in 1938, it is the first book of a series about the adventures of ethnobotanist Ivy Linden. Donna is currently working on other writing projects, including Ivy Linden's next adventure, from her home in upstate New York.