Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, a novelist, is the author of the national bestseller The Dirty Girls Social Club, Make Him Look Good, and Playing with Boys. She was named Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and Time magazine has called her one of the twenty-five most influential Hispanics in America. Holder of a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, Alisa was one of the youngest staff writers ever hired at the Boston Globe, and she has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times.

Alisa is a popular public speaker on American college campuses. Her personal and occasionally controversial blog, "Queen Sucia," has been highlighted in Vanity Fair as among the top writer's blogs on the Intrnet. She is the founder of the Chica Lit Club Fiesta, an annual literary conference. Alisa is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico.