Alisa Valdes (born 1969 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American author, journalist, and film producer, known for her bestselling novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club.

[4][citation needed] Valdes spent her childhood primarily in New Mexico, but also lived briefly in Glasgow, Scotland and New Orleans.

Upon her graduation from Del Norte High School in Albuquerque she attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where she majored in jazz performance on the tenor saxophone.

[6] In 1999, Valdes left Boston for a position as staff writer in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times.

[11] Her first novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club, was purchased by St. Martin's Press a little more than a year after she left the Los Angeles Times.

", Chicago Tribune reporter Patrick T. Reardon wrote: "What made [the book] especially hot was the belief among publishers that Valdes-Rodriguez could be the long-sought 'Latina Terry McMillan' -- a writer whose work would jump-start Hispanic book buying in the U.S. and create a new profitable publishing niche..." The Dirty Girls Social Club garnered media attention and went on to become a New York Times bestseller and a Booksense 76 top pick.

[19] In December 2010, Valdes publicly accused Ann Lopez and screenplay writer Luisa Leschin of racism and homophobia after reading a draft of their proposed pilot script.