Rochelle Alers

Rochelle Alers (born August 7, 1943) is an American writer of romance novels. She has also written under the pen names Susan James and Rena McLeary.

Rochelle Alers was born on August 7, 1943 in Manhattan, New York, where she was also raised. After earning degrees in sociology and psychology, she taught pre-school for a time before entering the business world.

Alers began writing her first novel in 1984, after a decade of reading romance novels. She finished her first manuscript, the novel Hideway, in 1985. After several rejections because her work did not fit the formula of a category romance novel, Alers perfected her style and was first published by Doubleday Books in 1988.

Almost two million copies of her novels are now in print, and they have regularly appeared on the Waldenbooks, Borders, and Essence bestseller lists. She has been awarded the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, the Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. She writes full-time currently after retiring from her job as a Community Liaison Specialist for a state funded abuse program in Long Island.