Born and brought up in the Bronx, Rozan is an architect in a New York firm whose practice includes police stations, firehouses, zoo buildings, and the largest terra cotta restoration project in the world. A Knicks fan and a lousy but dogged point guard herself, Rozan has worked as a self-defense instructor, jewelry saleswoman, and janitor.

S.J. Rozan runs an on-going series of panels on the subject of "Crime Writing and The American Imagination" at New York's 92nd Street Y. She has a BA from Oberlin College and a M.Arch. from SUNY/Buffalo. She lives in a tiny but sunny apartment in Greenwich Village.