Photo: Petra Hoette

Erika Mailman is the author of six traditionally-published novels. Her adult novels include The Witch’s Trinity, a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book which Khaled Hosseini called “gripping”; Woman of Ill Fame which Diana Gabaldon of the Outlander series called, “one of the best books I’ve read in a long time,” and the award-winning The Murderer’s Maid: a Lizzie Borden Novel. She holds an MFA in poetry and has been a Yaddo fellow and Bram Stoker Award finalist. Under the pen name Lynn Carthage, her young adult trilogy includes Haunted, Betrayed and Avenged. Her articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Lit Hub, Diversity Woman, and more.

On a more personal note:
I grew up in Vermont and attended Colby College and the University of Arizona, Tucson, where I received an MFA in poetry. I took my junior year at University College, Cork, Ireland. I now live in northern California, not far from where gold was discovered for the Gold Rush, with my husband, two kids, and a rescue Jack Russell Terrier. I used to be a cat person. ;)

I read widely and write widely. I teach novel writing online (click on the Mailstrom tab), have presented at many writing conferences, and even spent several years as a writing conference co-director.

I love travel and history (and combining both makes me really happy). When the pandemic is over, I want to grab a mocha with a friend, meet up with my family to go to the movies, and have a million people join us at the taqueria afterwards. Doesn’t that sound amazing?

Looking for Help for Aspiring Novelists?

Want to take my online novel writing class, the Mailstrom Writing Clinic?

Follow me on Twitter @ErikaMailman

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS
Pride and Prejudice
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women
Tom’s Midnight Garden
The Diamond in the Window
The Shipping News
The House on Parchment Street
The Haunting of Hill House
Year of Wonders
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Anything by Sarah Waters