Feeling a little carpe diem about the novel you always wanted to write? Our ten-week online class lets you move forward on that project with confidence and a cheering section.

It’s all online…perfect for shelter at home, Coronavirus-era learning! The pacing is firm but generous: you will not feel overwhelmed by deadlines but will feel a gentle, necessary pressure to do your work weekly!

These classes are offered in rotation, so if you miss one, you only have a few months to wait before another is offered.

For nine years, I taught the online novel writing classes for mediabistro, including developing curriculum for an advanced class. When that company sold a few years ago, my time ended. So I started up my own classes in early 2019.

A maelstrom is a vortex or a powerful whirlpool, so I’m playing on my name with the class title of Mailstrom Writing Clinic. I enter the confusion and turmoil of a novel in progress to cheerlead students on, while also…you guessed it… cracking the whip.

Many of my students have gone on to find traditional publication: Lian Dolan, Ellen McGarrahan, Lisa Beazley Kling, Jenny D. Williams, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, and Barbara Barnett, often with the books workshopped in this class (there may be others; pardon me if I am missing you! And let me know so I can add your name). My class was featured in an article at Books Make A Difference; I love working with writers to spur them on to keep working on their book, to love it harder, to make the pages flow.

The class is limited to eight writers with a range of experience, seasoned writers and fresh beginners alike. Also, writers switching genres often come to my class, like freelancers turning to fiction. You don’t have to be in the United States to join; our weekly live chat could be doable in your time zone depending on your late-night stamina. I’ve had students join from Germany, Singapore, Canada, and other places.

Our ten weeks include:

• Ten downloadable lectures aimed at craft issues and motivating you onward
• The chance to share up to six double-spaced pages every week for peer and instructor critique
• The opportunity to learn from others’ work, by reading closely and offering up fair critique
• A live, one-hour textchat on Tuesday nights 6 p.m.PST/9 p.m. EST, which is fun and encouraging. This is NOT a Zoom class; we encourage messy pandemic hair that goes unseen as well as that well-earned glass of wine. ;)
• Camaraderie with other writers on the same exciting journey
• Accountability! Everyone loves a deadline, right?
• An intimate environment (classes cap at eight students) to share your work privately
• A cheerleader with a whip (me!) who loves inciting writers to productivity

BLACK LIVES MATTER.
As part of my commitment to learn more and be an active participant in the fight against racism, I am offering one free seat in each class to a Black writer. Please contact me and I will happily waive your fee.

Erika Mailman is the author of six traditionally-published novels (with Random House, Kensington, and others) under her own name and the pen name Lynn Carthage. She has been a Bram Stoker finalist, a Yaddo fellow, and winner of several awards, including the IPPY gold medal for historical fiction. Her historical novel The Witch’s Trinity was a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book and appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s list of “Wickedly Great Books about Witches.” She holds an MFA in poetry and taught mediabistro’s online novel writing classes for nine years, as well as teaching community college English and leading workshops at many national writing conferences, including the Writers Digest Novel Writing Conference.

The charge is $425, which must be prepaid by Venmo. Financial details: If you are unsatisfied and wish to withdraw after our second chat, I will refund half the class amount, holding back monies for any workshopping I’ve already done on your pages at the industry-standard rate of $8/page. After the second chat, I cannot provide a refund. Please be aware that since the class is capped at eight people, you may be taking a slot that cannot later be filled, and/or that I will have lost the opportunity to recruit more students.
For more details or to register, contact me via email at erika {\\at\\} erikamailman.com.

Wa-kiiiiiiish! See testimonials below.

Testimonials from former students:

Erika Mailman is probably the only reason Keep Me Posted was published…I signed up for her course with only the vaguest idea of what I might write about and not a single clue of how to, like, write a BOOK. A year or so later, I had a deal with Penguin Random House.
–Lisa Beazley Kling, author of Keep Me Posted (Penguin Random House)

I would not have finished my novel without the brilliant cheerleading and productivity guidance of Erika Mailman. Her once-upon-a-time-Media-Bistro class was literally the reason I Got It Done. I was SO SAD when she stopped teaching at MB because where could I send fellow writer-people in need of her magic?? WELL, THE MAGIC IS BACK, people. And class starts soon!! I cannot recommend Erika enough.
–Jenny D. Williams, author of The Atlas of Forgotten Places (St. Martin’s Press)

I took a class with Erika Mailman several years ago and hope to do so again in the near future. Consummate professional. Incisive and attentive. My work and architectural understanding definitely improved. Highly recommended!
–Shawn Macomber, author and journalist