Erika Mailman is an American author and journalist. Mailman was born in the United States, growing up in Vermont and attending both

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

and the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. She later began writing a column for the Montclarion edition of the

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

. She has lived in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

for the last 7 years. She has taught at

Chabot College Chabot College (Chabot or CC) is a public community college in Hayward, California. It is part of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. History Chabot College was the first college opened by the Chabot- Las Positas Community Col ...

in Hayward, California. Mailman, born in Vermont to a German-American family, is the descendant of a woman who twice stood trial for witchcraft in the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

in 1692. Mailman's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

''The Witch's Trinity'' reportedly sold for six-figures.Matthew Thornton. "Deals". ''Publishers Weekly'', 2/13/2006, Vol. 253, Issue 7 It is set in a medieval German town in 1487 and examines the struggle between

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and pagan tradition through the story of a Christian woman on trial for witchcraft.

Reception

Critical reception for Mailman's work has been mostly positive, with ''The Witch's Trinity'' gaining praise from ''Marie Claire'' and

Boston.com ''Boston.com'' is a regional website that offers news and information about the Boston, Massachusetts, region. It is owned and operated by Boston Globe Media Partners, the publisher of ''The Boston Globe''. History ''Boston.com'' was one of t ...

. The ''

Isle of Man Today Isle of Man Newspapers publishes the Isle of Man's newspapers. They are the '' Isle of Man Examiner'', the '' Isle of Man Courier'' and the '' Manx Independent''. They are all weekly newspapers. Its website is www.iomtoday.co.im, as well as ownin ...

'' criticized ''The Witch's Trinity'', stating that it "is unsophisticated in its good versus evil premise". The novel was a ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' Notable Book of 2007, and a

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

finalist.

Bibliography

*''Oakland Hills'' (Images of America series,

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publ ...

, 2004) *''Oakland's Neighborhoods'' (Images of America series, Arcadia Publishing, 2005) *''The Witch's Trinity'' (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2007) *''Woman of Ill Fame'' (

Heyday Books Heyday is an independent nonprofit publisher based in Berkeley, California. Heyday was founded by Malcolm Margolin in 1974 when he wrote, typeset, designed, and distributed ''The East Bay Out'', a guide to the natural history of the hills and b ...

, 2007)

References

Additional sources *Gloria R. Lothrop. "Woman of Ill Fame". ''California History'', March 2008. Review of ''Woman of Ill Fame'' *"Cauldron of fear". ''The Daily Telegraph'', 2/02/2008. Edition: N - Weekend Country. Section: Features, pg. 021. *Dianne Dempsey. "The Witch's Trinity". ''The Age'' elbourne, Australia (Jan. 19, 2008): News: p23. *"The Witch's Trinity". ''The Times'' nited Kingdom 01/19/2008. Features, In short, pg. 13 - Books. *"Witch and famous". ''Herald Sun'' elbourne 01/12/2008. Edition: F - Weekend. Section: WEEKEND, pg. 025 *"Character narration lets down fine story". ''Leicester Mercury'', 12/27/2007, p28 *Catherine Taylor. "Review: First fiction: Catherine Taylor rounds up notable recent debuts: The Witch's Trinity , by Erika Mailman (Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 16.99)". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. (Dec. 8, 2007): Arts and Entertainment: p16 *"The Witch's Trinity", ''Booklist''; 7/1/2007, Vol. 103 Issue 21, p33, 1p *Laurel Bliss. "Mailman, Erika. The Witch's Trinity". ''Library Journal''. 132.10 (June 1, 2007): p110 *"The Witch's Trinity". ''Publishers Weekly'', 5/21/2007, Vol. 254 Issue 21, p29-29, 1/6p

External links

Official website

Chicago Tribune op-ed on witchcraft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mailman, Erika 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Colby College alumni Living people Writers from Oakland, California Novelists from Vermont 21st-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people)