Bookpleasures.com welcomes once again former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner. Erica is an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and lecturer. She actively contributes to major arts websites and magazines. 

As an opera expert, she is a regular presenter for the Osher Lifelong Living Institute at University of Washington and University of California San Diego, Creative Retirement Institute at Edmonds College (Seattle area) and Wagner Societies on both coasts.

Former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner is now an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and lecturer, who actively contributes to major arts websites and magazines.

Erica’s debut novel, Travels with my Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. The first two novels in her “operatic mystery” series, Murder in the Pit and Death By Opera, chronicle assassination and intrigue at the Met Opera and Santa Fe Opera.

The third novel in the series, Staged for Murder, which takes place at San Francisco Opera, has just been published. 

Norm: Good day Erica and thanks once again for participating in our interview.

Erica: Always a pleasure, Norm.

Norm: If you could relive a moment in your life, which moment would you choose and why?

Erica: I think it was the moment I sat down in the first violin section of the Met Opera Orchestra in the pit for my first rehearsal. It was nerve wracking but very exciting.

My anxiety came from seeing that James Levine was on the podium; for my first time, that felt like a trial by fire. But then I looked up at the stage and saw Jon Vickers and Martina Arroyo, two of the most famous opera stars of the time. Then my apprehension turned to euphoria. 

Norm: How did your experience in screenwriting and journalism inform the novel-writing process?

Erica: I started writing screenplays before I had even thought of writing novels. It was my screenwriting consultant in Los Angeles who encouraged me to try novel writing after I came up with the idea for Travels with my Lovers.

Then I found a number of elements of screenwriting that helped me create novels: the strict discipline of format that screenwriting demands as far as writing very lean and clean; the practice in honing dialogue that sparkles; creating characters that jump off the page; and perhaps most of all, learning to rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

All of these contributed to my ability to translate my training in screenwriting to the novel genre. Ironically, when I was struggling with my first foray into the very difficult mystery category, with the screenplay of Murder in the Pit, I found that writing it first as a novel helped me figure out the plot so that I could put all the puzzle pieces together and make the story cohesive.

My journalistic endeavors, writing reviews and interviewing performing artists, gave me the opportunity to explore the personalities of these fascinating people from the inside out. This provided me enormous insight as to the psychological and emotional make up of musicians, and especially opera singers, which I then was able to translate into creating fictional characters in my opera mystery novels. And in fiction, I believe the characters are the most important component.

Norm: Do you think about your reading public when you write? Do you imagine a specific reader when you write?

Erica: Definitely both. When I’m writing about an opera house, no matter which one, I think about how opera lovers and aficionados will recognize and relate to the operas that are being performed in the novel, and to the atmosphere of an opera house with which they might be familiar.

But within that opera world I’m also trying to create ways in which non-opera lovers might become intrigued with the art form and with the theatres in which the novels take place. For instance, after Death by Opera was published, I received feedback from all types of readers. Those who had been to Santa Fe Opera became nostalgic and were eager to return to it.

Those who had been to Santa Fe but not to the Opera vowed to attend a performance there as soon as possible. And those who had never even been to Santa Fe expressed a desire to get on the next plane to New Mexico.

Norm: How do you deal with criticism?

Erica: Not well! I think it goes back to when I was studying the violin. My father was my first teacher and he was relentlessly critical and nitpicking.

Nothing I did was right, and no matter what I did I couldn’t please him. I know it’s because he wanted me to be the best, but I think it spoiled me forever as far as taking criticism.

My next, major violin teacher was critical, but he also told me what I was doing well, which helped a great deal. But by then I had been sensitized to being faulted for my shortcomings.

That experience with my dad, who ironically also was a writer, crossed over when I turned to writing as my creative outlet. Whenever someone finds fault with my writing, my father’s voice of disapproval nags at me. Rejection is something writers learn to deal with; criticism is a different animal.

Norm: Does the line between truth and fiction sometimes become blurred for you?

Erica: I must admit it does in certain instances, especially when I’m writing about Julia, the violinist protagonist of the series. She is based on myself and my own experiences when I was a young performer at the Met, and though I try to maintain a separation between the two of us, sometimes she inevitably reflects my own personality quirks: both my weaknesses and my strengths.

Then, too, I have to try really hard not to base certain other characters too closely on real people I know. That goes for my actual experiences at the Met as well. 

Norm: How do you choose the names of your characters?

Erica: Usually they just come to me—as my book titles do—though I confess that certain characters’ names come from people that I know or have known. In the case of Julia, I decided to name her after the young daughter of my best friend at the Met.

Another major character was named after my brother. Sometimes if a character is based on an acquaintance or relative with a foreign name, I do a search for names of that nationality that appeal to me. Overall, naming my characters is one of the most fun aspects of writing fiction.

Norm: Are you ever lonely when you write? If so, how do you deal with it?

Erica: I’m never lonely when I write, because I have my characters to keep me company. They are always talking to me, even to the point of demanding what they want me to have them do and which other characters they want to interact with.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but as many other writers have claimed, characters often tend to do what they themselves decide they want to do. I create them, but like children they take on personalities of their own and go off and do their own thing. I am fascinated watching and listening to them. I even talk to them at times. Okay, now you know. A writer’s crazy confession.

Norm: Please tell us about your latest novel,  Staged for Murder?

Erica: Ah. That one came about in a special way. I have a long history with the City by the Bay and with San Francisco Opera. I first visited San Francisco with my ex-husband when our son was an infant, and I fell in love with the city. Years later, my ex introduced me to the Opera and the War Memorial Opera House when he was assistant to the company’s great impresario Kurt Herbert Adler.

I was always very impressed with the opera house and with Adler; even after my ex and I split I would go back and spend tons of time in the city, especially after my son, as an adult, decided to live there. Cut to after Murder in the Pit.

I was in Santa Fe researching Death by Opera and got together with a friend who was Dramaturg of San Francisco Opera. He suggested setting the next sequel there, and I thought it was a perfect fit, given my experiences with the company. I decided to make my life difficult by basing the whole novel on Wagner’s famous Ring, which was rather challenging: the four operas in the cycle add up to about seventeen hours of music and trying to cover all that in a novel involved a serious amount of work.

The company had just revived the iconic Francesca Zambello production of the Ring, so it was timely; and after all I do spend inordinate amounts of time lecturing for Wagner Societies all over the country. I made several trips to the city to research the book and had the help of my Dramaturg friend, who introduced me to the venue itself and to the people who run the company who could provide the insights and background I needed.

In the story, Julia is engaged to replace the regular concertmaster, who is recovering from injuries from a car accident. Part of the puzzle is, was that really an accident? Then trouble starts brewing when murder turns to mayhem. Julia gets embroiled in the investigation and becomes a killer’s target. I don’t want to give too much away about what happens next!

Norm: Which character in this novel was the easiest to write? Most difficult?  

Erica: Julia is always the easiest to write, since she is my alter ego. I was never in the kind of trouble she gets in, but when it comes to handling the foibles of life at the opera house, I’ve certainly had my share. Her views definitely reflect my own views, she is very close to my physical type, and most of all she loves music with her whole heart and soul.

For me in this novel, in fact in all my novels of this genre, the antagonist is the most difficult to write. I’m a pacifist at heart, and it’s tough for me to put myself into the mind of a killer. However, this is possibly the most important element of the story; the perpetrator is often thought of as the core of a mystery. So, I have to try to evoke my inner villain, as it were, and draw upon what one reader called my “wicked imagination” to create a monster of epic proportions to heighten the drama of the story and escalate it to a level that is frightening enough to keep the reader turning the pages.

Norm: What were your goals and intentions in this novel, and how well do you feel you achieved them? 

Erica: I truly believe that opera is larger-than-life, one of the world’s most valuable and beloved art forms. In recent times, our much-honored Supreme Court Justice, the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, embodied one of the greatest examples of veneration for opera, its composers, works and performers.

She reflects the great love that so many of us have for opera. Because opera is so unique in its wonders, I wanted, from the very beginning of this novel series, to show my own deep regard for opera by writing about it in a way that would bring it to people’s attention. That was my original intent with Staged for Murder.

Then the pandemic hit, and all over the world—but especially in this country—opera performers are suffering from not being able to express their art because of the near impossibility of presenting operas on a stage with so many people in a theatre which by definition be sparsely attended.

That situation heightened my desire to get this novel in the hands of people who will appreciate the importance of opera, remind them that this art form somehow must survive, and perhaps satisfy their need for a connection with opera in these difficult times.

Most of all, I feel a deep connection with San Francisco Opera and wish to promote them in any way I can. Not only are they the second most prestigious company in the country, but they also perform in a stunning Beaux Arts theatre that I feel must continue to be both revered and preserved so that when this crisis has been overcome, the company will rise from the ashes and again be able to offer their invaluable contribution to the opera world.

Norm: What was the most difficult part of writing this novel and what did you enjoy most about writing it?

Erica: Aside from creating a villain who was believably evil, the most difficult part was to revisit the Ring with all its complexities: studying the libretto of each of the four operas, deciding how I was going to connect their story lines with the plot of the novel, and choosing which excerpts from each libretto with which I was going to begin each chapter. (In every novel of the series I start each chapter with a different opera quote; I was glad to discover that my readers really enjoy that approach.)

Though I played countless performances of the Ring operas, it’s been many years since I’ve done so, and it took a lot of research and mental fortitude to combine my past experiences with the new-found knowledge I gained from delving deeply into the world of the Ring.

What I enjoyed most was expressing my love for the city of San Francisco; in describing its multifaceted features and qualities, natural beauty and cultural haunts, and so much more. And of course, depicting the greatness of the San Francisco Opera: its gorgeous venue and fascinating history, as well as the personalities of the people who make the company one of our very best.

Norm: What do your plans for future projects include?  

Erica: Now that I’ve “given birth” to this new “baby”, the immediate future is all about getting the word out—with your wonderful help and that of others—and trying to inspire as many people as I can to read the book.

I have a number of Zoom lectures to give and reviews to write of online streaming performances. That should be interesting, since it will be a whole different way of doing things from what I’ve done in the past. As far as a next sequel, the San Diego Opera has expressed a desire for it to take place there.

Part of my heart is still in that wonderful city, where I lived for sixteen years, and I maintain a great relationship with people at SDO—one of whom has told me, jokingly of course, that he knows where some bodies are buried! We’ll see what happens with that. 

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and Staged for Murder?

 Erica: The book is now published in various electronic formats. Readers can find it on AMAZON  and the Apple iBookstore 

It should be available soon at Barnes and Noble online. Also, on my PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE  readers can find my book page with an excerpt from the book.

And they can always check my WEBSITE for updates as to when the print version will be released (hopefully soon).

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, if you could invite three writers, dead or alive into your living room, who would they be and why?

Erica: Wow, what a tough question. I have so many that I love. I would have to start with Charlotte Brontë. Her novels were among the first I ever read as a child and I’d love to find out more about what she feels on the inside. I’ve long admired Erica Jong and have read everything she has written. Not only because she is my namesake but because I think she has been such a force in the feminist movement. The third would be Agatha Christie. She is my idol in the mystery genre, and my inspiration. I’m sure we could consume endless pots of tea talking about her amazing life and work.

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Erica: Thank you, Norm, for the opportunity to share my work with your readers.