Bill welcomes novelist, violinist, and arts lecturer Erica Miner back to the show. Former Metropolitan Opera Orchestra violinist Erica is an award-winning author, lecturer, screenwriter, and arts journalist. Erica’s debut novel, Travels with my Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. Her screenplays have won awards in the Santa Fe, WinFemme and Writer’s Digest competitions. Erica’s 3-part Julia Kogan “Opera Mystery” novel series, released by Level Best Books starting on Oct. 28, 2022, with Aria for Murder, in which young violinist Julia Kogan investigates murder and mayhem behind the Met’s “Golden Curtain.” Erica’s real-life experiences working with operatic superstars such as Luciano Pavarotti lend authenticity to the ale. Sequels take place at the Santa Fe and San Francisco Operas. A resident of the Pacific Northwest, Erica is a top speaker and lecturer on opera and writing. In addition to pre-concert lectures for the Seattle Symphony, Erica regularly presents for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of California San Diego and University of Washington; Creative Retirement Institute at Edmonds College; Wagner Societies in Boston, New York, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, North Carolina and New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). As a lecturer in writing, she has presented for the WOTS, Fields End, and Los Angeles Writer Conferences.