Come join Julia and dru’s book musings as we sit down for a Q&A session.

What is your full name?
Julia Kogan

How old are you?
23

What is your profession?
Violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York

Do you have a significant other?
Yes! His name is…

What is their name and profession?
Larry Somers, detective with the NYPD

Do you have any children?
No

Are your parents nearby?
No, I lost both of them when I was a child.

Who is your best friend?
Katie Ma, my former roomie and a substitute violinist with the Met

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
No

What town do you live in?
New York City—a “town” also known as Manhattan

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I rent an Upper West Side walkup apartment; not easy to find in the City, so we’re very lucky to have it.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
The little outdoor terrace by the fire escape, where I can sit and think and gaze at the Manhattan sky—usually solo, but when Katie’s around she sometimes joins me. I have to sit far from the edge, though, since I have a fear of heights stemming from an early childhood misadventure.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Believe it or not, I still like burgers—though I prefer turkey to beef—with pasta. Thank goodness there are so many pasta alternatives. I’m allergic to wheat, and the rice pasta they make these days tastes almost as good. For dessert, a nice, ripe mango: so juicy you can almost drink it. Those are hard to find in Manhattan!

Do you have any hobbies?
My commitment to the violin doesn’t leave much room for hobbies—unless you can call studying opera libretti (little books with the lyrics to operas, original language plus translations) a hobby. Funny thing, though; lately I’ve found myself hooked on a new hobby: investigating murders. Who knew?

What music do you listen to?
Unbelievably, I still listen to opera, even when I’m not playing it. Katie always mocks me for that, though to his credit Larry never does—he’s Italian, so he loves opera. Once in a while, though, I like to listen to the Beatles. I find them very classical.

What is your favorite color?
Purple

What is your favorite vacation spot?
I didn’t really go on vacations when I was a kid. But now that I’m in Santa Fe I would have to say it is the perfect vacation spot. So much natural beauty, so many different cultures all mixed together. I’ve never seen such spectacular mountains, except in YouTube videos. Truly the “Land of Enchantment.”

Are you a morning or night person?
Since I mostly perform at night, I have to be a night person.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Here in Santa Fe, the most fun thing for me is to go to Santa Fe Plaza and watch all the people. It’s a true crossroads, a melting pot. There are wonderful boutiques and outdoor markets with artisanal goods for sale; the Native Americans who sit in front of the Palace of Governors hawking their wares have the most exquisite things, especially the turquoise jewelry. The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi is magnificent. I never tire of visiting it—which is weird, since I’m Jewish. But the most fun of all is to talk to the people. The other day I had a fascinating chat with a real Navajo Indian, who told me all about the rivalries between his tribe and the more aggressive tribes over the centuries. For a New York City gal, that’s absolutely out of the realm of normality—in a good way.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
“Julia Kogan: Bringing Murder and Music Together”

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Definitely amateur, but the more murder investigations I get entangled in the better I have become at sleuthing. Initially I worked with Larry (see above) at the Met; but in Santa Fe I’ve found a work soulmate, Stella Peregrine of the SFPD, who is a smart and savvy detective and has taken me under her wing. I’ve learned so much from her.

What is a typical day in your life like?
Similar and different to my daily routine at home. I get up early, have a smoothie for breakfast, exercise, brush my teeth—all those necessary things that I like to get done so I either can have a good violin practice session or be ready to take on being the concertmaster (first of the first violinists) of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in rehearsal. At the Met, after a rehearsal, I usually went home and practiced, or sat on the fire escape and studied a libretto. Here in Santa Fe, I like to stand outside on one of the terraces in this amazing outdoor opera house and gaze at the views—mostly the mountains, but sometimes I’m mesmerized by looking at the chaparral that seems to go on forever. It couldn’t be more different from New York!

Prelude To Murder, A Julia Kogan Opera Mystery Book #2
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: September 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble

Young, prodigious Metropolitan Opera violinist Julia Kogan, having survived her entanglement in an investigation of her mentor’s murder on the podium, and a subsequent life-threatening attack of a ruthless killer, is called upon for a key musical leadership position at the Santa Fe Opera. But at the spectacular outdoor theatre in the shadows of the mysterious New Mexican Sangre de Cristo Mountains, she witnesses yet other operatic murders, both onstage and off. Dark and painful secrets emerge as, ignoring warnings from her colleagues and from Larry, her significant other, Julia plunges into her own investigation of the killing. Ghostly apparitions combine with some of the most bloody, violent operas in the repertoire to make Julia question her own motives for searching for the killer. But this time the threat to her life originates from a source she never would have imagined.

About the author
Former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner, now an award-winning Seattle-based author, balances her reviews and interviews of real-world musical artists with her fanciful plot fabrications that reveal the dark side of the fascinating world of opera in her “Julia Kogan Opera Mystery” series. Aria for Murder, the first in the series, published by Level Best Books in 2022, was a finalist in the 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. The sequel, Prelude to Murder, was released in September 2023. Erica’s debut novel, Travels with My Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards, and her screenplays have won awards in the WinFemme, Santa Fe, and Writers Digest competitions.