North County Times/The Californian - Barbara Brill's Around Carlsbad column

Instead of being defeated, resilient Erica faced her challenge with an adventurous and risk-taking spirit, choosing to go after one of her dreams. To travel.

And, travel she did. With her children. Alone. Through Europe and to some of the most exotic places in the world.

Life was good again. That is, until Erica faced another challenge, when as a result of a car accident, she was no longer able to perform on the violin, and her 21-year career with the Metropolitan Opera came to a screeching halt.

Looking for a new artistic outlet, Erica reached out to her lifelong love of writing, which became a way of life for her at age 13, when her immigrant Russian father, who was also her first violin teacher, gave her a journal and inspired her to write as she was growing up in Detroit.

Over the years, she poured out her heart and soul into the journal. Her anger, fears and frustrations. Her dreams, thoughts and journeys. And, she credits this journaling for saving her life, for giving her the ability to re-invent herself.

Today, Erica, who lives in Carlsbad with her second husband, Christian Neau, is an award-winning author featured in the city's 2005 Community Guide and Calendar.

Her first novel, "Travels with My Lovers," was inspired by her adventures and misadventures during her summer escapades in Europe. Erica said that only she and her husband know how much of the book is fact and how much is fiction.

It won the 2003 fiction grand prize from Author Book Awards, and I understand why, as it is a book that plays to every emotion. But, best of all, it reaches out to give hope and inspiration. It shows readers that they can find personal fulfillment and that it can be fun and rewarding to travel solo.

Erica also is a screenwriter, a poet, and a lecturer who has been sharing her travel and writing experiences and knowledge from coast to coast and on Celebrity Cruise Lines.

Some of her topics include: "A Journey from Violinist to Novelist," "Relationships and the Single Mom," "Opera Stars I Have Known," "The Journey of Self-Reinvention," and "Journaling Your Way to a Better Life," the topic she presented Tuesday in Carlsbad at Jack McClendon's Encourage Mint monthly seminar series at Heritage Hall.

Erica shared her passion for journaling, pointing out that it is a powerful tool that today is even being used by military personnel to help them cope after tours of duty in Iraq.

Yes, writing is Erica's re-invented life. She recently completed the screenplay adaptations for her novel, as well as another book, a suspense thriller, "Murder in the Pit," which takes place at the Met. And, sheís currently working on a novel series chronicling a young girlís coming of age in the volatile 1960s and 1970s. Of course, with the memories from her journal.

Details about Ericaís seminars and interviews can be found on her web site: www.ericaminer.com

Barbara Brill, a North County Times columnist, is a free-lance writer who has lived in Carlsbad since 1971. Contact: bbrill2@juno.com.