ECW author, Robin Spano was dubbed one of Canada’s hot new crime authors by the U.K. blog Crime Fiction Lover late last year. In the past two years she has released two novels and has a third in the works. Robin recently took time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions about her literary loves, likes and influences. Enjoy!

ECW: Who are your literary heroes, Robin?

Robin: John le Carre, for the psychological depth of his characters, and for the way he reveals it, detail by detail, with absolutely no telling. If I could do that, I'd think I'd made it as a writer.

John Irving, for the emotional complexity of his characters. His are the closest I've seen to resembling real humans without crossing the line into sloppy — or boring — overexposure.

Kim Moritsugu, for the emotional immediacy, and the fact that when I'm reading one of her books, they follow me around even when I'm off doing something else.

Jonathan Kellerman, for his plotting, pacing, and general skill with language.

Elizabeth George, for her warm, varied stories, and for the depth of her secondary POV characters.

Stieg Larsson, for his original heroine.

Dan Brown, for his sales figures (okay, and his plotting). I know he gets slagged a lot, but he's clearly doing something right; I'd like to figure out what, so I can learn from it.

E: Is there a book that you wish you’d written?

R: Strangely, no — I think I have my own stories to tell, and that they'll come out in time. I wish I wrote as well as some writers I admire, and I'd love to learn how to harness their strengths and incorporate them into my own writing, but I don't wish I'd told their stories.

E: In that case, what are five books that have influenced you?

R: I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance when I was 17, and it made me desperate to buy a motorcycle. After a year of dreaming about it, I bought one when I was 18.

Babe Ruth: Baseball Boy is a YA book (probably out of print for years now) about, go figure, Babe Ruth's childhood and youth. I first read it when I was three or four, and I've read it a million times since. It sparked a passion for baseball and the New York Yankees, I started collecting baseball cards and going to games, and I continued to read biographies of famous Yankees until I was around 15 (and the interest faded).

I read The Manticore, by Robertson Davies, when I was 15. It was my first direct exposure to the concept of the collective unconscious. I started analyzing my dreams (I've since stopped), and for years thereafter, I wanted to be a Jungian analyst.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I read it in high school (maybe age 16?), when a friend of my parents loaned it to me. It fueled my passion for the open road (probably why I felt perfectly safe hitchhiking all over the Maritimes a few years later), and strengthened my resolve not to try to think like anyone but myself.

Rage of Angels, by Sidney Sheldon. I read it when I was 8 and felt ridiculously grown-up. The sex scenes flew right over my head, but the book made me want to be a lawyer — probably right up until the time I read The Manticore.

Robin Spano is the author of the Clare Vengel Undercover series. To learn more about Robin you can follow her Twitter or visit her website.