She is a crime thriller writer from
Toronto. She lives in Vancouver. Her writing career started in 2010 and so far
she has three crime fictions to her credit. All her books have been well
acclaimed increasing her readers and fans with addition of each of her book.
Discussing about books is her favorite pastime but her husband is never a part
of these discussions as he doesn't like reading books at all.
A very warm welcome to Robin Spano on my
blog on behalf of all her readers and fans. Let us grab this opportunity to
know Robin a little deeper.
Please
share some of the best memories of your childhood
RS
- I've always loved being outside. When I was three or four, I liked to pick up
garter snakes and creep out the adults while they were drinking beer at the
cottage. When I was six my parents bought me a blow-up dinghy and I liked to
row around the lake on my own and (sometimes) give rides to my sister and our
friends. I was thrilled when my dad gave me clearance to drive the motor boat
alone, age 12. As a teenager, I loved canoeing into the back lakes with a
sandwich and a notebook where I'd write fiction (or sometimes bad poetry). And
my all time favorite--all ages--was taking out the sailboat (a little 2-man
thing) on a super windy day, fighting the wind until invariably it was too much
for me and I'd tip over, and my dad (watching from the dock) would come rescue
me in the motor boat.
About
your education
RS
- It was going really well until I dropped out halfway through my university
physics degree. I loved school. Loved learning. But when I was done, I was
done.
What
career did you plan during your education days?
RS
- I had a million different ambitions, from being a subway driver (I loved
standing in the front car of the train as it rode through tunnels, thought it
would be great to get paid for that) to owning the New York Yankees to writing
fiction.
What
is your biggest source of inspiration in life?
RS
- Still the same as answer #1: Being outside. I can be having the most grumbly,
gruesome day, and if I throw on gardening clothes and spend an hour pulling
weeds, things will be right again. In the winter, I'll often sneak off for a
half-day of snowboarding and come back to my desk full of things to write
about. In the summer, my husband will often come home early and we'll catch a
few hours of boating before dinner. Being outside and active resets me. And it
reminds me how great life is.
What
hurts you most in this world?
RS
- Duplicity. Selfishness. The fact that so many people don't operate with a
decent code of ethics. So many problems in the world could be solved if people
treated each other with integrity. I don't understand why this isn't
self-evident.
What
is the biggest challenge you have faced? Were you able to overcome it? How?
RS
- Self-doubt. It's a silent killer. I don't always overcome it but when I see
it, I do what I can to squash it.
If
you had to live a day of your life as a living or dead personality, who would
it be and why?
RS
- Winston Churchill. I love his blunt honesty and I'd love the opportunity to
speak my mind so boldly to a bunch of sleazy parliament members.
What
is your favorite genre and why?
RS
- Right now, I like reading thrillers and women's fiction. Mostly because my
work in progress combines the two.
What
is the purpose of your writing?
RS
- The internal purpose (for me) is to make sense of the world. The external
purpose (for readers) is to turn pages and entertain. I think that balance
makes for some fun and interesting reading.
Which
of your work published so far?
RS
- I have 3 novels in a mystery series: Dead Politician Society, Death Plays
Poker, and the latest (my favorite) Death's Last Run.
What
are your forthcoming writings?
RS
- Well if I ever finish it, it will be this women's fiction thriller.
What
are your future plans?
RS
- To keep writing, keep learning, and eventually maybe one day find inner
peace. Ha ha.
What
four top most things you take care of while writing a book?
RS - 1. The pages have to turn. I want
the writing to be tight and the plot to be exciting.
2. Each point-of-view character needs an agenda
and growth arc. I write from multiple points of view, so it's important to make
each story interesting in itself.
3. Loose ends need to be tied. (Or a
deliberately open-ended.)
4. A reader needs to see and feel the scene.
This has been my weakness so I'm working on this the most with my current
novel. I have to remind myself to slow down and see, smell, taste, touch, and
hear what the character is experiencing. Only then will the reader suspend
disbelief to dream the fictive dream. Which is the whole point of reading a
novel.
