SELFIE INTERVIEW | Andrew McLinden, Gertrude Stein Award 2014, 1st Place Winner

I’ve always been interested in books and music, although coming from a working class background, I didn’t call it art. I was brought up to believe that artists handled paint brushes. I’m a lyricist and co-write songs with my brother Paul: www.paulmclindenmusic.com —Andrew McLinden

Who would you arm wrestle, if you could?

I’d most probably arm wrestle Dan Brown. The way I see it, the longer I arm wrestle him, the longer I keep him away from writing. Any man who creates the following lines though can’t be distracted for very long:

How do you want to be remembered?

I used to think that was important. Now I don’t. These days I realise that the only thing that counts is a statue. If you don’t have a statue erected after you die then you’ve failed on a fundamental level.

Andrew McLinden

Andrew McLinden lives and works in Glasgow. He started life as a lyricist and his work has been used on a variety of film and TV projects from Irvine Welsh’s Acid House Trilogy to a recent episode of American drama One Tree Hill. He’s had short fiction published in a number of online and print journals. Andrew likes referring to himself in the third person. He sometimes walks into a supermarket and says to the checkout girl “Andrew wants to know if these cakes are part of the two for one deal you’re currently promoting?” Andrew likes to read and likes to write and hopes people like to read what he writes.