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FIRST&LAST DENISE MINA The author, graphic novelist and broadcaster has just published her debut true crime novel, featuring Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel. Here she tackles pavement cycling, tax returns and foul meals
First record you ever bought ‘Blockbuster’ by the Sweet. Last extravagant purchase Business class ticket to LA. Nice but I expected more free tea for that money TBH.
First film that really moved you Blazing Saddles. I could hardly laugh for awe at the sheer comic wonderment of it.
Last lie you told I never lie.
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First movie you ever went on a date to Once Upon a Time in America. Last meal on earth Toast and butter and a pint of milky tea.
Last time you cried Watching Logan.
First thing you do when you’ve got time off work Gardening. Last great meal you cooked A quiche with broad beans, ham and sour cream sprinkled with coarse mustard grains. It was foul.
First crush Brando.
Last book you read Fragile Lives by Stephen Westaby. First great piece of advice you were given If you can laugh at yourself you’ll never run out of material.
Last time you were starstruck Simon Farnaby at the GFT screening of Mindhorn.
First song you’d do at karaoke ‘Higher and Higher’ by Jackie Wilson. 112 THE LIST 1 Apr–31 May 2017
First thing you’d do if you ran the country Give the job to someone who knew what the fuck they were doing. Last time you exploited your position to get something I got an upgrade on a flight to New York because my awards ceremony outfit would crush if I couldn’t hang it up.
First time you realised you were famous Writers are never very famous. I’ve got friends who are actors and draw gasps and finger- pointing wherever they go. Unless someone says your name, it’s hard to tell. It looks as if they have indigestion and are trying not to burp.
Last time someone criticised your work The Long Drop is a true crime novel set in Glasgow so the feedback is incessant: ‘there were no two bedroom flats on that side of the street’, ‘she had a limp’, that school was a mile away . . . ’
First three words your friends would use to describe you Greedy, busy, moany. Last funny thing you saw online Trump’s tax return.
First job Café cook (I couldn’t).
Last crime you committed Pavement cycling. First book you re-read Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov.
Last thing you think at night ‘I’ll never get to sleep now.’
Last person you fantasised about Trump. It wasn’t a sexual fantasy. First thing you think in the morning ‘If I get up now, I can . . . ’
First word you spoke Mum. The Long Drop is out now published by Harvill Secker.
NEXT ISSUE THU 1 JUN We’ll be blowing out some birthday candles when the mag hits the shelves again across June, July and August. A total of 90 to be precise: 70 of them will belong to the Edinburgh International Film Festival when the world’s oldest continually running celebration of cinema takes centre stage in June. That leaves 20 more candles, all of which which belong to the guys at Optimo. Founded in 1997, the legendary Glasgow club marks the moment with a spectacular all-day bash laid on by Twitch & Wilkes. Have a good one, fellas.