Jennifer McCartney

The author of Afloat shares her hopes, fears, daydreams and favourite books

Who or what always puts a smile on your face?

Babies and sugar cookies. This is sometimes true, but not very often. I also like beer bottles (full), red shoes, airports (but not airplanes), lavender, Excellent Comic Timing, Grey, driving very quickly, oil paintings, used bookstores, eavesdropping, and spittoons.

What are you reading at the moment?

The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer. Introductory Czech (in case I move to Prague). Cat and Mouse by Gunter Grass.

Are you also reading the current issue of Vogue?

Yes

Which author do you most admire?

Leonard Cohen. His two novels and his poetry. His life. His women. That author photo of him barefoot and eating a banana. I once thought I saw him smoking a cigarette and wearing a trench coat in London and I nearly had a heart attack.

What's your earliest memory?

I had toast for breakfast this morning. Later this afternoon I had a crumpet, then some bread with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and then for dinner I had baked potatoes. My earliest memory is running through a cornfield in Iowa. Starch made a big impression on me at a young age.

What is your greatest fear?

Stability. Paradoxically, I also have a paralysing fear of nuclear bomb blasts. On the upside, my two greatest fears can never coincide.

How would you like to be remembered?

Fondly

Have you ever done something you've really regretted?

Is this one of those job interview questions where I have to regret being a real perfectionist and a workaholic? ps: Mara, I'm sorry I threw up in your car.

How do you spoil yourself?

Scotsmen.

What's your favourite word/book?

Word: FUP. And book: FUP, by Jim Dodge. It's a tiny tiny novel that came free with PRODUCT magazine one month. It involves a gigantic, drive-in-movie-loving duck, a farm in California, and a tall man obsessed with fence posts. It might be the funniest thing on the planet. I'm also partial to Canadian writers. Sheila Heti, Barbara Gowdy, Jack Hodgins, Clark Blaise, John Terpstra, Steven Heighton, Trevor Cole, John Metcalf, Lisa Moore, Sandra Sabatini, Wayne Johnston, Stephen Henighan, George Murray aka The Bookninja, Mary Lawson, Douglas Coupland, Charlotte Gill... Currently one of my favourite poems is by Glaswegian Jim Ferguson. It's called 'Wings and a Hat'. Poetry is all in the performance of course. I enjoy poetry performed live and with an active disregard for sobriety. I also read all the gossip columns daily.

Who (or what) do you turn to in a crisis?

Furry things.

What makes you angry?

Raisins. They ruin everything. Trail mix, bagels, muffins etc.

Which country would you most like to visit?

Iceland, India, Slovenia, Peru, Ethiopia, Japan. Of course I'm afraid of planes so for now I'll just say Canada as I'm already here. The postcard selection is lovely... What is this, a beaver? One of my favourite places in Ontario is Eden Mills near Guelph. It's a small village that has an insanely pleasant literary festival once a year where everyone strolls about smiling and buying books. On my way home last year I was terrorised by three people on ATVs that came careening onto the road from a cornfield and tailgated my car all the way down the highway. I think one of them had a skull for a face.

Which country/city have you enjoyed living in most?

Glasgow in Scotland. I love it. I love everything about it. I've lived in any number of odd cities... I was born in Hamilton about an hour from Toronto Canada, I lived a mile outside of Salt Lake City Utah in the Wasatch Mountains, in Sandusky Ohio at an amusement park, on Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan, in the Bloomsbury area of London, in a tiny townhouse in Charleston South Carolina, and in my boyfriend's father's basement in Metuchen New Jersey. I think few places can compare to the literary scene in Glasgow these days. I broke my rib falling out of a taxi in Glasgow one of my first nights there, and I never looked back.

What's your worst vice?

Pop music.

Where do you write?

Everywhere. On my hands sometimes. My hands usually serve as my 'To Do' list for the day, whilst novel bits are generally confined to my laptop or one of my many small colourful notebooks. The bathroom wall was just that one time, and I totally loved him.

Afloat by Jennifer McCartney is out now in Hamish Hamilton hardback  Read more