Blog Tour: Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold (Interview + Giveaway!)

Happy Wednesday and welcome to my stop on the Red Hood blog tour!! I am so excited to be a part of this tour, and I’m even more excited for you to discover Elana’s favorite scenes from her book and what inspired her to write this story! Plus, follow the rest of the tour and enter to win a print copy of Red Hood!

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.
And the wolf is angry.
Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

Do you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from Red Hood?

I don’t get the chance to write lots of fight scenes, and it’s been a while since I’ve written sexy sex; most of the intimate scenes I’ve written in the past few years have explored various levels of discomfort and abuse. But the sex and violence in Red Hood are, if I say so myself, pretty awesome.

If Bisou were to hang out with characters from other YA books, who would they be and why?

Bisou isn’t much of a “hang out” sort of gal. But if she were to look for friendship outside of her tight circle of established friends, I imagine she’d be drawn to people who aren’t afraid of hard work, who like the outdoors, and who suffer no fools. 

I’m pretty sure she and Ashley, from Mindy McGinnis’s newest novel Be Not Far From Me would get along quite well. Have you ever considered which friends you would want in a zombie apocalypse?” Ashley should be on the top of your list. But, though she’s a fighter and a survivor, she’s also a person with a deep well of emotions. 

Speaking of zombie apocalypses and strong, smart characters, I feel pretty certain that Bisou would befriend both Jane and Katherine from Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation and Deathless Divide.  These girls, both powerful in their own right, exponentially explode with strength when combined. Bisou would respect their sometimes-fraught friendship. 

Bisou would also click with Lyra Silverton, née Belacqua. Both Lyra and Bisou find value in community and tradition, and each especially finds guidance in those who preceded them.  

What inspired you to write Red Hood?

Inspiration is everywhere: in the books I read, the TV shows and films I watch, in the way the people sitting across from me in a café turn toward each other as they talk. 

This book was first inspired by my own menstrual cycle, a full moon, and a ring of trees one winter night. It was inspired by Little Red Riding hood—the old versions—and the other gory, fabulously awful fairy tales I consumed as a young person.

It was inspired by violence I’ve seen and experienced. It was inspired by my rage at incel culture. It was inspired by my long, intensely positive marriage, my ruminations on shame and sex and love and entitlement. 

I can’t parse all the things that inspired this book, or any book. Once you start looking, you will find inspiration everywhere. 

Then, it’s time to work.