Since Gingerbread is part of an awesome anthology containing lots of great stories, I caught up with one of the other authors; J.P. Jackson for a chat. J.P.'s story 'Hood’s Ride is Red' is a retelling of classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. It was one of my favourites from the anthology, I really liked the set-up of the story (but I’ll shh because, spoilers)!Hood’s Ride is Red BlurbA red car, a werewolf, and a trip to grandpa’s house – this ain’t your usual Little Red Riding Hood.Harkin Ross, otherwise known as Hood, hasn’t exactly had a happy childhood. His mother died in childbirth and his older brother perished in an unusual accident on the family farm. Hood’s father hasn’t coped well over the years and he’s spiraled into a black hole of anger, alcoholism and abuse.But when Kenneth Lowell is hired as the family farm hand, Hood’s life vastly improves. Kenneth earns Hood’s trust, and friendship while teaching Hood some basic mechanics skills, helping Hood get his red Dodge Dart up and running.Kenneth however is hiding a violent and primal secret of his own. When Hood’s father discovers the Hired Hand is doing more than just yard work, the weekly trip to Grandpa’s house goes all to hell.Anyway, here's the interview. I'm in blue and J.P. is in italics. Hi! How's it going?Everything is AWESOME! (Are you singing the Lego theme song in your head now? He he he he…) Thanks for having me, I’m happy to be here.The big theme for this anthology is fairy tales, were you a fan as a child? Do you think that fairy tales have a special place in people’s hearts?Funny, you know, fairy tales were never a big staple in my house growing up. I mean, we knew them, but, I don’t specifically ever recall having books of them around. But I’m sure they were there because I read lots and lots of books from a very early age.Winnie-the-Pooh was a popular favourite, though.But, I think globally, fairy tales are well known because they are an avenue to teach children about morals, good manners, and general life expectations. Every culture has their own set of stories, and even though the tales vary quite a bit, in the end, I think they all teach us the same things. I find that ‘world view’ aspect quite fascinating. Doesn’t matter where you were born, what language you speak, or what your skin tone might be – all of our parents, grandparents, guardians, and relatives told us fairy tales.It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned about, and read some of the Grim Fairy Tales and realized how bloody, dark, and viscous they truly are! That’s probably when I fell in love with them as opposed to being a favourite in childhood.I’m warped that way.Hood’s Ride is Red is obviously based on one of the most famous fairy tales. Did you start with the fairy tale and then build a premise, or did you have a premise that worked with the fairy tale? Do you think that having a base made the story easier for you to write or harder?When the submission call went out for retold LGBTQA+ fairy tales, I thought about a few of the classics, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, and the Little Mermaid. But none of them spoke to me, and then after doing a Google search for Fairy Tales I came across this image:>Unfortunately, due to copyright issues I can't post the image directly on the blog but you can view it here.Then I remembered Little Red Riding Hood, and I was instantly hooked. Within a few short minutes, I had my story laid out in my head. Later, when I had time, I set out with my laptop and banged out the entire story. It didn’t take me long to write, maybe a couple of nights.What is your favourite fairy tale and why?Oh say, that’s a hard question.I’m going to go with Hansel and Gretel. Because, candy. Speaking of which, the candy that’s mentioned in Hood’s Red Ride – my favourite. If you want to bribe me, this is how to do it. No, I’m not going to tell you – you have to go read Hood’s story. If you could be in a fairy tale which one would you chose? Would you be a hero or a villain?Why the hard questions? Why?Hmmm.Think, think, think. Beauty and the Beast.Who would I be? Why, the person who falls in love with Beast! That’s who! Except I don’t really want Beast to turn back into a human. Can I have him as the Beast, please?And our final question; a quick sales pitch! Why should we read Hood’s Ride is Red?Why you ask such hard questions? No fair.Ugh, okay. Why should you read Hood’s Ride is Red? Because the main character is grumpy. Hood is ornery and that to me is realistic. He’s in prison! And he was turned into a werewolf. I think that’s enough to make anyone grumpy.But how’d all that happen? Well, I guess you’ll just have to read about it! ;o)Thanks for having me! It was fun to be here!J.P. can be found: Twitter: @canuckbear88Facebook: @jpjacksonwritesGoodreads: J.P. JacksonPlease note that Riza Curtis cannot be held responsible for the contents of external sites.