Antonio J. Hopson

#1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases: Love Poems

SEVEN: ($15, 6X9”, 60pp, Softcover ISBN: 978-1-68114-095-7, Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-68114-104-6; EBook ISBN: 978-1-68114-096-4, LCCN: 2015941134, May 2015; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes and Noble): It is said that throughout human history, there are only seven stories to tell: overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy, and rebirth… A.J. Hopson is a lover. A gentleman. A pirate. A father of two boys and the ex-husband to a suicidal addict who survived breast cancer. Life is a journey, and part of the time he is on fire, or laughing, making love, drinking, or watching crows plot his destruction.  Here’s all seven of his stories embedded into a single book of poetry.

“Antonio Hopson writes with the sense and instincts of a Jack Keruoac, combined with the cultural eye for detail of a Chuck Klosterman. All five senses thrive when reading his prose, which moves through you like the Snoqualmie River itself.” —Jon Horowitz, The Wonder Boy Review

“Solid and evocative poetry. See my live reading of a few if you don’t believe me *****” —view the Video Review with a reading from the collection by Rob Slaven, Amazon’s #34 reviewer (6/2015)

“I was engaged. This involvement increased as the diversity of the collection grew, which, in turn, augmented the complexity of the book as a whole. As I read on, the book meandered through somewhat traditional love poems, minimalistic pieces, poetic prose, rhyme, and even what you could call a short story…  My favorite, however, was the final poem, ‘What May Come, Will Come.’ It stands on its own, while also serving as a gorgeous finale…” —OnlineBookClub

“Instead of cannons, Antonio J. Hopson uses words as his weapon of choice in the poetry collection Seven, and that for the most part focuses on a love affair. Amazingly, his use of words gives the impression that this affair—at least for him—resembles the carnage of the Crusades… Hopson is a poet of promise… I wanted to have witnessed this fire in more of the poems in this collection. I look forward to reading more of his work as he, and the rest of us, navigate this life (which can be of carnage at times) with the light of words.” —Elvis Alves, The Compulsive Reader

“A flash fiction writer turns to poetry and speaks of biting love seen in a cosmic light.” —Washington Independent Review of Books: “July 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri”: http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/july-exemplars-poetry-reviews-by-grace-cavalieri2

“Antonio Hopson spins gentle legends and quiet love stories. From biker goddesses to mythical tricksters, from feuding winds to debauched taverns, the subjects of ‘The Vernal Equinox of Death and Kisses and Other Short Stories’ reveal the author’s romantic enchantment with the world around him, even when it’s at its grittiest.” —Dru Pagliassotti, Editor in Chief, The Harrow

“Antonio Hopson writes with a subtle power and a minimalist’s sense of economical prose. His affecting style comes on slowly and dances beneath the surface, evoking abstract emotions that stretch beyond the short boundaries of his flash-fiction. Layered and dense, his writing belongs to the prose genre but employs the artistic precision of poetry.” —Mike Dell’Aquila, Editor, Farmhouse

Pushcart Prize 2016 Nominee

Global Warming: A Love Story: ($20, 142pp, 6X9”: Softcover ISBN-13: 978-1-68114-274-6; $35: Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-68114-275-3; $2.99: EBSCO EBook ISBN-13: 978-1-68114-276-0; LCCN: 2016941894; Release: July 1, 2016; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): is a timeless love story, dressed up as treaties on climate change. A science teacher/aspiring writer, returns to school for professional development and falls head-over-heels for a “lithe and lovely” 20-year-old college student. Both are enrolled in a class that examines the nuances of global warming. They pass notes, flirt, and a relationship slowly evolves. But soon Julian, a hopeless romantic, discovers that Allison is due to marry her high school sweetheart. Julian risks all—including his job—to impress her, seduce her, and steal her away. During a final exam, he reads a treaty on the social economics of climate change. In this scene, between passages of political debate, are woven in a divine poem written centuries ago by Sappho. Allison is moved by his courtship and the real heartache begins. It has bikers, twisted fairytales, and a cynically sarcastic, Kerouac-loving friend who can cite passages with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a beer in one hand. It has foreplay, after-play, easy to understand and interesting climate schematics, schoolchildren debating the philosophical underpinnings of Alice in Wonderland, rejection, respite, acceptance, and rejection again. This is a subtle metaphor symbolizing the intense relationship between Julian and Allison. A romance, at the surface, but look closer at this hybrid and you’ll find a deeply philosophical story addressing the fate of the planet and a workaholic-romantic who can’t help but break his own heart. Global Warming: A Love Story is a fast-paced romance that will make women swoon and men laugh. At the very least, it will give women a gritty behind the scene look at their would-be seducers.

“He wrote the book [Global Warming] in first-person, which was incredibly challenging, as he learned the hard way!” —Norelle Done, Seattle Wrote

Nefarious: A Novel: (Softcover: $20, 258pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 978-1-68114-370-5; Hardcover: $35: ISBN-13: 978-1-68114-371-2; EBook: $2.99: ISBN-13: 978-1-68114-372-9; LCCN: 2017950753; Front Cover Design: Agnew Kyle; Adventure; Release: July 30, 2017; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): Max Rigby is a middle-aged, aloof writer stuck in the past when he falls in love with the pit-girl from S/V Nefarious, a sailing vessel that lives up to its name. The woman who has awakened his heart is the fleet’s most fierce sailor, Robin Mac Bradaigh, aka “Mac”, a young, fiery, unapologetic sailor who refuses to be pushed around by a fleet of scoundrels. But Nefarious carries a dark reputation, and Max soon finds himself caught up in a sailing race that is as dangerous as it is thrilling. Unburdened by the necessities of polite society, the sailors aboard Nefarious are forced to defend their title during Race Week, a rowdy and rough competition in the Salish Sea. The devil himself has stakes in the race, and he must keep his skipper, Dan Swardstrom from distractions: the mysterious pregnancy of his fiancée, a hung-over crew that keeps blowing their starts, and a mutiny led by the pit-girl. During the race, the devil has been forced to live the life of a mortal and can only sail for Nefarious. He desires the Race Week trophy, centerpiece to a hedonistic party that requires animal sacrifice.

ANTONIO J. HOPSON writes poetry, speculative fiction, flash fiction, and essays. His work has appeared in The Harrow, SNReview, Ascent Aspirations, Lost Magazine, The Piker Press, Akashic Books’ Mondays Are Murder series, and NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu’s Exquisite Corpse. He received Farmhouse Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award and was invited to perform at Seattle’s Richard Hugo House as a featured writer. He was selected to participate in Evergreen College’s Literary Conference on “Activism and the Avant-Garde” and is a national EPPIE Award finalist. Website: Antoniohopson.com