Author Explores Friendship, Race and Belonging in Leap of the Dog

SEATTLE — In Leap of the Dog, novelist, poet and educator Antonio J. Hopson follows two longtime friends across Ireland and Northern Ireland. When Paradise quits his job and heads for Ireland, his friend comes along for the pubs, music and promise of adventure. What begins as a journey together becomes an encounter with the histories and identities each man carries.

Based on Hopson’s travels in Ireland in 1999, the novel brings humor and cultural observation to questions of ancestry, race, sectarian identity and belonging. Its friendship story unfolds through conversations, music and encounters that complicate the travelers’ assumptions about the island and themselves.

Published by Wildboy Concepts Publishing, Leap of the Dog is available in paperback and as a Kindle eBook. Paperback ISBN: 9798234224439. Readers can find it through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IngramSpark. Review copies, interviews, bookstore readings and book-group conversations can be arranged by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Short author bio

Antonio J. Hopson is a Seattle-based novelist, poet and educator. His writing crosses literary fiction, speculative fiction, poetry and short stories, with an eye for humor, cultural observation and the complicated lives behind familiar labels. His books include Global Warming: A Love Story, Nefarious: Sailboat Racing in the Salish Sea, and the poetry collection Seven.