March 23rd
Stepping Up
A Short Story Collection
by
DC Diamondopolous
My wife Wanda, publisher of the LGBT Daily Spotlight, has been an advocate for my short stories. I’m fortunate to be able to post my flyer for the new publication of my book Stepping Up on her popular website.
I’d like to tell you a little about the book and myself.
What weaves the fourteen award-winning stories together in Stepping Up are characters who on the brink of change must choose between fear or transformation. Whether it’s because of sexism, racism, or homophobia, the 
stories lay bare the valor of the human spirit.
My background is in theatre. While performing in an improvisation troupe, I discovered how much I enjoyed creating characters. It led to writing fiction. Unlike acting, I’m not confined by sex, age, or ethnicity. Writing fiction allows me the experience of becoming other people. In the collection, I’m an eighty-five-year-old ex-carny, a pansexual, gender-fluid stand-up comedian, a Korean woman, an African American teenager, a rock legend, a gay man, a fourteen-year-old boy, and others.
I love reading aloud to an audience because I can live through the characters and undergo what they are going through.
My stories are visual. I often go to the places I write about. Location is important to me. Towns, cities, countries, all have a unique character unto themselves, and I bring that to my writing.
Some of the stories in Stepping Up cross genres, others vary in length from flash fiction to novelette.
Stepping Up was published by the UK press Impspired. My time working with Steve Cawte, who publishes Impspired was a wonderful experience.
I believe in giving to those who have enriched my life. H.A.R.T. (Homeless Animal Rescue Team) will receive a portion of my royalties. Our cats have given us so much joy through the years, I’m glad I can say thank you with contributions from my book.
DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning novelette, short story, and flash fiction writer with over 250 stories 
published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologies. DC’s stories have appeared in: 34th Parallel, So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Lunch Ticket, Raven Chronicles, Silver Pen, Blue Lake Review, and others. Nominated twice for the 2020 Pushcart Prize, DC was also nominated in 2017 and in 2020 for Best of the Net Anthology. DC’s short story collection, Stepping Up is published by Impspired (2020). She lives on the California central coast with her wife Wanda and their animals.