Comedian Stevie D. Releases THE TRANS AM DIARIES

From the hills of Kentucky to the Hollywood Hills, comedian Steven Dupin (a.k.a. Stevie D.) thought he had finally made it.

The self-described hillbilly hellraiser from Owensboro, Kentucky had spent years working top comedy clubs, hobnobbing with celebrities, developing reality TV shows and, finally, settling down with the woman of his dreams and two beautiful children. Then, at the age of 44, he received the shocking diagnosis of prostate cancer, a potentially fatal illness that is usually associated with much older men.

How he survived this devastating news is the subject of his new book "The Trans Am Diaries: A Hillbilly's Road Trip from Comedy to Cancer...and Back Again" (Headline Books). "Dealing with cancer was the scariest time of my life. I knew if I was going to survive, I had to maintain a sense of humor," said Dupin, who is president of Blue Moon Media. "I decided to write this book to help other people get through hard times, whether they are dealing with a serious illness or other struggles."

Not just another book about cancer, "The Trans Am Diaries" takes the reader on a journey through embarrassingly funny, at times painfully tragic life stories. The product of a dysfunctional family in a lower-class neighborhood, Dupin eventually left home to follow his dream of stardom, not realizing the bumpy road that lay ahead. His adventures and misadventures include:

• Fleeing from Kentucky cops while joyriding with his dad
• Getting into a brawl with a crazed motorist in the middle of a busy Hollywood intersection
• Being a white deejay at a racially tense, all-black hip-hop party during the OJ trial
• Golfing with rock star Eddie Van Halen
• Becoming deathly ill after eating undercooked chicken at a posh wedding reception
• Opening for comedian Chris Rock in a "60 Minutes" segment
• Executive producing the successful DVD concert "Rockstars of Comedy" with the likes of Whitney Cummings (NBC's "Whitney") and Steve Burns (TBS' "Sullivan & Son")

"The Trans Am Diaries: A Hillbilly's Road Trip From Comedy to Cancer...and Back Again" is Dupin's first book. He readily admits his stream-of-consciousness writing style, which he jokingly calls "Hillbilly Ebonics," might take some getting used to. But he is convinced that once most people start reading the book, they won't be able to put it down.

"There's no suspense about how the book ends; the title sort of gives it away," he said. "It's the little surprises along the way that I think will have readers hooked and will give some people hope and a few laughs."

"The Trans Am Diaries: A Hillbilly's Road Trip from Comedy to Cancer...and Back Again" is published by Headline Books, the 2013 Independent Publisher of the Year. Dupin will appear at BookExpo America (BEA) in New York on May 29.

More information is available at www.steviedrocks.com and www.headlinebooks.com.

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