PUYB Virtual Book Club Chats with 'Surgeon's Story' Mark Oristano & Giveaway! @surgeonsstory


Mark Oristano has been a professional writer/journalist since the age of 16.

After growing up in suburban New York, Oristano moved to Texas in 1970 to attend Texas Christian University.  A major in Mass Communications, Mark was hired by WFAA-TV in 1973 as a sports reporter, the start of a 30-year career covering the NFL and professional sports.

Mark has worked with notable broadcasters including Verne Lundquist, Oprah Winfrey and as a sportscaster for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network and Houston Oilers Radio Network.  He has covered Super Bowls and other major sports events throughout his career.  He was part of Ron Chapman’s legendary morning show on KVIL-FM in Dallas for nearly 20 years.

In 2002 Oristano left broadcasting to pursue his creative interests, starting a portrait photography business and becoming involved in theater including summer productions with Shakespeare Dallas. He follows his daughter Stacey’s film career who has appeared in such shows as Friday Night Lights and Bunheads.

A veteran stage actor in Dallas, Mark Oristano was writer and performer for the acclaimed one-man show “And Crown Thy Good: A True Story of 9/11.”

Oristano authored his first book, A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football: Decoding America’s Favorite Game. A Sportcaster’s Guide offers inside tips about how to watch football, including stories from Oristano’s 30-year NFL career, a look at offense, defense and special teams, and cool things to say during the game to sound like a real fan.

In 2016 Oristano finished his second book, Surgeon’s Story, a true story about a surgeon that takes readers inside the operating room during open heart surgery. His second book is described as a story of dedication, talent, training, caring, resilience, guts and love.

In 1997, Mark began volunteering at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, working in the day surgery recovery room. It was at Children’s that Mark got to know Kristine Guleserian, MD, first to discuss baseball, and later, to learn about the physiology, biology, and mystery of the human heart. That friendship led to a joint book project, Surgeon’s Story, about Kristine’s life and career.
Mark is married and has two adult children and two grandchildren.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK



About the Book:

What is it like to hold the beating heart of a two-day old child in your hand?  What is it like to counsel distraught parents as they make some of the most difficult decisions of their lives?

Noted pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Kristine Guleserian has opened up her OR, and her career, to author Mark Oristano to create Surgeon’s Story - Inside OR-6 With a top Pediatric Heart Surgeon. 

Dr. Guleserian’s life, training and work are discussed in detail, framed around the incredibly dramatic story of a heart transplant operation for a two-year old girl whose own heart was rapidly dying.  Author Mark Oristano takes readers inside the operating room to get a first-hand look at pediatric heart surgeries most doctors in America would never attempt.

That’s because Dr. Guleserian is recognized as one of the top pediatric heart surgeons in America, one of a very few who have performed a transplant on a one-week old baby. Dr. Guleserian (Goo-liss-AIR-ee-yan) provided her expertise, and Oristano furnished his writing skills, to produce A Surgeon’s Story.

As preparation to write this stirring book, Oristano spent hours inside the operating room at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas watching Guleserian perform actual surgeries that each day were life or death experiences. Readers will be with Dr. Guleserian on her rounds, meeting with parents, or in the Operating Room for a heart transplant.

Oristano is successful sportscaster and photographer and has made several appearances on stage as an actor. He wrote his first book A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football: Decoding America’s Favorite Game, and continues to volunteer at Children’s Medical Center.

“We hear a lot about malpractice and failures in medical care,” says Oristanto, “but I want my readers to know that parts of the American health care system work brilliantly. And our health care system will work even better if more young women would enter science and medicine and experience the type of success Dr. Guleserian has attained.” 

Readers will find all the drama, intensity, humor and compassion that they enjoy in their favorite fictionalized medical TV drama, but the actual accounts in Surgeon’s Story are even more compelling. One of the key characters in the book is 2-year-old Rylynn who was born with an often fatal disorder called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and was successfully treated by Dr. Guleserian.

Watch the Book Trailer at YouTube.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble



Before you started writing your book, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself?

I did no research before beginning. However, once I started the project, as the book is about heart disease in children, I had to do copious research in anatomy, physiology, cardiac anatomy and more.

Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?

I had a lit. agent in New York who had interest from several publishers. But all those publishers wanted Surgeon’s Story to be in the first-person voice of Dr. Guleserian, the subject. She refused, saying it was too egotistical. So, we went the self-publishing route.


If self-published, did you hire someone to format the ebook version for you or did you do it yourself?  Can you tell us what that was like?

The very good people at Authority Publishing handled all that.

If self-published, how did you determine the price?

Again, with Authority Publishing.

How did you choose your cover?

The cover features one of my photos of Dr. Guleserian in the operating room. The graphic designer had read the book, and was fascinated by the fact that Dr. G is only five feet tall. He wanted to do a photo of her in the OR with the rest of her team, and all the others would be so tall that their photos would be cut off at the shoulders. I told him the book was not about a short person who operates, but about an intensely intelligent, extremely talented woman who cuts open children’s chests and fixes their hearts, and the photo I gave him shows that. So, that’s the photo we used!

Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?

I always edit as I go. And Dr. G had a major editing hand as well, both making sure that medical facts were correct, and that her copious quotes in the book were accurate.



Did you consider making or hiring someone to make a book trailer for your book?  If so, what’s the link?

A trailer was made by my publicist which I revised a bit. Here’s the link, although I probably need to update the end.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDCVt2Gpl_M

What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other copies of your book?

OK in moderation.

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do before their book is released?

Write the best book you can.
Rewrite the best book you can.
Edit the best book you can.

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do after their book is released?

Do five things a day to promote the book.
Don’t accept less than your goals.
Give ‘em hell.

What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came out?

Facbook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. Mostly Facebook.

Do you have a long term plan with your book?

I figure I’ll spend at least the next year to year-and-a-half as a book promoter and marketer.

What would you like to say to your readers and fans about your book?

If you ever watched Chicago Hope, ER, St. Elsewhere, Gray’s Anatomy, or any other medical show, in Surgeon’s Story, Dr. G and I will show you what REALLY goes on.


Mark Oristano is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
  • This giveaway ends midnight July 28.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on July 29.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Discovery by Louis Kraft & Robert S. Goodman MD


Title: THE DISCOVERY
Author: Louis Kraft & Robert S. Goodman MD
Publisher: Createspace
Pages: 311
Genre: Legal Thriller

In THE DISCOVERY by Robert S. Goodman and Louis Kraft, a young obstetrician/gynecologist delivers a premature baby after attending a dinner party. The child survives the delivery, but complications lead to a malpractice lawsuit two decades later.
In 1952, a pregnant seventeen-year-old gives birth in a Los Angeles hospital. Two nurses attend to the young woman while they wait for the doctor on call to arrive for the delivery. Dr. Harry Chapman arrives at the hospital clearheaded but with alcohol on his breath. The premature baby is born blue and placed in an incubator. The nurses turn the oxygen to the level recommended to pediatricians for preemies the year before to prevent blindness. When the baby’s color doesn’t change, Harry instructs the nurses to turn the oxygen up to maximum. They protest, but Harry insists that the nurses comply to save the baby from brain damage or death.
In 1972, Greg Weston, a twenty-year-old paralegal meets a young woman who works with a renowned pediatrician. When she questions the attractive young man about his blindness, Greg reveals that his adoptive parents told him he was born blind. After agreeing to see the doctor Gail works for, Greg becomes aware that his blindness may have occurred as a result of physician error. Greg requests his medical records from the hospital and the adoption agency, and he finds that the hospital records tell a different story about what took place after his birth. In both records, Dr. Harry Chapman is indicated as the doctor who delivered him. Greg shares his findings with a partner in his law firm, and they build a case against Dr. Chapman based on fraudulent changes in the hospital records, which allows the statute of limitations to be thrown out.
After Harry receives word that he is being sued, his attorney advises him that the malpractice insurance he carried in 1952 will not cover even a fraction of the multimillion-dollar lawsuit. The stress and uncertainty of the case, along with the accusation of fraud, breaks Harry, leading him down a road of depression and alcohol dependence. As Harry’s wife, Helen, watches her husband deteriorate, she makes an unthinkable choice to put an end to the plaintiff’s case.
In THE DISCOVERY, the authors connect the lives of two individuals across two decades, exposing vulnerabilities, bitterness, and frailties. As the case moves forward, a key witness’s testimony alters the lives of both men.
In writing THE DISCOVERY, Goodman and Kraft’s intentions were to offer readers multidimensional characters with real-world problems and to bring awareness to the severe affect malpractice lawsuits can have on physicians’ professional and personal lives.
The Discovery is available at Amazon.
Book Excerpt:
An hour later Martin pulled into Harry’s driveway and parked next to Sid’s car. Harry, who rode shotgun, swung the door open and ran to the front door, where he fumbled with his keys. Sid opened the door and waved him inside.
“You seem like a man in a rush,” Sid said.
“Only to those who peer out of windows!” Harry pushed past Sid and rushed into the living room. He didn’t see Helen and moved into the kitchen. No Helen. Harry ran to the family room, but it was empty. He looked at the bar.
“Thirsty?” Sid said from behind him.
Harry ignored the comment. “Where’s Helen?”
“In your bedroom.”
Harry crossed to the couch in front of the TV set and slumped into it.
Sid sat next to him. “From a man in a hurry, it appears that you’ve suddenly run out of gas.”
“Look, pal, I know a hell of a lot more than you do.”
“Really? You don’t say, Harry. Well, I’ve got news for you. You don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground!”
Harry glared at Sid, as he formed a fist.
Sid smirked. “Go ahead and swing away.”
“What’s going on here?” Harry said as he relaxed his hand.
“Don’t ask me; ask your wife.”
Surprised, Harry leaned back on the couch. “What are you talking about?”
“I sure as hell know!”
“Tell me!”
“Nope. You want to know, you talk to Helen.”
“She won’t talk to me.”
“Maybe she will.”
“Tell me!”
“I promised Helen that I wouldn’t repeat what she told me. To anyone.
Harry had no idea what Sid spoke of and glared at him. “You know, sometimes you are a real pain in the ass.”
“And you’re a complete schmuck. Look Harry, you had better talk with her.” Harry didn’t move. “Now!”
Allen leaned into the room. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep,” Sid said, “couldn’t be better.”
“Then join us.”
“Soon.” He turned back to Harry. “For the last time Harry, get upstairs and talk to Helen.”
Harry stood but then glared at Sid.
“Harry, use your heart when you listen to her.”
“What are you talk—?” Suddenly frightened, Harry ran to the staircase and leaped up the steps two at a time. The door to their bedroom was closed. Harry opened it and stepped into the room. It was empty, but then the door to the bathroom opened and Helen appeared. Her hair was wet and dangled over her shoulders. She had an oversized towel wrapped around her body.
“What do you want?”

PUYB Virtual Book Club Announces Shania Tyler's Lord of Shadows Blog Tour & Win 7 paranormal romance novels!


Title: LORD OF SHADOWS
Author: Shania Tyler
Publisher: ColleenNorman Publishing House
Pages: 330
Genre: Paranormal Romance
The Power of Love and Darkness
How strong you need to be to face your sealed fate?

Kelly Green had plans for her senior year of college.
Graduate. Get a job. And hopefully find love.

What she didn’t include was:
1. Getting kidnapped by an arrogant vampire 
2. Getting swept into his world of eternal darkness
3. And she certainly didn’t plan on falling for him...

Mason is the leader of the Rebels, an army fighting in a secret war that is about to get real. Vampires have enslaved elves for centuries, and Mason’s men fight for their freedom.

He’s willing do anything to see his people as the victors… whatever it takes.
This includes kidnapping a woman who isn’t what she seems and doing whatever he must in order to keep her close…

including pretending to fall in love…

But all the magic in the world of Asea can’t protect the heart and sooner or later, they’ll both have to make a choice that could change the future of an entire nation.

In the world of Asea, destiny’s course is set like a dance.
Nothing in life has been left up to chance.

“Destiny must be fulfilled.”

*Are they ready?*

*Are you?*

PURCHASE INFORMATION:

Amazon


Book Excerpt:


“Hey!” she called as he headed toward her. “What’s with the robe?”
A strong gust pushed her dress backward. She looked over her shoulder at the administration building and then back at the stranger, who stood only a few yards away.
He’d been so far away a moment ago.
Kelly did a double take, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a robe. The black was like a shadow that floated around him. The image of Pig-Pen from the Peanuts comic strip—the little boy with the cloud of dirt always circling him—stopped her from totally freaking out.
Then the image of Pig-Pen vanished and she freaked out.
“Kelly!”
She turned and saw the stranger from inside and frowned. How did he know her name?
He held out his hand, his green eyes wide and his dark hair windblown. “Come to me.”
She rushed to him, too afraid of the thing behind her to think about the consequences.
A peacefulness fell over her at his touch and then she was flush against him, chest to chest and thigh to thigh. “I—” Her body jerked and a fast wind stung her eyes. Her hair whipped in her face, and it was only then that she realized they were moving.
Her stranger, with his arm around her waist, held her with her feet off the ground and was running faster than humanly possible. “Hold onto me.”
Kelly’s jaw dropped, but her arms went around his neck to hold onto him for fear of being dropped; she could feel the strength in his body and knew he wouldn’t let her go.
What was happening to her?
Maybe she’d been drugged.
She tried to remember everything that had happened. Had she even attended the event? What if she was dreaming? It was the only explanation for the fact that she was being carried by a man who was speeding past buildings and trees like some sort of superhero. The street lamps’ rays splashed onto the sidewalk in quick patterns and everything about the dream felt real.
The man holding her certainly felt real. His thick muscles and the coolness of his leather jacket under her hands all felt real.
But then she looked up and saw they were being chased by the shadow. She thought it a dream again, especially as the shadow seemed to spread into the darkness around them, turning the already dark night into a blackness she’d never seen.
She closed her eyes and, like she did with any nightmare she’d found herself stuck in, told herself to wake up.
Her body jerked when they turned, and she heard the opening of a door before her body jolted again when they came to a complete stop.
The stranger set her down on her feet and then turned to close the door.
Kelly looked around and recognized the president’s house. She’d attended a few dinners at the house last year with her friend Amity, who’d been part of every major organization on campus.
“Come on,” the stranger said, holding out his hand.
She didn’t move. “What is going on?”
Something flickered in his green eyes, anger she thought, before he smoothed it away and said, “We have to go.”
“No.” Kelly shook her head. “I want to know what’s going on.”
The front door began to rattle, and she jumped.
“Come on!” the stranger shouted.
Kelly pressed her fingers to her temples. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”
He grabbed her arms.
She looked up into the stranger’s eyes and the intricate shades of green began to dance.
Ote-oun’a.”
Kelly blinked as a heaviness settled in her head and over her eyes. She grew tired instantly and the stranger wrapped his arms around her.
Ote-oun’a,” he whispered again. His eyes held a touch of tenderness and then darkness claimed her. “Sleep,” she heard him whisper, before there was nothing.




About the Author


As a young girl, Shania Tyler has always been fascinated with the world of vampires, dragons, fairies, elves and angles. So strong was her fascination that she always felt there is indeed such a world out there. A world where creatures of supernatural powers can transcend beyond time and space, not confined to the rules of the human world, and being able to live for eternity.

In Shania’s writings, you will find an infusion of passionate romance, action and mystery, and sometimes with a touch of suspense. She enjoys creating a dark complex world containing entities of a supernatural or otherworldly nature and being able to bring a romantic flavour to the plot and amongst the characters. It brings her great joy to see her childhood fantasies becoming a reality through the pages that she wrote. Some of her inspirations of writings include Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, J.R. Ward’s The Black Dagger Brotherhood series and Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton .

Shania’s latest book is the paranormal romance, Lord of Shadows.

You can connect with Shania on Facebook.




Shania Tyler is giving away 7 paranormal romance paperbacks by Bella Forrest, JR Ward, I.T. Lucas, Dannika Dark, Karen Marie Moning, Patricia Briggs and Christine Feehan. BONUS: All entries will receive a free copy of FALLING INTO DARKNESS by Shania Tyler.

Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive  a 7-pack paperback collection of paranormal romance novels by bestselling authors. All entries will receive a free copy of Shania Tyler's FALLING INTO DARKNESS.
  • This giveaway ends midnight May 31.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on June 1.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!




 

Pump Up Your Book Chats with 'The Feet Say Run' Daniel A. Blum



Daniel A. Blum grew up in New York, attended Brandeis University and currently lives outside of Boston with his family. His first novel Lisa33 was published by Viking in 2003. He has been featured in Poets and Writers magazine, Publisher’s Weekly and most recently, interviewed in Psychology Today.

Daniel writes a humor blog, The Rotting Post, that has developed a loyal following.

His latest release is the literary novel, The Feet Say Run.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK



About the Book:

At the age of eighty-five, Hans Jaeger finds himself a castaway among a group of survivors on a deserted island.  What is my particular crime?  he asks.   Why have I been chosen  for this fate?  And so he begins his extraordinary chronicle. 

It would be an understatement to say he has lived a full life.  He has grown up in Nazi Germany and falls in love with Jewish girl.  He fights for the Germans on two continents, watches the Reich collapse spectacularly into occupation and starvation, and marries his former governess.  After the war he goes on wildflower expeditions in the Alps, finds solace among prostitutes while his wife lay in a coma, and marries a Brazilian chambermaid in order to receive a kidney from her. 

By turns sardonic and tragic and surreal, Hans’s story is the story of all of the insanity, irony and horror of the modern world itself.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble



Before you started writing your book, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself?

Much of my book is set in Nazi Germany.  I read many memoirs of Germans who lived through the 1930s and the war era.  I needed to understand not just the political history, but more importantly, what ordinary people living in that time thought and felt. 

Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?

I went first to major publishers, through an established agent, and wound up going with the small press.

If published by a publisher, what was your deciding factor in going with them?

Gabriel’s Horn was incredibly enthusiastic about the book and open to giving me complete editorial discretion. 

If published by a publisher, are you happy with the price they chose?

As it was a small press, price was a joint decision, so yes. 

Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release your book?  Why?

We didn’t.  It just fit with when we completed our work. 

How did you choose your cover?

We found an artist who we liked and described what we wanted. 

Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?

I revised as I went, and then revised further after the completed draft.  It went through many revisions.

Did you come up with special swag for your book and how are you using it to help get the word out about your book? 

The publisher has had bookmarks made, but thus far, we have not distributed these.

What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other copies of your book?

I am somewhat disinclined to do this, but not closed to the idea depending on what it would work and what others think. 

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do before their book is released?

I am not sure I can answer this.  My experience in self-promotion is extremely limited.  I’m sure I’m a better writer than a promoter. 

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do after their book is released?

Same answer as above. 

What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came out? 

I have been in Publisher’s Weekly and Psychology today.  I have sold via social media nad have a blog where I regularly mention it.  The publisher also uses social media.   There is no newsletter per se or ‘book blasts’. 

Do you have a long term plan with your book?

Not a plan. But of course I do hope it will gain traction.  It gets outstanding reads, is extremely well-liked, so I believe there is potential for this. 

What would you like to say to your readers and fans about your book?

A big thank you to those who read and enjoyed.  In the end the book is the most basic human forces – cruelty and compassion, hatred and love.  I hope the compassion comes through. 




Witch Cake Murders by Zoe Arden



Title: Witch Cake Murders
Author: Zoe Arden
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 330
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Witches and humans have always existed peacefully in Sweetland Cove... until now.

Someone is killing humans and drawing unwanted attention to the supernatural residents of Sweetland Cove.

Ava Rose just turned twenty-one, and with her birthday came a few surprises.
One: she's a witch.
Two: she's part owner of a magical bakery she never knew existed.
Three: Someone wants her dead.

The day Ava arrives in Sweetland Cove, murders begin occurring…
Witches and wizards are quick to blame her, but Ava's aunts won't let the town they love turn against her.

But murders follow Ava everywhere.

Soon, she finds herself on the receiving end of the killer's mad spree. With a crazy wizarding sheriff who wants to lock her up, and an even crazier wizarding detective who wants to lock her whole family up, Ava must solve this case alone.

But as the days pass and the only clues point to her, Ava starts to wonder if maybe the sheriff is right.

Maybe she really is the killer.

The only thing Ava knows for sure is that the witches of Sweetland are not happy with her. Especially those witches who have something to hide.
And they all have something to hide.

Can Ava stop the killer before they strike again... even if that killer is her?

Witch Cake Murders is available at Amazon.

Book Excerpt:
"Let me ask you something," Brendan said. "You're a witch. Why do witches like human men?" He was looking at me so earnestly I felt compelled to answer him. I just didn't know what to say.
"Um..." I stammered. "I don't know. I grew up around humans, so I guess I'm just drawn to them." I looked back through the glass patio door at Damon, who was dancing with Megan again. Brendan followed my gaze, looking miserable.
"Love sucks," he said, then shoved the purple stem he'd been twirling into his pocket and skulked off. I turned back to the stars and sighed.
An earth-shattering scream rose into the night, making me jump.
Through the patio door, I could see a crowd gathering around the perimeter of the room. A woman was screaming. I hurried inside. The crowd had opened up, leaving two people in its center.
Felicity stood there, her mouth hanging open. Campbell was dancing around her, his hands flying unnaturally through the air. His head was tilted at an odd angle and his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, like a thirsty dog. He was making strange grunting noises that almost resembled words.
"He's drunk!" someone yelled.
Campbell swung his hips around and bumped into Felicity, who stumbled away from him.
"All right, all right, break it up," Felicity's boyfriend Lincoln said.
Lincoln was the sheriff of Mistmoor Point, and the crowded parted for him as he came through.  Even if he hadn't been a sheriff, I suspected the crowd would still have parted for him. At six feet tall with bronze hair and blue eyes, he made quite a figure in the middle of a crowd.
"Okay, Campbell. Time to go home," Lincoln said, clamping one hand down on his shoulder.
Campbell yanked Lincoln hard, sending him flying across the room. Everyone gasped. Campbell stopped, looked around, then let out a strange gurgling sound. He fell to the floor. His face was bright blue.
Felicity hunkered down next to him. She gave him one hard shake then looked up at the rest of the room, her mouth gaping.
"He's dead," she cried. "Campbell's dead!"
Who would be next?



No More Magic Wands by George Finney



Title: NO MORE MAGIC WANDS
Author: George Finney
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 130
Genre: Business/Leadership/Management/Cybersecurity/Technology

Once upon a time there was a company that made magic wands, but when they were hacked all the magic in the world couldn’t prevent their data from being stolen. If that company had a chance for a clean start, what would they have done differently? The unlikely hero isn’t a security guy. She’s a business elf who makes it her mission to change the way her company does business from the top down.

Most books on Cybersecurity are written for highly technical professionals, focus on specific compliance regulations, or are intended for reference. No More Magic Wands is different...it takes complex security concepts and puts them into practice in easy to read, relateable stories.

No More Magic Wands is available at AMAZON


Book Excerpt:
Security is everyone’s job.
That’s what we say as security professionals. It’s not a copout. It’s not as if we’re trying to pass off our jobs on everyone else. It really does take everyone working in concert to make an organization truly secure. So why, then, do we do so little to enable those outside the cybersecurity field to do their part of the universal security job? We often provide some training, usually in the form of mandatory twenty-minute propaganda videos. But what about tools? Maybe we create a button to encrypt email data or to report phishing. What about books? Mostly we just provide a bunch of technical reference manuals, white papers, or standards written for the highly technical security professional. In them are policies that no one ever reads.
If security is everyone’s job, everyone needs to have the right tools to actually do the job. Not some of the tools. Not a little bit of the information. All of it.
In cybersecurity, all of us are on the frontlines of a complicated battle involving governments, organized crime, activists, and more which makes security being everyone’s job even more important. If that’s your goal, you must empower your employees to take initiative. They should be able to think for themselves. They should not have to ask for direction. If you constantly tell people exactly what to do and how to do it, they’ll never develop the ability to be self-directed. This is why cybersecurity should entail real-world, experienced-based training—not just awareness—to create a culture of ownership. Annual training should be progressive, and its lessons should build over several years. The company should provide real examples of cybersecurity issues in order to give the training efforts a specific direction and focus. If the training involves reading from a binder or sticking to a narrow script, what will happen when something off-script happens? Employees won’t know how to react and will have to ask for input from their supervisors.
If we improve our communal awareness of cybersecurity, we can start to develop a kind of collective immunity to cybercrime. Today, it is cheap and easy to be a cybercriminal: software isn’t difficult to hack, and people make even easier targets. This means the victims are plentiful, and the risks of getting caught or prosecuted are extremely low. However, if the cost of cybercrime increases and the chances of getting caught go up, the volume of cybercrime will be forced down (assuming cybercriminal’s ill-gotten profits remain the same).
There needs to be an ecosystem of participation in security so that salespeople, accountants, attorneys, bankers, doctors, librarians, barbers, and car salesmen can all communicate with one another about the types of cybercrime they’ve experienced: How they were hacked and what they did to improve their security measures. What technologies worked and which ones didn’t. Which common techniques hackers are employing today. Everyone should be able to look to the security community for leadership and find answers.
Great cybersecurity is possible, but it’s not easy.
Have you ever felt like someone was asking you to waive your magic wand at a problem and make it go away? You may have wanted to shout, “It’s not that easy!” This is what’s happening in cybersecurity. Waive your magic wand and everything will be better? Not in real life. If there really was a magic wand to be found, then thousands of companies wouldn’t become the victims of cybercriminals every year. Software could be made to run perfectly, business processes would be designed without loopholes, everyone would follow policy, and employees would be constantly vigilant. Cybersecurity would be a thing of the past.
This book imagines what life would be like for a magic-wand manufacturing company, staffed entirely by elves, after knockoff wands with their label start cropping up. On top of that, their customers’ private information gets leaked and becomes scattered all across the enchanted forest. But the elves still have one magic wand. Can they use it to fix the mess? Or will they have to think of something else—some other way to prevent the villains of the enchanted forest from going one step further and stealing their greatest treasure?
The unlikely hero isn’t a security guy. She’s a business elf who makes it her mission to change the way her company does business from the top down. One of the first things she does is build a coalition of partners inside and outside the business to help make those changes happen. She looks for other fairy-tale creatures who have had personal or professional experiences with cybercrime and who have taken to heart the hard lessons of being hacked. She considers weathering the trials of being hacked a badge of honor, not a failure on their part. She has to learn how to talk to other business creatures about security—and she has to do it in their language, not her own. On her quest, she must challenge people to change their ways before the next breach happens, which she does by simulating a hack on the company, thereby creating the learning experience of being breached without the negative consequences. In this new world, she learns that it needs to be okay for people to challenge authority, even when it might normally be considered rude. Without a culture of inquiry and vigilance, actual security will be out of reach. She realizes that, just like a healthy immune system, there needs to be multiple interconnected structures inside the organization to keep things working together.
This book isn’t written for technology professionals, although it may help them as well. It’s written for anyone and everyone who wants to make a difference and improve cybersecurity. The first lesson that students of cybersecurity learn about cybersecurity is that there’s a constantly evolving cycle of improvement. Although basic principles will remain the same, you must always grow and adapt to various threats as they emerge. You will never arrive at a state of perfect security.
No matter how good you are, you will be hacked at some point.
It may be a surprise to hear, but hackers are an important part of the security ecosystem. Hackers help the security ecosystem improve, particularly when they reveal the vulnerabilities they find or disclose the methods they used to expose weaknesses in a company’s security measures. Imagine a young infant: we don’t want the baby to get sick, but if she were never exposed to germs, her immune system wouldn’t properly develop and she could wind up being very weak and vulnerable later on in life. Without hackers, our cyber immune system wouldn’t develop and could be susceptible to worse cyber threats: attacks from government-sponsored actors, large-scale organized crime, or malicious inside jobs. Therefore, this book is for hackers too. Keep us honest. Make us better.

Surgeon's Story by Mark Oristano



Title: SURGEON’S STORY
Author: Mark Oristano
Publisher: Authority Publishing
Pages: 190
Genre: Nonfiction Medical

What is it like to hold the beating heart of a two-day old child in your hand?  What is it like to counsel distraught parents as they make some of the most difficult decisions of their lives?

Noted pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Kristine Guleserian has opened up her OR, and her career, to author Mark Oristano to create Surgeon’s Story - Inside OR-6 With a top Pediatric Heart Surgeon. 

Dr. Guleserian’s life, training and work are discussed in detail, framed around the incredibly dramatic story of a heart transplant operation for a two-year old girl whose own heart was rapidly dying.  Author Mark Oristano takes readers inside the operating room to get a first-hand look at pediatric heart surgeries most doctors in America would never attempt.

That’s because Dr. Guleserian is recognized as one of the top pediatric heart surgeons in America, one of a very few who have performed a transplant on a one-week old baby. Dr. Guleserian (Goo-liss-AIR-ee-yan) provided her expertise, and Oristano furnished his writing skills, to produce A Surgeon’s Story.

As preparation to write this stirring book, Oristano spent hours inside the operating room at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas watching Guleserian perform actual surgeries that each day were life or death experiences. Readers will be with Dr. Guleserian on her rounds, meeting with parents, or in the Operating Room for a heart transplant.

Oristano is successful sportscaster and photographer and has made several appearances on stage as an actor. He wrote his first book A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football: Decoding America’s Favorite Game, and continues to volunteer at Children’s Medical Center.

“We hear a lot about malpractice and failures in medical care,” says Oristanto, “but I want my readers to know that parts of the American health care system work brilliantly. And our health care system will work even better if more young women would enter science and medicine and experience the type of success Dr. Guleserian has attained.”
Readers will find all the drama, intensity, humor and compassion that they enjoy in their favorite fictionalized medical TV drama, but the actual accounts in Surgeon’s Story are even more compelling. One of the key characters in the book is 2-year-old Rylynn who was born with an often fatal disorder called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and was successfully treated by Dr. Guleserian.

Watch the Book Trailer at YouTube.

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Book Excerpt:
The first task is to examine the heart to see if the preoperative diagnosis is correct. Dr. G uses delicate instruments to retract portions of the tricuspid valve and examine the extent of the defect of the ventricular septum, the wall between the two ventricles. She determines the exact size and shape of the VSD and trims the segment of pericardium she saved earlier in preservative. She cuts miniscule pieces of the pericardial tissue and sutures them along the walls of the VSD, creating anchor points for the actual covering. Each suturing is an intricate dance of fingers and forceps, needle and thread. Dr. G works with a small, hooked needle, grasping it with forceps, inserting the needle through the tissue, releasing and re-gripping with the forceps, pulling the hair-thin suture through, using a forceps in her other hand to re-grip the needle again and repeat. The pericardial tissue being sewn over the VSD has to be secure, and it has to stand up to the pressure of blood pumping through Claudia’s heart at the end of the operation. This isn’t like repairing knee ligaments, which can rest without use and heal slowly. Claudia’s heart is going to restart at the end of this operation, and whatever has been sewn into it has to hold, and work, the first time. The VSD repair involves cautious work around the tricuspid valve, and their proximity is a concern because the valve opens and closes along the ventricular septum with each beat. Dr. G and her team find that it’s preferable to actually divide the cords of the tricuspid valve to better expose the VSD. After the patch is fully secured, the tricuspid valve is repaired.
        Things don’t go as smoothly during the attempt to repair the pulmonary valve. When Dr. G looks inside Claudia’s heart she discovers that the pulmonary valve is not nearly large enough, and it’s malformed. It only has two flaps where there should be three. She repairs it by what she later says is “just putting in a little transannular patch.”
        Here’s what it’s like to “just” put a transannular patch on the pulmonary artery of a child as small as Claudia:
        First, take a piece of well-cooked elbow macaroni. Tuck it away in a bowl of pasta that has a bit of residual marinara sauce still floating around in it. Take several different sized knitting needles. Slowly, without damaging the macaroni, insert one of the knitting needles into it to see if you can gauge the width of the macaroni on which you’re operating. Then using a delicate, incredibly sharp blade, cut a small hole in the piece of elbow macaroni, maybe a little larger than the height of one of the letters on the page in front of you. Now use pliers to pick up a small needle with thread as fine as human hair in it. Use another pliers to pick up a tiny piece of skin that looks like it was cut from an olive, so thin that light shines through it. Take the needle and sew the olive skin on to the hole you’ve cut in the piece of macaroni. When you’re finished sewing, hook up the piece of macaroni to a comparable size tube coming from the faucet on the kitchen sink, and see if you can run some water through the macaroni without the patch leaking.
        That’s the food analogy. Those are the dimensions Dr. G worked with as she patched Claudia’s pulmonary artery. She made it a little wider to give it a chance to work more efficiently, to transport more blood with less blockage, requiring less work for the right ventricle so that the built-up heart muscle could return to a more normal size. It wasn’t the repair she’d planned to make, but it was the most suitable under the circumstances, and it gave Claudia her best chance.
        Before restoring Claudia’s natural circulation, the team makes certain that no air is in the heart or the tubes from the pump, because it could be pumped up to the brain. Air in the brain is not a safe thing. When all the repairs are completed, Claudia is rewarmed and weaned from the bypass machine. She was on pump for 114 minutes and her aorta was clamped for 77 minutes, not an extraordinary length of time in either case.
        Claudia’s heart starts up on its own, with a strong rhythm. With her heart beating again the beeps, and the peaks and valleys on her monitor return. All is well. An echo technician wheels a portable machine into the OR and puts a sensor down Claudia’s throat where it lodges behind her heart to perform a transesophageal echo —a more detailed view than the normal, external echo. Everything looks good. Chest  drains are put in to handle post-operative drainage, and wires are placed for external pacemakers, should anything go wrong with Claudia’s heart rhythm during her recovery from surgery. Dr. G draws Claudia’s ribcage back together with stainless steel wires, perfectly fastened and tightly tucked down.
        Claudia and the surgical team return to the CVICU, and Dr. G monitors her reentry to the unit, making sure the nurses understand Claudia’s condition and the proper procedures to be followed for the next 24 hours. From there, Dr. G enters a small room tucked away from the noise of the unit to meet with the family. Claudia’s mother, father, and aunt are waiting. Dr. G sees Mom wiping tears away.
        “Are you crying? Oh, no, no need to be crying, everything is fine.” Her wide smile reassured Mom, who  put away her tissues.