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.
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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?
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:
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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!
