"Surgeon's Story" by Mark Oristano

INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Surgeon's Story:
Inside OR-1 with One of America's Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons

by Mark Oristano

Surgeon's Story by Mark Oristano is currently on tour with Pump Up Your Book. The tour stops here today for my interview with the author, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

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 provided her expertise, and Oristano furnished his writing skills, to produce 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.

Book Video

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.

[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]

Praise for the Book

"This is an uplifting book with its own heart of solid gold." ~ John J. Kelly

"The book is full of photos of Dr. G at work (and in life), diagrams of heart problems, and even case notes. It’s a very compelling read. I highly recommend this book." ~ Pam G

"From the very first page right up to the climactic ending, this book will entertain you with the real life wit, humor, and drama that populates the world of pediatric cardiac surgery." ~ Rebar

"Surgeons Story takes you into the operating room of Dr. Gulesarian, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, and gives a brief glance into the emotions and trials of families with children who suffer from congenital heart disease. After reading the book I have an even deeper appreciation for the sacrifice and service Dr G has given to her patients and their parents!" ~ Suzie Murphree

"True life stories about an amazing woman who saves children in the operating room. Wonderful character sketches that humanize our 'health care system'. The race to bring a heart to Rylynn had my heart pounding - reads like a thriller! Oristano tells an important tale here." ~ J. Watts

Interview With the Author

Hi Mark, thanks for joining me today to discuss your new book, Surgeon’s Story.

What sparked the idea for this book?

I’ve been a volunteer at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas for 20 years. I got to know Kristine Guleserian, one of our pediatric heart surgeons, and the more I learned about her, the more I thought her story was worth telling.

How do you hope this book affects its readers?

I hope we’ll convince a few young readers to think of careers in medicine or the sciences. And I hope we can show people that, even though there are terrible problems with America’s health care system, there are parts of it that run brilliantly.

What is your writing routine?

Actually, I pretty much wait until I’m facing a deadline, and then I get going. It’s the journalist in me.

How did you get your book published?

Self-published, with Authority Publishing in California.

What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer?

Start writing. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. Published and flawed is better than perfect and on your hard drive.

Did you like reading when you were a child?

Yes. I came from a very literary home. I was reading fourth grade books in the first grade.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

It wasn’t so much a case of wanting. It was just something I was always good at. I’ve written for radio, television, newspaper, stage, film, and books.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

We’ve heard from many readers since Surgeon’s Story was published, and they are all very complimentary about the story we’ve told. Many of them either were heart patients themselves, have kids with heart problems, or work in health care. It’s always great to hear from readers.

What can we look forward to from you in the future?

I’ll tell you when it gets here!

No worries! Thanks for taking the time to stop by today, Mark.

About the Author

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 and 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.

Giveaway

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"The Orthodontic Cure" by Dr. Sheila Birth

NEW RELEASE and EXCERPT

The Orthodontic Cure:
How Orthodontics can Restore You to Optimal Health, Stop Bed Wetting, Cure Migraines and Save Lives

by Dr. Sheila Birth

Sheila Birth, orthodontist and author, stops by today to share an excerpt from her new book, The Orthodontic Cure.

Description

Orthodontics can change your life! Orthodontics provides key pieces of the puzzle for total body health.

What? Isn't orthodontics just braces and straight teeth? Actually Orthodontics is much more than straight teeth. Orthodontics is the only profession, medical or dental, that can change skeletal structure without surgery.

Orthodontists can expand the upper palate and move the lower jaw forward with simple orthodontic appliances. When orthodontists do these skeletal changes, they also affect the airways. Orthodontist can improve airways and improve breathing. Breathing is everything. Breathing is life. Problems with breathing can lead to poor performance in school, at work and in athletics. Problems with breathing can lead to snoring and sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be life threatening, as it affects sleep, cardiac function, blood pressure, mental function and much more.

Your teeth are important for nutrition and communication (smiling is universal). If your teeth are out of alignment, it can lead to clenching and grinding, with the brain subconsciously trying to grind these teeth into position. Grinding and clenching affect the muscles, the muscles develop triggers or knots that lead to jaw pain, TMJ pain, muscle pain, and persistent headaches and migraines.

I am writing this book so that patients can quit suffering. There are simple orthodontic solutions that do not involve drugs, injections or surgery. I want to get the word out to people that have been suffering for years, taking drugs that are masking the pain, but not curing it. I am writing this book in hopes that other orthodontist can appreciate what they can do to make their patients healthy. All orthodontists can use the many tools that they have to improve their patients' lives.

Excerpt

Hang on, life is a ride. A ride that only God knows where you are going. I look back at different events in my life and years later say, "Oh that is why that happened. I built on that bad or good event to arrive at where I am at this moment." Thank you God for the path you chose for me. I love what I do, and where I am.

My goal is that by you reading this book, you will look back and say years later…I am so glad that I read that book--it really set a path of better health for the whole family."

Did I always want to be an Orthodontist? I did not. Didn't even think about it. Never was evaluated by an Orthodontist until I was 27 and in Dental School. I was then told during a rotation at Baylor Dental School that I would need surgery (where the surgeon would actually break my palate) to better align my palate with my face. 

Wow, why wasn’t something done when I was younger and still growing? My mother, who was a very smart lady, took me to our general dentist when I was 10 years old, asking for a referral to an orthodontist for a "gummy smile"—meaning showing too much gum when you smile.  My dentist said my teeth were perfect and nothing could be done about the "gummy smile" and did not refer us to an orthodontist. Now this was in the 70s, when people believed every word their dentist said, so I never visited an orthodontic office until I was already in dental school. By then it was too late— if I had seen an orthodontist, instead of a general dentist—the orthodontist would have been able to change growth and reduce the gummy smile. When I was older, I was given the option of surgery to reduce the gummy smile. So orthodontics was not my passion when I was growing up, buy became my passion when I was at Baylor College of Dentistry. 

THIS IS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER AND I WILL PROBABLY SAY IT MORE THAN ONCE. AN ORTHODONTIST, IS THE ONLY SPECIALISTS—DENTAL OR MEDICAL—THAT CAN CHANGE THE SKELETAL PATTERN OF THE FACE AND MOUTH. The specialty degree that we receive is actually in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.  Dentofacial Orthopedics is actually modifiying the skeletal structure of the teeth and face.  For the sake of simplicity, I am just going to say the specialty of Orthodontics, but the Orthopedic part of this specialty is amazing.

I became an Orthodontist using a circuitous path. I really wanted to be a scientist--a chemist in fact. I went to a small college in the Texas Panhandle, called West Texas State University and received a chemistry degree. I then moved to Dallas and got a job working as a chemist working in an analytical lab in a semiconductor plant. What I learned in this job is that small details are critical. If the chemical mixtures were not exact, the semi-conductors did not work and hence the computers would not work. This was a very important lesson to learn early in my path to becoming an orthodontist--small details matter. With a tooth being off just one tenth of a millimeter, it can do damage to the teeth, the joints and overall body health. We will talk about this in more detail when we talk about TruDenta treatment in Chapter 7. 

So on to the path, I just really didn't like working in the lab—there was not enough contact with people. So I thought marketing might be my niche. I got a job with Celanese Chemical, marketing in their new products division. Well, here is where the paths start to connect and lead in a purposeful direction. So even though I did learn much information from Celanese, I changed paths again because there just was too much travel involved.

It sounds like I am hard to please. In fact, it sounds like Goldilocks and the three bears. It's too cold, it's too hot. That job doesn't have enough people contact, that job has too much travel—what a whiner. But I finally did find a profession that was "just right"—thanks to my job in chemical marketing. I marketed a chemical, a multifunction acrylate—say that 3 times—I bet you can't. This chemical was used in dental bonding adhesives and in the placement of braces. So because of this crazy sounding chemical, I became interested in dentistry and I applied to dental school and was blessed to get into Baylor College of Dentistry.

Next the road led me to the University of Oklahoma for specialty training in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. Go Sooners! The Sooners actually won the national championship when I was there in 1986. The year before I saw a classic game with many young players that went on to be big stars. Jimmy Johnson was coaching Miami. Barry Switzer was coaching Oklahoma. Troy Aikman was quarterback for Oklahoma and Michael Irvin was wide receiver for Miami. These players and coaches all came to play with the Dallas Cowboys. I am a big Cowboy fan. What was even more important in this game was that Troy Aikman broke his leg. You know Aikman wasn't happy at the time, but I think that broken leg changed his life. Oklahoma was a wishbone team with little or no passing. After the broken leg, UCLA picked up Aikman and he got to show off his fabulous passing arm. So in hind sight, breaking his leg at the University of Oklahoma changed Troy's life and mine because I love Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys.

The University of Oklahoma sat on a beautiful health science campus in Oklahoma City. The Dental School sat next door to the medical school, and we took classes with the medical students, which really opens your mind to the fact that orthodontics is much more than straight teeth. I want to thank Dr. Nanda and Dr. Courier for having an open mind (another purposeful pathway). In fact Dr. Ram Nanda works so hard to promote the science of orthodontics, he is now willing to lecture about cases he would treat differently now. We will get into this in a different chapter. Dr. Nanda and Dr. Courier allowed me into their program, and I was the first female to graduate from the University of Oklahoma's Orthodontic program. Dr. Nanda and Dr. Courier are heroes in my life.

I always had a love of science, physics, chemistry, engineering and medicine. Orthodontics incorporates all of these fields and I feel blessed to be an Orthodontist.

I am so thankful that I didn't stay in chemistry, or marketing or sales—you bet. But I used all those past experiences in my orthodontic practice today.

I am glad my path led to Orthodontics, it is the greatest profession in the world. It is the best fit for me—it gives me a purpose every day, and I am thankful.

Orthodontics affects people's lives in so many ways—not just straight teeth. Dental facial orthopedics, another branch of Orthodontics, changes skeletal structure without surgery. 

[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]

Praise for the Book

"This book is written for the lay reader and explains the root causes of many ordinary health problems. The writing style is in the 'Goldilocks zone', meaning it's neither too technical nor too general. In fact, I myself have several of the problems that Dr. Birth asserts can be helped with The Orthodontic Cure - tinnitus, jaw pain, sleep apnea, and vertigo. The author provides clear descriptions and illustrations of the functions of facial and neck muscles and nerves, all in a way that makes perfect sense to me. I'm sold." ~ Linda

"This book by Dr. Birth is very insightful. I felt like she was directly talking to me. I am anxious to share the book with family members, friends and even my clients. I want everyone to know the possibilities of feeling better are real. This book was an easy read filled with humor but with a big educational message. I was really in the dark about the new world of orthodontics. I hope that other doctors are following in the footsteps of Dr. Birth!" ~ Amazon Customer

"A great read! Dr. Birth did a great job helping the reader understand the potential for orthodontic solutions to a surprising number of everyday health issues. Her entertaining writing style links her many life experiences to the innovations she is using to expand the way we think of orthodontics. I strongly urge those that suffer from debilitating migraines to learn about a drug-free solution discussed in the book. Phenomenal !!!" ~ LeAnn T.

"Dr. Birth is very knowledgeable and provides so much insight into the world of orthodontics. I really learned a lot from this educational read, and I would trust Dr. Birth with my own orthodontic health!" ~ L. A. B. Peace

"This book is absolutely amazing!! It is not only educational but VERY interesting. I would HIGHLY recommend the book! You would certainly not regret it. It is very knowledgeable and easy to understand. LOVE, LOVE, IT!!" ~ Amazon Customer

About the Author

Orthodontics is my passion. I believe it's one of the best professions in the world, and I am honored to know that each day I am able to make a difference in someone's life. Every smile is important to me, and I enjoy giving patients a beautiful smile they can live with for the rest of their lives. Seeing the changes that my patients go through when they achieve a beautiful and functional smile is the reason I became an orthodontist.

Thanks to advances in technology, I am truly excited to be able to help patients with chronic headaches, migraines, tinnitus and vertigo. It is a joy to my team and me to be able to help these patients who may have been suffering from these symptoms for years or even decades. Our drug and needle free system has helped hundreds of patients literally change their lives and live pain free.

I received my Bachelor's Degree from West Texas State University, my Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Baylor College of Dentistry and my Masters Degree in Orthodontics from the University of Oklahoma.

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"Reflection" by Kim Cresswell

Reflection

by Kim Cresswell

Reflection is Kim Cresswell's debut novel. The sequel, Retribution, will be released later this year.

Description

Whitney Steel found her big story ... Now it may kill her!

Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the "big" story. She finally found it, and now it may kill her.

After receiving a lead pointing to the world's first cloned human, now a small child, Whitney vows to unravel the truth. However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.

When she's nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective - at least not right away.

Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man's thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother's death over a decade ago ...

Can they save an innocent child before it's too late?

Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many - Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.

Excerpt

Mason Bailey gulped down his third Glenlivet. “I didn’t kill her.”

How many times had Whitney Steel heard those words? Dozens. But never from the mouth of a United States senator. For all she cared, the man could drink himself to Mars, but not until she got what she’d come for. An exclusive.

Under the awning shading the Pink Flamingo Club’s patio, she took a sip of her lime daiquiri, and couldn’t help notice the way the mid-afternoon sunlight brutally magnified every line on Mason’s tanned face.

“Of all the reporters in Panama City, let alone Florida, why me? We cut our ties years ago.” And our losses, she wanted to say, but didn’t.

“I know I can trust you.” His gaze darted across the street then back to her. “Besides, we were married once. That should count for something.”

Whitney straightened. Anger coiled in the pit of her stomach. “Give me a break. For a year and a half, I thought we were married. Too bad your girlfriends didn’t know about our little legal arrangement.” Especially, your twenty something assistant.

“Damn it, Whitney. I didn’t ask you here to rehash our past.” He yanked a monogrammed handkerchief from his jacket pocket and dabbed the sweat from his forehead. “I need your help. I know why Carmen Lacey was murdered.”

Her eyes widened. Now they were getting somewhere. “You have my full attention. Are we on the record?”

Mason shoved his empty glass aside. “Yes.”

Her heart thumped with anticipation. This story would be the topic du jour for months. Her ratings at WBNN-TV would soar, and finally her colleagues would take notice and treat her with the professional respect she deserved.

For the past twelve years, her colleagues said she’d had a free ride because of her father, an award winning war correspondent, and her ex-husband’s political connections. This time she’d prove them wrong.

She rummaged through her leather bag, placed her digital voice recorder on the table and gave the record button a firm push. “For the record, Senator Bailey, did you kill Carmen Lacey?”

“No.” He leaned back in the chair and loosened his pinstriped tie. “It’s true. I was the last person to see her alive. But there’s more to this than you think.”

Brown eyes that once set her heart hammering now conveyed a chilling, hollow look. Was it guilt? Desperation?

No. Fear.

Uneasiness slid down her spine. She stopped the recorder. “Mason, you’re scaring me. What the hell is going on? It’s been over three years since we last spoke. Then, out of the blue, you beg me to meet with you today. I know the police don’t believe you killed that woman.”

“But do you, Whitney? Do you believe I killed her? I need to know. It’s important.”

Stunned by the urgency in his voice, she answered carefully. “Of course not. You’re many things, but you’re not a killer.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” He reached for his empty glass and tapped his chunky gold ring against the side.

Whitney turned the recorder on again.

“Carmen was a scientist working for a biotech company in Nevada. ShawBioGen. Heard of it?”

“Who hasn’t? They were one of the first to clone animals in the eighties. Caused quite a stir. But I don't understand. What does that have to do with Carmen’s death?”

He opened his mouth to answer.

The large window behind them dividing the patio from the main restaurant exploded. A storm of glass rained down, showering the patio.

There was no warning. Everything moved so fast, yet in slow motion as if part of a horrid nightmare.

Screams. Rushed, heavy, thumping footsteps.

A few feet away, a male waiter dropped the two plates of food in his hands. He froze.

“Get down!” Mason yelled.

Whitney dropped. She huddled into a ball under the table and squashed the side of her face against the patio stones. Amid the chaos, a gunshot echoed and the waiter ran for cover.

A bullet ripped through the man’s shoulder and spun him around, the force slamming his body against the restaurant door. He folded to his knees and howled out in pain.

More shots rang out. Debris spewed through the air. Food, glasses, plates. The sickening smell of deep fried food and scorched cordite assaulted her nostrils. She gagged.

Crimson snaked toward her hand. The warm, sticky liquid met her fingertips.

Blood. Lots of blood. But it wasn’t hers.

Her gaze snapped to Mason, lying on his back. Dark red blood pumped from a gaping wound in his chest, soaking his white shirt. She held her breath to keep from screaming.

He raised his arm and reached for her. “I swear—I didn’t kill her. I swear.”

“I believe you.” Whitney kept her head down and inched her body closer. She grasped his hand. “I do. Oh, God.”

Please don’t die. Her pulse roared so loud in her ears she couldn’t hear her own words. “You’re bleeding so much. Someone help us!”

Another bullet whizzed through the air and slammed into the bottom of wooden table leg.

Needle-like splinters from the wood slashed through her pants and drilled into her thigh like a hundred slivers. The pain knocked the breath from her. The world twisted and turned yellow. Darkness thickened and threatened to overpower her. Can’t pass out…help Mason.

He gasped a ragged breath and shoved a key into her bloody palm and curled her fingers closed. “Don’t trust—anyone.”

She clutched the piece of metal. A knot wedged in her throat, one she couldn’t swallow. “I’m going to get help.”

“No—stay.” Blood bubbled at the corners of his mouth and trickled down his jaw. “They cloned…”

His eyelids slid shut.

“What Mason? They cloned what?”

Whitney lowered her head to his chest. “Oh, Mason, no.”

Book Trailer

Review

By RJ Parker

Reflection by Kim Cresswell is her debut novel featuring FBI Special Agent Blake Neely and Journalist Whitney Steel.

I was drawn in and engaged with the story from the first page. The story is captivating and the characters likable. This book has it all the ingredients: mystery, suspense, romance, action and a touch of humor.

Agent Blake Neely has been deep undercover for almost a year as head of security for Biotech owner and Billionaire, Nathan Shaw. Shaw has cloned the first human who is a small female child, but the outside world is unaware of this, although there are rumors. Even Blake hasn't seen the child. But another purpose of Blake being undercover is because he believes Shaw is responsible for his sister's death.

Whitney's ex-husband and Senator was recently gunned down in her presence. Shortly after his demise, Whitney receives a video that her ex-husband had in a safe, proving that Shaw has indeed cloned a small child.

Now the action really starts. Both Blake and Whitney have recently survived attacks, now they team up to expose Shaw, take him down, or out, and save the child.

Fast-paced and gripping, this is a riveting story that action readers will enjoy.

Interview With the Author (reprinted from Amazon.com)

Q: What inspired you to write Reflection?

A: The story evolved after Clonaid (a company founded by the religious sect called the Raelians) announced the birth of Eve, the "first human clone" in 2002 using the similar technique to clone Dolly the Sheep. About 160 nations in the world have yet to outlaw the birth of human clones and others are allowing the creation of human clones as long as they are not put into a woman's womb (how do we know they aren't implanted?). Add a kick-ass heroine, a sexy FBI agent, and a villain you love to hate, thus, Reflection was born.

Q: Are the names of the characters in your novels important?

A: They are, especially the main characters. My heroine is strong, independent, an investigative reporter. I wanted her name to reflect her character traits and career, so I chose Whitney Steel.

Q: Why do you think what you do matters?

A: Being an author does matter. I'm a huge supporter of freedom of speech. I also try to use some type of controversial topic in all my books. Human cloning is one of them and has caused lots of debate over the years. It gets people talking.

Q: What's next for you?

A: Next comes Lethal Journey. A killer lurks in the shadows of Hyde Park, New York ... waiting. Also, great news for fans of Reflection. Blake and Whitney's story isn't over ... yet! Retribution is coming in late 2013! I'm also thrilled to announce I'm one of ten authors contributing to the True Crime Serial Killers Anthology (2014) due for release in December 2013!

About the Author

Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a legal assistant, Kim has been a story-teller all her life but took many detours including working for a private investigator, running a graphic design business, and teaching computer classes at a local business school. After becoming disabled with Fibromyalgia and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Kim returned to her first love, writing. For her, writing suspense fiction is an incredible adventure and she's surprised where the journey takes her. She's also an avid reader who enjoys playing computer games, ghost hunting and loves anything paranormal.

Her debut romantic suspense, Reflection, has won numerous awards including; UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013), Silicon Valley's Romance Writers of America (RWA) "Gotcha!" Romantic Suspense Winner! (2004) and an Honourable Mention in CARWA's The Writer's Voice Contest (2006).

Kim has a few new books in the works including the sequel to Reflection which will be released in late 2013.

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