May 2025: Hello friends! I’m Hope Katz Gibbs, founder of Inkandescent, and I’m so happy today to introduce you to our new client and podcaster — IP attorney and author Tim Trainer. We met at Elaine’s Literary Salon just after his 3rd novel, The China Factor, was published this year. In the months since, our Inkandescent team has had the privilege of launching his new website, TimothyTrainer.com and posting entries to his blog that talks from experience about international trade, especially with China, as well as the current state of global economics and politics.

Writing books is his passion. In his downtime, Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.  Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2017, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains. In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection. In December 2024, he followed it with The China Factor.

On this podcast/video show, Tim’s Travails, will be talking about topics and interviewing other experts who will help us better understand our world in 2025.

Today, in Episode 1, we focus on Tim who shares:

Stay tuned for more episodes on InkandescentRadio.com and Inkandescent.tv, and of course log in regularly for new blog entries and other information on Tim’s website, www.TimothyTrainer.com.

March 1, 2025: If you are a bibliophile, author, or have always dreamed of penning a book, you will love to meet Jeffrey James Higgins, host of Elaine’s Literary Salon. 

This new show — live from the popular bistro Elaine’s in Old Town, Alexandria VA. Our host is the restaurant’s owner, Jeffrey James Higgins, a #1 Amazon bestselling author on a mission to help fellow writers share their stories.

The author of The Forever Game, Furious and Unseen, Jeff has a reputation for high-stakes, no-frills drama with this taut thrillers that reviewers say do not contain an ounce of fat. Fans know every line of dialogue is a gut punch, and yet he can make a landscape come alive with a single high-impact sentence. Consider this one: “The pier was a mishmash of pulleys and taught metal lines, and it smelled of diesel fumes and saltwater.”

Jeff’s 2024 novel, The Forever Game, gives us characters that are so likable, and so on the ropes, that their day-to-day fight for survival is what makes this a page-turner. There’s no indication yet that Higgins is planning a series, but we would love to see one centered around this book’s main character, DEA Special Agent Adam Locke. As it stands, what separates Locke from the Jack Reachers of the literary landscape is his hearty, seemingly natural exploration of deeper themes. In this case, it’s nothing less than the future of immortality.

Jeff is a former reporter and retired supervisory special agent who has wrestled a suicide bomber, fought the Taliban in combat, and chased terrorists across five continents. He received both the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Heroism and the DEA Award of Valor.

Jeffrey has been interviewed by CNN, New York Times, Fox News, Investigation Discovery, Declassified, and USA Today, and has won numerous literary awards, including the PenCraft Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and a Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal.

Today, Inkandescent Radio + TV producer and founder Hope Katz Gibbs, turns the mike to Jeff. We learn about his background, inspiration, and why he and his wife Cynthia (pictured above) opened a restaurant in the heart of Old Town. Don’t miss it!

Check out the live Literary Salon events here. And check back for new episodes of Elaine’s Literary Salon on Inkandescent.tv and listen to all the podcasts on InkandescentRadio.com.

Elaine’s Literary Salon

About Elaine’s: Elaine’s modern Mediterranean cuisine is based on exquisite food found in Alexandria, Egypt. The unique style is best described as Middle Eastern with French, Greek, and Italian influences. Elaine’s is located at 208 Queen Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. The 1880 building, the previous home of Bilbo Baggins for 38 years, has been completely renovated with a new look and feel. The restaurant is located in the heart of Old Town’s Historic District within sight of the Potomac River. Founders Park, The Torpedo Factory Art Center, and Old Town Alexandria Waterfront are only blocks away. Elaine’s is named after the owner’s grandmother. When the owner was twelve years old in Cairo, Egypt, she promised her grandmother that one day she would own a restaurant and name it after her. The owner is proud to share her family’s recipes with the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Make a reservation today: elaines-restaurant.com.

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, founder and producer, Inkandescent Radio — Odds are good that you have read Gregory Macguire’s bestseller, “Wicked,” seen the Broadway show (millions around the world have), and/or are anticipating the release of the film version this month.

So, it is a great pleasure to share the interview I had the privilege of doing with him for The Costco Connection. Gregory allowed me to record and produce our conversation for our Authors Between the Covers Show on InkandescentRadio and Inkandescent.tv).

On our PR & Publishing Co. site, Inkandescent.us, you can also read our Q&A. Stay tuned for the article in the Costco Connection in November.

Best of all, you’ll get to see Part One of Wicked in November! Scroll down to learn more about the film!

About the movie: Wicked (also known as Wicked: Part One) is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman.

It is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name and characters from L. Frank Baum‘s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode (in her film debut), Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles.

Set in the Land of Oz, largely before Dorothy Gale‘s arrival from Kansas, the plot follows green-skinned Elphaba and her path to ultimately becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside an unlikely friendship and later rivalry with a classmate who later becomes Glinda the Good.

Theatrical release in the United States is scheduled for November 22, 2024, with Wicked: Part Two slated for November 26, 2025.

Universal Pictures announced the adaptation in 2012 with Marc Platt as a producer. After a long development and multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chu was hired to direct, with Erivo and Grande cast in their respective roles in 2021. Principal photography began in December 2022 in England, paused in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, eventually resuming then concluding in January 2024.

March 2024: A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Inkandescent Women magazine — “Being single is like playing the lottery — always the chance that with one piece of paper, you could win it all,” says New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Serle about the theme of her newest novel, Expiration Dates, available this month. Promoted as a romance that will define a generation, this is Rebecca’s 8th book — and after reading it, and crying during my 9-hour plane trip from Frankfurt to JFT, I can tell you that is certainly true.

Here’s the story: Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a name: Jake. But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.

What critics are saying: Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.

Click here to read our Q&A: An article based on our interview will be published in the March 2024 issue of Costco’s magazine The Connection. This isn’t my first time writing about Rebecca and her books for Costco. I had the privilege of interviewing the author — who also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name — in 2018 when she published The Dinner List — an enchanting story about who you’d invite to that one magical dinner when anyone, from any time, could attend. This book strikes a similar cord, linking magic to reality.

Buy the new book here!

Click here to learn more about this Truly Amazing Woman: rebeccaserle.com.

Authors Between the Covers: Click here to read our Q&A on Inkandescent Women magazine. Don’t miss our podcast here on InkandescentRadio.com.

Click here to watch our video interview on Inkandescent.tv.

October 2023: A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, Inkandescent® PR & Publishing Co. — If you haven’t already been sucked into Tui Sutherland’s epic Wings of Fire dragon fantasy, dive into the backstories of the ten tribes on two continents with three moons in A Guide to the Dragon World.

In this title, we learn the dragons of Pyrrhia and Pantala are on a mission to develop a definitive guide to the lives and history of each tribe told by the dragons themselves.

“It’s sort of hilarious because I was thinking of this book as the nonfiction one,” laughs Sutherland, talking to the Costco Connection from her home near Boston. “Clearly, it’s still fiction, like a little map with letters, interviews, and journal entries that expose old myths and reveal dark secrets.”

Having sold more than 14 million copies and been translated into a dozen languages, Scholastic’s 15-book series has been on the New York Times bestseller list for years. There are also two standalone titles, four short stories, two companion books, and six graphic novel adaptations — all studded with brilliant illustrations.

How has the woman, named after a noisy New Zealand bird thanks to her Mom who grew up there, dreamed up this alternative universe?

“When I was a little kid, we lived in Caracas, Paraguay, Miami, and Santa Domingo before moving to New Jersey for high school, and everywhere I went, I’d make up stories, read stories, and imagine myself in new worlds. After graduating from college, I went into publishing because I wanted to know how books are made. By then, I had written several books of my own, but it was fantasy that captured my heart.”

When her first son was born in 2010, Sutherland wanted to take him on a hero’s quest. “So, I created a series about destiny and what’s written for you versus what you choose for yourself. You can save the world no matter what kind of dragon you are — the fierce bossy one or the tiny optimistic one with no powers. They all have their way of making their world a better place.”

This article was written for the October issue of Costco’s magazine: costco.com/connection

Click here to read our extended Inkandescent Q&A with Tui.

June 2023: A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, Inkandescent PR + Publishing Co. — Hello, and welcome to this month’s episode of Authors Between the Covers Show on the Inkandescent Radio Network and Inkandescent.tv. I’m deeply honored to be here with today’s guest, Lisa See; I was introduced to this New York Times bestselling author when my longtime freelance client, Costco magazine, assigned me to write about her latest book for the June 2023 issue of The Costco Connection.

It is the historical novel Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, and it is truly the most anticipated book for the summer of 2023. It is inspired by a true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China, and in the book, we learn how the main character breaks free from tradition and treats women and girls from every level of society. I can’t wait to hear all about this. But first and foremost, welcome, Lisa. I’m so excited to have you here.

Before we get into our Q&A, here’s a little background on Lisa. As I mentioned, Lisa is a New York Times bestselling author of a dozen books, including The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at number one.

She was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. We are talking to her from there now. And she lived with her mother but spent a lot of time with her father’s family in Chinatown and says she has always been intrigued by stories that have been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up, whether in the past or now in the world today.

Lisa has been honored by the National Woman she has been honored as National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women. In 2001, she received the Organization of Chinese American Women honored her as a National Woman of the Year. She received the Chinese American Museum’s History Makers Award in 2003, and in 2017, she received the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.

Click here for our Q&A, and be sure to listen to our podcast interview on Inkandescent Radio Network and the video version on Inkandescent.tv.

August 2023: A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, Inkandescent® PR + Publishing Co. — Are you a parent tired of the persistent belief that your child’s moral values, ethical principles, and ability to distinguish between what is right and wrong must come from religion? Do you wonder how you can ever teach your child to think for herself in a culture that values uncritical obedience over critical consideration? Or do you fear what the future holds for your child in a society that views unquestioned faith as a virtue and a questioning mind with suspicion?

In it, he argues that the solution is clear, and it rests not only with you but all parents with similar concerns. In this volume, he demonstrates why all parents who value science and reason can help stop the centuries-old practice of religious indoctrination and offers advice on encouraging children to discover the world and their place in it for themselves.

“Only by allowing them to learn that we are in this world together, that we have a limited time to live, and that we have only one another on which to rely can we truly enable them to flourish and begin to build a just and peaceful world—not just for their generation but for all future generations,” explains Richard.

Nikita and Natalie Conn

On this episode: Richard’s daughters, Nikita, 16 and Natalie, 13 (pictured right) interview him about what it was like to be raised by an “Earthbound Parent.” How was their upbringing different from their religious friends? Do they appreciate their dad’s perspective? Will they raise their kids the same way? And so much more! Don’t miss it.

Richard Conn Jr., author, “The Earthbound Parent”

About Richard Conn Jr.: Richard is the Managing Partner of Eurasia Advisors. He also serves as Managing Partner of Innovate Partners, an emerging company private investment fund, as an affiliate partner in Stonehaven, a global capital raising platform, and as an Independent Trustee of a publicly traded mutual fund.

Before founding Eurasia Advisors in 2003, Richard practiced international corporate law for nearly twenty years as an equity partner with the international law firm Latham & Watkins. He founded the firm’s Moscow office in 1992. He served as a key advisor to the Presidential Administration of Russian President Boris Yeltsin and as President of the Moscow-based Foreign Bar Association. A longstanding past member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and of the International Crisis Group’s International Board of Advisors, he regularly consults with the World Bank, Members of Congress, and the Administration regarding C.I.S.-related issues. He Co-Chaired the U.S.-Russia Business Council and American Chamber of Commerce (Moscow) joint initiative to facilitate Russian accession to WTO.

Richard delivered the keynote address at the United Nations to open the U.N. conference addressing establishing a worldwide Sovereign Debt Restructuring framework. He frequently publishes on these subjects and recently authored “Towards a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Framework: Less is More,” which appears in Joe Stiglitz’s book Too Little, Too Late: The Quest of Resolving Sovereign Debt Crises, Columbia University Press, New York, 2016. He periodically lectures at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute of Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies and the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Columbia University’s SIPA Center on Global Economic Governance.

Richard ran in 2010 for the Deputy Presidency of the World Chess Federation on an international ticket headed by the Twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov with the support of the Thirteenth World Champion Garry Kasparov and is an avid chess player. He сhairs the Advisory Committee of a non-profit organization that has already taught chess to over 4 million public school second and third graders in the U.S.

A Dartmouth College and Fordham University Law School graduate, Richard clerked for the Honorable Gordon Thompson, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California. He is the co-author of Collier Labor Law and the Bankruptcy Code, M. Bender (1989).

He is also the author of The Earthbound Parent: How (and Why) to Raise Your Little Angels Without Religion, Pitchstone Publishing (2018) , a book that encourages critical thinking and enhanced ethical standards. Richard is fluent in Russian and Spanish. Click here to learn more: eurasiadvisors.com.

Don’t miss it! 

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, host, Authors Between the Covers show — We begin a month of celebrating love (why reserve it for just one day?) in an interview with #1 New York Times bestselling author Jay Shetty, author of the new book: The 8 Rules of Love.

“During the Coronavirus pandemic, I spent a lot of time thinking about love,” shares the award-winning storyteller, a former monk whose viral videos about peace and purpose have been viewed more than 10 billion times. His first book, Think Like a Monk, was published in September 2020 and distills timeless lessons into practical steps anyone can take to live a less anxious, more meaningful life. His newest tome, 8 Rules of Love, guides us on finding love, keeping it, and letting it go. “So many relationships were challenged or just didn’t make it through lockdown,” observes Shetty, a native of London who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Radhi Devlukia-Shetty. “Some relationships got stronger, sure. But we were all tested.”

To discover how to help people have healthier relationships, Shetty started with a Harvard Medical School study that scientists have worked on since the Great Depression.

“The scientists gathered information over 80 years, and it showed that how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” explains Shetty, who helps readers seize that power in his insightful hardback. Its four sections offer meditations on solitude, compatibility, healing, and connection. His 8 Rules are born of these concepts, ranging from Letting Yourself Be Alone (Rule 1) to Loving Again and Again (Rule 8).

Having spent three years studying the Vedas at a Hindu ashram in Mumbai, Shetty sees life as a series of classrooms. Using a metaphor of connecting ashrams, he teaches us levels of love: Preparing, practicing, protecting, and perfecting it. “The key to a successful, loving relationship is to peel back the layers continuously,” he believes. “You reveal a layer; your partner reveals a layer. From there, you figure it out together. And then you do it again.”

We leave you with this parting thought from Jay: “I once read a quote from Muhammad Ali, who said, ‘Service to others is the rent you pay for the room here on earth.’ I hold this dear to my heart because everything we do can be of service. We don’t need to build the biggest charity; we just have to have that spirit and mindset. Any person I meet, I say hello or open the door.”

Click here to learn more: 8rulesoflove.com.

Click here to read our interview in the Costco Connection.

Don’t miss our podcast interview!

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, InkandescentRadio.com: Hello and welcome to this month’s episode of the Authors Between the Covers show on the Inkandescent Radio Network. I’m Hope Katz Gibbs, host of the show and creator of the Inkandescent PR + Publishing Co., thrilled to be here with the amazing award-winning teacher and author Phillip Done!

Phil is coming to us from Budapest, Hungary, and I know that you will enjoy today’s podcast interview, where he’ll share insights into his international travels and new book, The Art of Teaching Children.

First, I must tell the audience that I have been a huge fan of Phil’s since he published 32 First Graders and One Class Bunny. My kids were in elementary school then, and I was the communications director of the City of Fairfax Schools in Northern VA. I remember reading the book in one sitting – laughing hysterically and alternatively crying at his poignant essays. 

Today, we talk about that book, his career, Phil’s well-deserved awards, and most importantly, his newest title, The Art of Teaching Children.

You’ll learn:

About The Art of Teaching Children: An essential guide for teachers and parents that’s destined to become a classic, The Art of Teaching Children is one of those rare and masterful books that not only defines a craft but offers a magical reading experience. (more…)

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, producer and founder, Inkandescent Radio — What an honor it is to interview Olivia Campbell, a journalist and author specializing in medicine and women. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Cut, and many others. 

Her new book is Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine. It is featured in the March 2022 issue of The Costco Connection. I have been writing for this monthly magazine since 1996 and have the privilege of writing this author interview article about Olivia and her book!

In our podcast, you’ll learn: 

Click here to learn more about Olivia, our cover story in the March-April 2022 issue of Inkandescent Women magazine!

First, a little more about Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine

This remarkable story will equally enchant fans of Hidden Figures and Radium Girls. We meet three Victorian women who broke down barriers in the medical field to become the first women doctors. They revolutionized the way women received health care and changed the way women looked at what was possible for themselves, their sisters, and their daughters.

In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness—a diagnosis could significantly limit their ability to find husbands, jobs, or be received in polite society.

Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman’s place in the male-dominated medical field. For the first time, Women in White Coats tells the complete history of these three pioneering women who, despite countless obstacles, earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same. Though very different in personality and circumstance, together, these women built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges—creating for the first time medical care for women by women.

With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, Women in White Coats tells the courageous history these women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today.

About Olivia: “I started writing as a young girl — mysteries fashioned after her beloved Nancy Drew,” noting that as a teen, her passion for ballet saw her train to become a professional dancer. A broken foot prompted Campbell’s pivot to arts journalist. An unplanned pregnancy, complicated birth, and postpartum depression turned her writing interest from the arts to a medic in college.

Today, she is an independent journalist, essayist, and author focusing on the intersections of medicine, women, history, and nature. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine/The Cut, HISTORY, The Washington Post, The Guardian, SELF, Aeon, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, Literary Hub, Atlas Obscura, Good Housekeeping, Catapult, Parents, and Undark, among others. Visit her journalism portfolio here.

Olivia’s first book, Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine, was published in March 2021 by HarperCollins/Park Row Books. 

She holds a master’s degree in nonfiction science writing from Johns Hopkins University and an undergraduate degree in journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers. Campbell lives in the Philadelphia suburbs along with her husband, three sons, and two beloved cats. Learn more at ocampbellwriter.com.