This time tomorrow I shall be at the airport here in Kuala Lumpur, waiting for an overnight flight. Yuk.

Never mind, it will be worth it.

Couple of things about two delightful people I happen to know – first, there was a bit of a mix-up about Kate Elliott’s kaffeeklatsch for the con. As a result she will have it outside the convention area in the Crown Casino at a coffee shop – read the programme in due course for details. Hey, you’ll get REAL coffee! The time is 3pm on Saturday. If you go, ask Kate about the wonderful world she has created for her new trilogy. I have read the first book, and it is fabulous. Truly. Imagine steampunk magic Phoenicians…and you’ll be halfway there.

The second person is a Malaysian. Now Malaysians at a Worldcon are as scarce as dragons, especially one who is making the trip specifically to get there. Her name is Ika Vanderkoeck, and she was born in Bandung, Indonesia… Her programme includes a reading: Friday / 10:00 am/ Room 207 and a Kaffeeklatsch: on Monday / 3:00 pm/ Room 201.

Why should you drop by her reading and her kaffeeklatsch? Well, because Ika is going places, and didn’t you always want to be able to say, “Oh, yeah, I knew X before they were in the least bit famous…”? Well, now’s your chance. Ika is 26 and she’s already had a short story published in a Tor Daw anthology. And there is other exciting possibilities going on in her writing life too, right now, which I am not at liberty to talk about. Even if nothing comes of that, it is my belief that she is going places, soon.

And she deserves it. She works hard, for a start. She has that drive we writers recognise in one another. I have read the first 40,000 words or so of the first book of her trilogy, and believe me, she is good.