Ika's Fantasy

It’s a passion, I can’t stop doing it. I can’t cry over a rejection and then not write anymore. I learned the hard way. The rejections were disheartening but you learn to do it again.

Young Malaysian fantasy writer Ika Vanderkoeck has just had a a short story published in an international anthology Ages Of Wonder, and talks to Allan Koay in The Star about the tough road ahead and those who have helped her on her journey so far, including a very valuable mentor Janny Wurts.

Allan's portrait of her is spot on (as anyone who saw her at Readings@Seksan will agree) :

Meeting Ika for the first time, one can’t help but be prone to fantasy cliches in trying to describe her. “Elfin” comes to mind immediately – she is petite, soft-spoken, waif-like, almost like a character straight out of a fantasy novel.