KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 -- I joked with Vanessa Chan that she is probably the only author - both local AND foreign - who has received so much press on her return to Malaysia for her book tour as well as to visit family.

After all, this Petaling Jaya born and bred may now be based in New York but this is tanah air. Home.

By now - even if you are not an avid reader - you'd have heard of Chan and her debut novel The Storm We Made which came out with a bang in January as a Good Morning America Book Club pick.

It was also a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick and the book is a national bestseller in the US.

You'd also have read or heard the book was acquired by international publishers in a flurry of auctions. And yes, that is a BIG deal.

Before sh...