Cobbles

Today has been slightly surreal! After my interview with the Czech national daily, I was picked up by the documentary crew who drove me out to a vast shopping centre on the outskirts of Brno. There I had to wander about talking about The Blackhouse, speculate on the incongruity of a kiddies' London bus, sit typing on a chair as I was circled by a toy train, compare a shopping mall to a island, then walk and talk some more.

We had lunch in a whisky pub where I sat typing at the bar and, at the director's request, compared it to an island, before being whisked off to row across a man-made lake, stopping only to throw the typewriter into the water - and then fish it out again.

Finally I got drenched while wandering around, on camera, a recently erected stone circle which locals had raised on a seriously inaccessible field - for spiritual purposes, apparently. When the director asked me if I could feel the energy I told him I could feel the rain!

All this for 8 minutes on prime time Czech telly!

Then came the event in the theatre above (cobbles were being relaid in the square outside and I couldn't resist this angle on the shot).

The theatre was packed - the biggest turnout of the festival so far, apparently. I read for 30-minutes before being interrogated by the audience for the next hour - with the outstanding assistance of my translator, Filip. What an extraordinarily likeable young man (who has also translated the first of the China books into Czech).

Afterwards there was an enormous queue for signing, before I eventually got the chance to wind down and chat with my publisher and grab a bite to eat.

Off again at 7.15am tomorrow on a 1.5 hour drive to Bratislava, and a five-hour train ride to Kosice - where I will have to do it all again tomorrow night!