I had a great time at the screening of the Cirque Du Freak movie in the Belltable theatre in Limerick last Saturday. This was only my second public appearance in 2022, and while I miss being out on the road, the upside is that I tend to relish my rare events far more now than I did back in the day when I was touring almost non-stop! When I was doing hundreds of events per year, back in my heyday, they tended to blur into one another. I always enjoyed the signings and talks, but there were a LOT of logistics to deal with, and I had to "reset" at the end of each session, as there were a new bunch of fans waiting to chat with and sign for at the next one. There was very little time to sit back and soak up the wonder of being an in-demand author and to reflect on how weirdly brilliant the last couple of hours had been!!

On Saturday I was able to cherish every last minute of the event. Sitting with my wife and son Dante (well, he chose to sat in the row behind me, with a friend, but he was still *fairly* close!) to watch the movie... talking a bit about it beforehand and answering questions afterwards... being able to spend a nice chunk of time with each fan at the signing afterwards because I was wasn't having to rush off to get ready for another event... It was a special, special night.

The fans were special as well, as they always are -- you guys never cease to amaze me!! Most were local, as one would expect, but one lady had come up from Cork especially for it... one guy had driven down from Belfast (well, his car had broken down the day before, so his father ended up driving him!)... and a young woman and her beau decided at the last minute to hop in their car in Sheffield (in the UK), drive a long way to the ferry, cross the Irish Sea, then drive across the breadth of Ireland to come and see me chat and get her books signed!!!

As I said above, it was a really special night for me, and I hope it was special for those who came along to it too. I might never again tour as aggressively as I once did, but I do hope to do more regular events in the years to come. In the meantime I'm going to cling long and hard to the memories of one-off appearances like this one, and enjoy the hell out of them!!!