La Asociacion de Prensa de la Costa del Sol (Costa Press Club), of which I've been a member for some dozen years, is a social grouping of journalists, writers and other media people living and working in Southern Andalucia. The group is international; present at last Tuesday's get-together were English, Welsh and Scots; two Australians; two Germans; an Argentinian, as well as a couple of Spanish.
Pre-amble
The February get-together for a presentation and dinner was earlier this week at Restaurante La Alvaroteca in Malaga City.
An impressive 34 members and guests turned up, the highest attendance yet in the 20-odd year existence of the association.
What was the attraction? The restaurant where we were to meet? Or, the speakers? A combination, I think.
The chosen restaurant on this occasion was La Alvaroteca, in the centre. After a pre-dinner vermouth-based cocktail and a natter, we occupied our seats in the private dining room, and were treated to three talks by publisherd authors.
Two women and one man, ranging from 70-odd down to 22 years of age. Two were/are members of the CPC.
The evening was introduced by Joanna Styles, CPC committee member and the organiser of this event, and compered by Neil Hesketh, the new chairman, elected following the sad and premature death last year of previous incumbent Dane Jesper Sander Pedersen.
"Writing and publishing under the microscope"
The panel 
of authors taking part in the presentation included a Scottish lady, an Englishman and a Welshwoman.
First up was Joan Fallon, a Scottish-born lady who has lived in southern Spain for longer than she hasn't. She is the author of 18 published books, one non-fiction and the rest novels, usually set against a Spanish historical backdrop. Joan is a long-standing member of the Costa Press Club. Joan managed to find a publisher,
Nick Foster, an Englishman, writes novels based on true crimes. Nick splits his time between Spain and the Netherlands and has half a dozen published books. He self-publishes and his books are available from Amazon.
Katie Lewis, born in Spain of Welsh parents, is the "new-kid-on-the-block". Just 22, she is tri-lingual and has one book published but several others in the pipeline. She also self-publishes. She writes fantasies in English and translates them herself into Spanish.
All three spoke about their own backgrounds and what inspires them to write, and offered advice to aspiring authors.
After a few questions from the audience, we settled down for the main event. We were getting a bit peckish!
La Alvaroteca
Dinner was a menu de degustacion, comprising a wealth of exquisite tapas. My wife, an occasional guest at these functions, and no mean cook herself, declared it to be the best yet of the several CPC dinners she has attended. We were served the following:
Ensaladilla de Gambas
Tosta de Arroz Negro, Anguila Ahumada y Ali Oli
Coliflor a la Crema
Chipirón en Salsa Americana
Merluza, Holandesa y Lechuga
Postre - leche, Tomillo y Calabaza
Then, it was all over. People got into their Ubers and Bolts and headed off home. We just ambled across the road to our hotel, the reasonably-priced Hotel Goartin. We had planned a mini-break around the CPC meeting, so that we could enjoy a couple of days on the coast and in magnificent Malaga.
© Pablo de Ronda
Factfile:
Costa Press Club, http://costapressclub.com
La Alvaroteca, C. Gerona, 38 bis, Cruz de Humilladero, 29006 Málaga Teléfono: 680 62 52 14
Hotel Goartin, C. Gerona, 32, Cruz de Humilladero, 29006 Málaga Teléfono: 952 36 51 35
Joan Fallon, Home - Joan Fallon, Amazon.es: Joan Fallon: books, biography, latest update
Nick Foster, Amazon.es : nick foster
Katie Lewis, (5) Video | Facebook - "A Curse of Love and Law" is available in both English and Spanish and is the first of a series.
Acknowledgements:
Liz Parry (official chronicler of the Costa Press Club)
Karl Smallman (photo of the authors)
Paul Whitelock (all other photos)
SUR in English (background information)
Tags:
Alvaroteca, Asociacion de Prensa, Costa Press Club, Hotel Goartin, Jesper Sander Pedersen, Joan Fallon, Joanna Styles, Katie Lewis, Malaga, Neil Hesketh, Nick Foster, Pablo de Ronda, Sur in English