Paul Hickling shares his hilarious tales of Costa life

PAUL HICKLING, the author of book the Roman Oasis, spent a busy morning book signing for his enthusiastic followers at the English Bookshop in Sabinillas. Euro Weekly News was fortunate enough to interview Paul in between the demand for his attention from avid readers.
Paul arrived in Spain back in 1978 after living in Bishop’s Stortford, England with a pocket full of dreams and great sense of adventure. Since then he has gone through a rollercoaster ride of a life while building up his restaurant, the Roman Oasis in Sabinillas. During this time Paul began to write a small column for a local magazine, as he found that he had enough material to keep the readers amused with the humorous happenings of day-to-day life in the restaurant.
He told the EWN: “I had built up years of short stories while writing for the magazine, and as the restaurant evolved, so did my accumulation of stories, into the form of a book. I was also a good friend of author Keith Floyd, who was staying at my house while he was finalising one of his books. Keith introduced me to James Steen who at the time was the editor for Punch Magazine, and James offered to edit my work, so I took him up on his offer.” Now after 14 years the book is complete and is being snatched up from bookshelves along the Cost del Sol and in the UK, and is also available on Amazon.
The book describes Paul’s humorous accounts of 30 years worth of toil and trouble while serving cocktail-sipping celebrities and living in the good old days of the peseta. The minute you turn the first page, you will be hooked as you empathise with Paul’s rapidly paced account of the sheer madness of living on the Costa, and laugh your way through his heart-warming trials.
Paul generates warmth and enthusiasm around him and this is present on every page of the book. He is a larger than life character who loves to interpret life’s amusing and incongruous situations. He is content sharing his life with his wife Kaat and his parrot, Ruby, who greets visitors at the door of his restaurant with the phrase “I would like a gin and tonic,” which should give you an insight to the happy craziness that has inspired Paul’s writing.
The Roman Oasis is a must-read if need a pick me up, once you pick the book up it will be a chore to put it down. You can purchase The Roman Oasis at The English Bookshop, Sabinillas, Bookworld Banus Puerto Banus, The Gibraltar Bookshop, and it is also available on Kindle or order online at www.amazon.com