Publication day has arrived! I am thrilled to tell you that my new novel, Boomerville at Ballymegille is now available as an e-book and paperback (audible coming soon) and you can download it here:
The pre-publication reviews are wonderful and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the bloggers and reviewers who are taking part in the online book launch over the next two weeks.
Boomerville is back!
Join Hattie and Jo as they head to Southern Ireland to open Boomerville Manor, a holiday retreat for guests of ‘a certain age’. There’s Irish craic and shenanigans aplenty for the colourful cast of characters as everyone gathers for the grand opening.
Meet Melissa, an ex-cabaret singer running from her abusive husband, and Bill, a bachelor bullied from beyond the grave by the ghostly voice of his mother. Along with local bobby Harry the Helmet, ageing aquatic team the Boomerville Babes, eccentric artist Lucinda Gray, and heartthrob Finbar Murphy, they gather in Ireland and the fun begins. But murder is in the air and there’s mischief afoot. Will the residents get more than they bargained for at Boomerville?
Set in the beautiful Irish countryside, ‘Boomerville at Ballymegille’ is a heart-warming story of friendship, fears and new beginnings.
WINNER OF THE ‘TEDDY’ COMPETITION
DRUM ROLL…
I decided that as so many readers entered the draw to win a lovely ‘Teddy’ from Boomerville at Ballymegille, and because your entries were so wonderful, that there will be THREE Teddy puppies heading to new owners. Congratulations to LINDA, KELLY AND KAREN who will all be getting an email confirmation today.
The puppies look forward to their new homes!
PROMO
And because its publication day there is of course a lovely PROMO for you.
You can download the follow up to Boomerville at Ballymegille for only 99p/$1.30 until 15th October by following the link here:
On the publication of Summer Days at the Beach, Author Morton S Gray shares her lockdown recipes and tells us why food features in her novels.
For the last nine months, we have been a household of five after some complications with a house move, which I won’t go into here! Most of the meal preparation has fallen to me and I have found this a little stressful, especially during lockdown when five of us were homeworking and eating three meals a day too. How to keep meals fresh and interesting when the last thing you want to do is to cook again?
Inevitably, some of my staple meals find their way into my books. My husband’s favourite food is beans on cheese on toast, so I can rest assures that if all else fails that meal will be well received by him. (This meal featured in my novel The Truth Lies Buried).
I am always very conscious of the addition of food and drink in my novels. In my latest book, Sunny Days at the Beach, my heroine takes in an abandoned teenager and finds herself making not only packed lunches, but having to think more about meals than when she was a singleton.
Mandy, the heroine, prepares another of my staple meals – bacon, cheese and vegetables with pasta, affectionately known in this house as clean out the fridge pasta! Nick, the teenager in the book is obsessed by pizza and tries to order it at any restaurant they visit. Nick gets tuna and mayo sandwiches for his school packed lunch and discovers a liking for berry smoothies from the beach-side café.
Sunny Days at the Beachhas a gin distiller as a hero. My unsuspecting husband was ‘treated’ to a visit to a gin distillery for his birthday, thinly disguised as my research trip! At the distillery, we learned all about the botanicals, or flavourings, added to the gin to give it a unique taste. I will admit to being fascinated by the possibilities for flavouring gin and some of this filters through into the book.
Gin Botanicals
I’m always alarmed by how much tea and coffee my characters drink in a book, but then I drink a fair few cups a day myself!
Clean out the fridge pasta recipe
Ingredients
Meat – you can use cooked bacon, ham, cooked chicken or even mushrooms.
Vegetables – whatever you have to hand – I usually steam a combination of peas, sweetcorn and edme beans.
Cooked pasta.
Grated cheese.
Mayonnaise (mixed with mustard if you like it).
Salt and pepper to taste.
When your ingredients are cooked combine them all in a large saucepan with the cheese, salt and pepper and a generous helping of mayonnaise. Mix and serve. It really is that simple. Enjoy!
About the Author – Morton S Gray
Morton lives with her husband, two sons and Lily, the tiny white dog, in Worcestershire, U.K. She has been reading and writing fiction for as long as she can remember, penning her first attempt at a novel aged fourteen. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.
Her debut novel The Girl on the Beachwas published after she won the Choc Lit Publishing Search for a Starcompetition in 2016. This story follows a woman with a troubled past as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her son’s new headteacher, Harry Dixon.
Morton’s second book for Choc Lit The Truth Lies Buried is another romantic suspense novel, The story of Jenny Simpson and Carver Rodgers as they uncover secrets from their past.
Christmas at Borteen Bay is Morton’s first Christmas novella. It is set in her fictional seaside town of Borteen and follows the story of Pippa Freeman, who runs the Rose Court Guest House with her mother, and local policeman Ethan Gibson, as they unravel a family secret as Christmas approaches.
Morton previously worked in the electricity industry in committee services, staff development and training. She has a Business Studies degree and is a fully qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She also has diplomas in Tuina acupressure massage and energy field therapy. She enjoys crafts, history and loves tracing family trees. Having a hunger for learning new things is a bonus for the research behind her books.
You can catch up with Morton with the following links:-
From party nights at the pub to sunny days at the beach …
Craft shop owner Mandy Vanes has always enjoyed a commitment-free singleton lifestyle — in fact, she’s well-known for her wild ways in her small seaside town on the coast.
But when local teenager, Nick Crossten, turns to her for help, Mandy has the opportunity to prove she can be a responsible adult. Although things get tricky when gin distillery owner Graham Frankley comes to town with some unexpected news.
Could this mean that Mandy the party girl is finally ready to grow up?
It’s nearly the end of January and longest month of the year has flown by. For me, January has been busy following a hectic end to 2019.
CELEBRATIONS
I am so happy to share something special. I got married! It was a Christmas wedding with close family and the day was for us, absolutely perfect. My lovely hubby and I tied the knot and started the new year as husband and wife. Second time round for us both, at a time in our lives when neither ever imagined being in a relationship, let alone being married. So, dear friends, never think it’s too late to begin again in whatever you do from work, relationships and adventures. My life has changed completely since I walked out of my previous life and began again, and remember, as my mum always said, ‘The time to be happy, is now.’
BOOK NEWS
Some big news for me is that I have a new book on the way! I’ve changed direction a little and decided to write a new series of mysteries. Hattie Goes To Hollywood is the first in the series and will be published on February 14th. You can pre-order at the pre-publication discounted price here:
When recently bereaved Hattie Mulberry inherits her aunt’s dilapidated cottage in the village of Hollywood in Cumbria, she envisages a quiet life. But retired hotelier Hattie is bored and when her neighbour asks her to investigate a suspicious suicide, Hattie’s career takes a new direction and H&H Investigations is born.
During the hottest summer on record, Hattie discovers there have been three recent suicides in Hollywood and she determines to find out why. Temperatures rise as she throws herself into village life and, with mischief and shenanigans aplenty, Hattie has her work cut out. But will she establish the truth?
Early reviews are super, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that Hattie Goes To Hollywood will soar up the charts and inspire me to write many more in the series.
MARMALADE
Seville oranges are in season and I have been making marmalade. There are so many recipes for marmalade on the internet or in your favourite cookbook and I think that it is great to experiment and discover what tastes work for you. Test and try out different flavours. I added earl grey tea to a dark marmalade, and it is delicious. In a lime and lemon recipe, I included concentrated ginger cordial and it has a really warm, zesty bite. Have a look at this little video, where I talk about marmalade:
There is an annual marmalade awards event in the UK, at Dalemain House in Cumbria, each March. Details are below and entries come from all over the world.
If you want to try your hand at being an award-winning marmalade maker, get your entry in by 2nd February. It attracts many visitors to see all the marmalades, plus demonstrations and fun events over the weekend of 14th & 15th March.
Caroline James Author 