Morton S Gray – A New Arrival in Borteen Bay

Today I am delighted to welcome the lovely, Morton S. Gray, back on my blog to talk about her new book A New Arrival in Borteen Bay.

Morton lives 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.

Morton worked for many years in the electricity industry in staff development and training. She is a qualified hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. 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.

Hello Morton, lovely to see you. It feels like ages, but before we get started would you like a tea or coffee?

Ooo, I’d love a skinny flat white please, that’s my coffee of choice.

So, thank you for popping in today to talk about your new book, A New Arrival in Borteen Bay:

A brand new and utterly heart-warming feel-good romance

(The Secrets of Borteen Bay Book 7)

Skye knows it’s now or never. It’s time for her to reveal herself to the father she’s never met.

So she hops on a plane from Dublin to the English seaside town of Borteen.

But between the father she’s just getting to know and her worried mother, Skye realizes that the past is never that simple as a whirlwind of secrets turns their world upside down.

And now Skye has Adam, the hunky guy next door, to contend with. He’s determined to show her there’s room in her life for love.

Skye thinks they’re better off as friends, but Adam has other ideas. Even when she reveals a secret of her own.Will Skye allow history to repeat itself? Or will she let go of the secrets of the past and open herself up to the future?

Book seven in The Secrets of Borteen Bay series. I have to say, Morton, I was very excited to hear this was coming out and having read it, I will say that I loved it, definitely a five-star review from me.

Oh, thank you so much! I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the book.

But, how easy do you find it to write a series of books? Did you have a number of very clear ideas for stories that would work in a common location before you started your first novel?

Not really. I have to say that the series has just evolved over time. It’s sometimes difficult to let go of some of the more minor characters and so the answer is to give them their own stories. All of my books can be read individually, but if you read the series you may recognise some of the characters from previous novels.

Tell me more about Borteen. I loved creating a fictional town for my own books, but is Borteen based on anywhere real and if so, where?

Borteen is purely fictional. A product of my imagination and a blending of several places I’ve visited on the English coastline. I always imagine it to be on the Northeast coast, but I’ve tried not to be too prescriptive so that readers can use their own imaginations. Borteen has grown up on the hillside around the sandy bay. It has a lot of Victorian buildings along its promenade and the high street, and a fair variety of shops. Some of these shops pander to the tourist trade, but Borteen is also a place where people live all year round.

Do you have a map pinned up that you refer to? And do you find it gets bigger with every book you write?

I have a very ragged hand drawn map of the geography of Borteen and it is peppered with images of the main buildings cut from magazines or printed from the internet.

I keep saying that I am going to draw it up properly, but there never seems to be the time and I’m not sure I have the necessary skills to make a good job of it. One day…

It feels like a close community, the sort of place anyone would want to live. Lots of support from friends and neighbours. So, just imagine for one minute if you would that you are an estate agent. How would you sell the place to people considering moving to the area?

Sea, sand, great shops, school, church, pubs and coffee shops. Borteen is ideal for a holiday home or as a place to put down permanent roots. An active community with good transport links to the town of Sowden for other needs and railway links.

Crazy Crystals – such a great name for a shop. Tell us about Buzz’s shop and what he sells.

Your first impression on entering Crazy Crystals would be the smell of incense. Then a wall of cabinets containing every crystal you can imagine and other items, such as healing wands incorporating crystals. There are rails of colourful ethnic clothing, crinkly skirts and woollen coats. Bright bags, pictures and mirrors are displayed in every nook and cranny. There are shelves of wooden animals, jewellery, bells and incense burners. The shop counter is an old wooden one, with a huge rose quartz crystal and a well used pack of tarot cards next to the till. A Bodhran drum with a wolf’s face painted on it is hung behind on the wall.

I’ve heard of energy labyrinths, but never seen or walked one. Can you explain what they are and your experiences with them?I first came across an energy labyrinth on a course in Stratford upon Avon many years ago. The guy running the course used dowsing rods to measure the depth of the energetic field coming from each participant and then we walked the path of the labyrinth – this particular one was laid out with pebbles. After the walk, he measured your energy field again and all of our auras had expanded massively and in addition we felt calm and relaxed. I was fascinated. A few years later, a friend mowed a labyrinth into her lawn and we tried the experiment again with similar results. 

Whatever you believe, it’s just fun to walk around a path like this if you ever get the chance.

Where do you start with a new book?

It depends. I can start with a character, a phrase, a concept or even by hearing some song lyrics. This is the magic of writing and the bit of the process I enjoy most.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I don’t plot at all and any attempts to do so haven’t worked. I find that batches of the story download into my mind (usually in the shower).

At what point do you write the end scene?

Again, this depends. If I get stuck with a story middle, I have been known to write the end so that I know exactly where I am heading.

How do you decide on names for your characters?

Names usually just come to me, but I have to be careful that I don’t reuse them. Every hero would be called Harry and I seem to have been using Lewis quite a lot too and having to change the character’s name.

Funnily enough I am writing a book at the moment where my hero is called Declan, but he’s lovely! But after reading A New Arrival in Borteen Bay, I’m in two minds about whether to go back and change his name. What would make you go back and change one or more of your character’s names?

I was actually asked to change a character’s name in my second published novel, The Truth Lies Buried. The main character was called Damien and the editor said that she felt readers would immediately think of Damien in the Omen films. However, instead of changing his name I gave him a nickname, Carver, as he is a wood sculptor.

I know you’re very craftsy. (I’m not sure that’s the right word, but you know what I mean). I’m toying with the idea of glass blowing in 2024. Are there any hobbies you haven’t tried yet, that you’d like to try?

I’m sure there are absolutely loads I haven’t tried yet and I have had a go at quite a few. The latest courses I’ve attended have been for weaving, glass bead making and French polishing and having crocheted for years, I’ve recently learned how to do tapestry crochet and mosaic crochet. I had a Zentangle course for Christmas – meditative doodles! I want to have a go at making real silver jewellery, sea glass pendants and I also fancy a dabble in portrait painting.

You and I both share a love of family history, and relationships are important in this book. DNA often throws up interesting results, although I dispute the fact that I am actually ¼ Scottish, because that would be a whole grandparent full and to the best of my knowledge they came firmly from South England. However, I have found a second/third cousin link to someone I had never heard of before, that I am still investigating. How is your own family history going? 

Ooo, exciting. Good luck with proving your Scottishness.

I didn’t do much with my family tree in 2023 as I was busy typing up my late mother’s memoirs, but I intend to get back to researching in 2024 and am determined to write up the work I have done so far for family members. I also have some more leads to follow up from my own DNA test.

And finally, what’s next from the Morton S Gray stable?

I’m working on an eighth Borteen book. I’m about three quarters of the way through writing the story of Bonnie Gilbert, who wants to train to be an art therapist and Mark Halladay, who has had a terrible motorbike accident.

It’s been lovely catching up with you Morton, thank you for your time today and good luck with the release of this book.

Anni x

Links for Morton and her new book:

Book link: A New Arrival in Borteen Bay

Series Link: The Secrets of Borteen Bay

You can catch up with Morton on her website/blog www.mortonsgray.com, on

Twitter – @MortonSGray, her Facebook page – Morton S. Gray Author – https://www.facebook.com/mortonsgray/ and 

Instagram – @mortonsgrayauthor – https://www.instagram.com/morton_s_gray/