Continuing the celebration of a special bonfire night in my novel The Purrfect Pet Sitter, I am delighted to welcome fellow Choc Lit and Apricot Plots author, Morton S Gray to my blog to share her bonfire night memories. 

Morton S Gray shares her bonfire night memories:

I have lots of fragments of memories from bonfire nights past:

• my dad and uncle throwing ‘bangers’ under my aunt and mom’s feet – we wouldn’t dream of doing this now!!!!
• using my childhood huge rag doll as a guy on a bonfire in our garden and the bonfire stopping the traffic in the road when the wind changed.

• squashing into my sister’s pushchair at the first big firework display I went to, as I didn’t like the explosions.

I’ve always loved sparklers, writing names and drawing pictures with the light.

These days I’m not keen on fireworks, as my little dog gets so upset by them. We live near a Safari Park and they seem to delight in putting on huge firework displays that sound as if cannons are being fired over the house.

Thank you so much for sharing your memories Morton. I am pleased it wasn’t only my dad who seemed to have a blatant disregard for the Firework Safety Code; he always kept the fireworks in a cardboard box and read the instructions with a match! (Haha, it’s amazing we’ve all survived this long!)

I hope you and your gorgeous dog have a peaceful November 5th this year. It can be a stressful time for our pets can’t it. The display in the Purrfect Pet Sitter is an organised event on a set night, that is advertised well in advance – which I know is preferable to ad hoc firework displays. And  I should point out is the main characters who go along to enjoy the night. The pets Lisa Blake looks after are safely at home with their owners.

I am lucky that my own dogs have all been fine with fireworks, but I know there are many who find this time of year stressful.

For those seeking advice for keeping their pets safe and comfortable, I hope the following links are useful:

• Blue Cross – Fireworks and Pets.
• National Animal Welfare Trust – Pets and Fireworks.
• PDSA – Pets and Fireworks (good advice and pet calming play lists).
• Dogs Trust – Sound Therapy (aimed at younger dogs).

About 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 Beach was e-published in January 2017, after she won Choc Lit Publishing Search for a Star competition.

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 on her website, on Twitter, Facebook and on Instagram. Morton is also a member of Apricot Plots.

Books by Morton S Gray

The Girl on the Beach

Who is Harry Dixon?

When Ellie Golden meets Harry Dixon, she can’t help but feel she recognises him from somewhere. But when she finally realises who he is, she can’t believe it – because the man she met on the beach all those years before wasn’t called Harry Dixon. And, what’s more, that man is dead.

For a woman trying to outrun her troubled past and protect her son, Harry’s presence is deeply unsettling – and even more disconcerting than coming face to face with a dead man, is the fact that Harry seems to have no recollection of ever having met Ellie before. At least that’s what he says …

But perhaps Harry isn’t the person Ellie should be worried about. Because there’s a far more dangerous figure from the past lurking just outside of the new life she has built for herself, biding his time, just waiting to strike.

Genre: Romantic Suspense | Publisher: Choc Lit
Read my review | Buy the book 

The Truth Lies Buried

 

Two children in a police waiting room, two distressed mothers, a memory only half remembered …

When Jenny Simpson returns to the seaside town of Borteen, her childhood home, it’s for a less than happy reason. But it’s also a chance for her to start again.

A new job leads to her working for Carver Rodgers, a man who lives alone in a house that looks like it comes from the pages of a fairy tale – until you see the disaster zone inside …

As Jenny gets to know Carver she begins to unravel the sadness that has led to his chaotic existence. Gradually they realise they have something in common that is impossible to ignore – and it all links back to a meeting at a police station many years before.

Could the truth lie just beneath their feet?

Genre: Romantic Suspense | Publisher: Choc Lit
Read my review | Buy the book

Christmas at Borteen Bay

Christmas has a way of bringing family secrets to the surface …

Christmas is a bittersweet time for Pippa Freeman. There are good memories, of course – but some painful ones too.

Then her mother is implicated in a mysterious occurrence in their home town of Borteen, and Pippa wonders if she’ll ever experience a happy Christmas again – especially when a family secret is revealed.

But when police officer and old school friend Ethan Gibson offers his support, Pippa begins to realise that even though her life has been turned upside down, a happy and hopeful Christmas isn’t impossible …

Genre: Romantic Suspense | Publisher: Choc Lit
Buy the book here.