Did someone say it’s nearly Christmas? There are only 29 days to go!!!!
Welcome back Morton, I’m looking forward to catching up and talking about all things Christmas and of course your new book
Are you a lover or hater of Christmas Morton?
I hate the frenetic quality of the build up to Christmas, those times when you can’t park because the carparks are so full and everyone seems to lose basic civility. I hate the pressure of trying to get Christmas presents and the Christmas food.
However, I love sending Christmas cards. I love Christmas decorations, Christmas trees and lights. I love spending time in a relaxed way with my family. So on balance, I love Christmas.
Do you have any Christmas traditions, if so what are they are they carried on from your childhood or have you created your own?
We tend to have a quiet time really, maybe do a couple of jigsaws together and watch films. My husband is brilliant at cooking Christmas lunch thankfully, because meals with so many elements like that tend to get me very flustered – I’m more a one pot type of cook.
On Christmas day, we fetch my mother in time for lunch and share our meal with my two sons and the eldest’s girlfriend. In the afternoon, my sister and her family join us and they take mom home.
Do you think we’ll have a white Christmas this year?
No! I can’t actually ever remember a snowy Christmas. It’s more likely to be cold and sunny, or misty and moist.
What is your earliest Christmas memory?
Difficult one. I was an only child until I was seven. I enjoyed Christmas much more once I had a sister. I used to like watching her open her presents first. I remember one confusing Christmas when Santa left presents all over my parents’ bedroom instead of in the usual pillow cases at the end of our beds! They weren’t even in piles for my sister and I. I realise now that my mom and dad must have overslept, but as children, we wondered what was going on. Mom retrieved the situation by getting us to guess who each item was for, so it turned out as great fun in the end.
What was the best present you received as a child?
As part of our Christmas stockings we always used to have huge boxes of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolates – I don’t even see boxes that big for sale any more. But, I think my favourite single item would be my talking doll. She was about two feet tall and had a string to pull in her back. Her conversation was limited to a few sentences, of course – “I am Little Poppet” was her first phrase. My mother was brilliant with the sewing machine and had made her a full wardrobe of clothes. Now I think about it that must have taken her so many nights of sewing when I was asleep or at school. That memory made me a little teary as my mother now has Alzheimer’s and dementia.
What is your favourite Christmas film?
I adore Love Actually and The Holiday and have watched them numerous times, but never tire of the stories or sound tracks.
What would you buy the main characters in Christmas at Moonshine Hollow for Christmas?
Silvie would be easy. She loves Christmas, so anything sparkly, probably a nice jumper to wear and a necklace. Justin is more difficult, because anything to do with Christmas propels him back into horrid Christmas memories. He loves drumming, so I guess a drum of some kind would always be welcome.
Run away to the little beach café this Christmas …
Five years ago at Christmas, solicitor Justin Sadler made the decision to leave his comfortable existence behind and move to the coast. Since then, he’s tried his best to ignore the festive season and, as he sits in the little beach café and reflects on that fateful night when his life was turned upside down, he expects his fifth Christmas alone to be no different to any of the others since he made his escape.
But when he encounters a mystery woman on the beach, he soon realises he may have found a fellow runaway and kindred spirit. Could Justin finally be ready to move on and let Christmas into his life again?
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 published after she won the Choc Lit Publishing Search for a Star competition. This story follows a woman with a troubled past as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her son’s new headteacher, Harry Dixon. The book is available as a paperback and e-book.
Morton’s second book for Choc Lit The Truth Lies Buried is another romantic suspense novel, The book tells the story of Jenny Simpson and Carver Rodgers as they uncover secrets from their past. This book is available as an e-book, paperback and audiobook.
Christmas at Borteen Bay was 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 Guesthouse with her mother, and local policeman Ethan Gibson, as they unravel a family secret as Christmas approaches.
Bestselling Sunny Days on the Beach, is her fourth novel for Choc Lit. Again set in Borteen, this book is the story of what happens when craft shop owner, Mandy Vanes takes in an abandoned teenager, Nick Crossten and the repercussions when Graham Frankley, a gin distiller, arrives in town to say he has received a letter telling him he is Nick’s father.
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.
If you’d like to find out more of what Angela gets up to (Advance warning: this may include references to wine, dark chocolate, Poldark and the hunky Aidan Turner)
Check out Angela’s other books on the Choc Lit website
I previously spoke to Morton as part of my welcome to the family series, that can be found Here!
A Story About A Girl 