It’s been a while since I posted a writing update. Did you think I wasn’t writing?

The story must be told.

“Hidden Gifts” is my working title for Book 3 in the Secrets in Casten’s Horn series. It’s starting to grow on me. If it holds, it would have a couple different meanings relevant to this segment of the story, just like “Driftless Spirits” had for Book 1 and “Tangled Roots” had for Book 2. “Hidden gifts” can apply to both things and people, after all, and I’m not just talking about Charlotte!

I’m on the 11th chapter (there’s a Prologue as with previous books, so I’m actually writing Chapter 10), and I’m about 17,400 words into the story.

What can I tell you about this one? Right now I’m sticking to my idea to have the action take place over a single 24 hours, not counting the Prologue or Epilogue. Casten’s Horn is having their annual Solstice Festival, their version of a holiday celebration. Of course, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest amount of daylight. That also means it has the longest amount of darkness. One extremely long-time resident of Casten’s Horn loves the long dark the most. If you’ve read Tangled Roots, you know who I’m talking about.

The crime in Hidden Gifts is theft. The history that will unfold revolves around the Simon family. From the first book, you may remember that Harro Simon partnered with Maja Casten when the town’s logging and milling industry expanded into millworking. Maja chose Harro over her then current business partner, Oscar Rask, understanding he didn’t have the town’s best interests at heart. Also, his black ledger made her uneasy, for good reason.

The only present-day member of the Simon family still in Casten’s Horn is Linda Pohl, Harro’s granddaughter. I mentioned her in passing in the first two books. You’ll finally meet her in Hidden Gifts and she plays a big part in the story.

I don’t have a synopsis written yet to share. This book feels like a blend of the first two, part town festival driven and part “what comes out at night.” Since it’s centered around the holidays, my idea for the climax is to not be quite so harrowing as Book 2, but we shall see. Sometimes villains do what villains do, but my three big rules for “cozy” still apply. Nothing too graphic, no lasting harm, and an amateur sleuth doing her best to set things right.