Connecting back to Indigenous roots is a key feature in Dundas author's new novel

Secrets, friends and missing people. 

Those are just some of the words that describe Cheryl Isaacs's novel The Unfinished — where athlete Avery from small town Crook's Falls grapples with residents who suddenly start to go missing. 

Indigenous folklore points to monsters that could be lurking in a strange nearby pond, as Avery struggles to connect with her Indigenous roots. 

Isaacs, who is based in Dundas, recently spoke about the book at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival. She says it was important for her to write a book about a young person who is disconnected from her Indigenous ancestry. 

She talked about The Unfinished and her time at the festival with CBC K-W's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris.

Craig Norris: When people ask you to describe this book, what do you say?

Cheryl Isaacs: It's a creepy, atmospheric kind of story about change and growth and learning who you are and accepting who you are. So not so much horror, but it's there.

Craig Norris: Why was it important for you to write a book about an Indigenous youth who wasn't connected to her roots?

Cheryl Isaacs: Because there are so many books out there, particularly picture books, where Indigenous children are depicted with their families growing up in communities, speaking the language in the culture. But there are so many young people who grow up through no fault of their own, without that support and without that kind of scaffolding. And I just felt it was an under served demographic that those people deserve to see themselves in books as well.

Craig Norris: Where did you come up with the idea for the monsters in the book?

Cheryl Isaacs: Honestly, I really don't know the idea for the book. I was just out for a run and I saw a bed of ferns that for a moment looked like water. And then I just had the idea of something rising up from that creepy kind of knot water. And it was just there. Unfortunately, I don't plot and plan my characters. They just kind of pop into my brain unannounced.

Craig Norris: What is it about these types of stories that inspire you to write them?

Cheryl Isaacs: I think I always tend towards the darker, the creepier — but with a lot of love and a lot of humour. I think what I write is very realistic. It's very lifelike. It's definitely marketed as horror, but I think the best kind of horror is the horror that scares you but also makes you smile sometimes or makes you laugh. I feel like it's more of a complete experience, right?

Craig Norris: And you attended your first festival as a featured writer — the Eden Mills Writers' Festival. Tell us about that.

Cheryl Isaacs: Yes, it was my first time at Eden Mills and it was just really lovely. It's just a beautiful setting, very friendly, relaxed vibe and everybody was really excited to be there. The weather was beautiful so I really enjoyed that. I had a really good time. So that was my first experience … I'm excited to try all the different festivals, but Eden Mills will always be my first.

Craig Norris: What's next for you?

Cheryl Isaacs: There is actually a sequel to The Unfinished coming out next year, so not too many spoilers for The Unfinished. But at the end of the story, it's not a cliffhanger, but there are some unanswered questions that will be answered in the next book. And yeah, after that, who knows? Whatever pops into my brain. 

Listen | Cheryl Isaacs, author of The Unfinished:

The Morning Edition - K-W4:36Dundas author Cheryl Isaacs tells us more about her debut novel 'The Unfinished'

An eerie tale of monsters and mystery takes us through a small town where people are suddenly disappearing. 'The Unfinished' is a novel by Cheryl Isaacs who recently got the chance to talk about her debut novel at the Eden Mills Writers Festival.