The 40 But 10: Cheryl S. Ntumy

 

I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

Today we are joined by Cheryl S. Ntumy. Cheryl is a Ghanaian writer of speculative fiction, romance and YA. She is part of the Sauútiverse Collective, which created a shared universe for Afrocentric speculative fiction, and Petlo Literary Arts, a creative writing organisation in Botswana. Her Sauútiverse novella Songs for the Shadows was published in 2024 by Atthis Arts and her short story collection Black Friday and Other Stories from Africa was published in 2025 by Flame Tree Press. Along with Eugen Bacon and Stephen Embleton, she co-edited the second Sauútiverse anthology, Sauúti Terrors, to be published in January 2026 by Flame Tree Press.

Why do you write?

I write because I can’t not. I think of writing as alchemy. It’s how I make sense of the world, process my thoughts and emotions and transmute them into something else. Stories translate the weirdness of existence into a universal language. They allow us to use words to communicate what is beyond words. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. Writing is also a kind of compulsion for me; my imagination doesn’t let up and some stories will torment me until I write them!

 

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a new book?

I catch up on sleep, go outside, hang out with other humans – all the things I couldn’t do while possessed by the muses.

 

Describe your book in three words.

Unsettling. Unexpected. Unique. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist!)

 

Describe your book poorly.

So there are these five planets that orbit two suns, sometime in the future, but also sometime in the past, and one of them is dead (or alive, depending) and has kind of been replaced by its moon. A bunch of different people wrote a bunch of scary stories set on these planets, except some aren’t really scary, they’re more like that funny feeling you get when you think someone is watching you. And there are also poems; cool, creepy poems, not like the ones we had to read in school. The peoples and cultures of these planets are African-ish. The humans, that is. If you like good things, you’ll like this book!

 

What is your favorite book from childhood?

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I have a beautiful unabridged edition with both stories and the original illustrations by John Tenniel. It’s one of my most beloved possessions.

Some honourable mentions, all of which I’ve read as an adult: Minnie by Annie M. Schmidt. Collections of folktales, myths and fairytales from around the world, e.g. One Thousand and One Nights. Dan Yaro, Double Agent by Dorothy Wimbush. Watership Down by Richard Adams. And the usual suspects: Nancy Drew, Malory Towers, anything by Judy Blume.

 

What genres won’t you read?

I can tolerate any genre, but dislike excessive violence/cruelty, gore, and fiction with no actual plot.

 

Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?

I read reviews. I want to know what people liked and what they didn’t, what came across the way I hoped it would and what didn’t land. It’s fascinating to see how people interpret things. I also find that reading reviews helps me get over myself!

 

Do you think you’d live long in a zombie apocalypse?

I would die, hopefully, before the zombies get anywhere near me. Apart from the gross factor, zombies bug me on a conceptual level. Why do they need to eat if they’re (un)dead? Why are they never vegetarian? Why don’t they eat themselves or each other? How do they digest food (or do anything at all) when their bodies are falling apart? Nope; I’m not sticking around to be devoured or turned by a decaying meatsack with superhuman strength!

 

Are you a book hoarder or a book unhauler?

Unhauler, definitely. I love books, but not as much as I love space. I don’t want to keep books unless I’ll happily re-read them for the rest of my life, or they have sentimental value. Libraries are a wonderful thing…

 

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?

Fried rice with tofu, salad (no rocket), fried plantain and fresh pepper. Vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup and chocolate pieces. Sobolo (a drink made with bissap, cloves and ginger). Dairy Milk Cashew and Coconut. Hot water with lemon and honey.

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Releases January 20th

Flame Tree Publishing    |    Book Page

Sauúti Terrors

Edited by Eugen Bacon, Stephen Embleton and Cheryl S. Ntumy

This powerful and haunting collection of short stories from the groundbreaking Sauútiverse follows the success of Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology. Sauúti Terrors tells of the doomed, the damned, the shunned, the cunning, the destroyers, the noxious, and more.

Featuring works by African and African diaspora writers: Linda D. Addison, T.L. Huchu, Xan van Rooyen, Jamal Hodge, Ishola Abdulwasiu Ayodele, Wole Talabi, Mazi Nwonwu, Kofi Nyameye, D.S. Falowo, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, J. Umeh, Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Miguel O. Mitchell, DaVaun Sanders and Nerine Dorman.

Flame Tree Beyond & Within collections present a wide range of voices, often with myth-inflected short fiction, and an emphasis on the supernatural, science fiction, the mysterious and the speculative.

The Page 69 Test: Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption

 Disclaimer: The Page 69 Test is not mine. It has been around since 2007, asking authors to compare page 69 against the meat of the actual story it is a part of. I loved the whole idea of it and so I'm stealing it specifically to showcase small press titles - novels, novellas, short story collections, the works! So until the founder of The Page 69 Test calls a cease and desist, let's do this thing....

In this installment of Page 69, 

we put Florence Wetzel's Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption to the test

Set up page 69 for us.

This scene occurs in the first part of the book, which follows the main character Elizabeth through a typical day in Denver, working at a job she loathes and living in a place she’s ashamed of, namely a basement studio. Here Elizabeth is describing life in the studio, including her mysterious neighbor, who she calls the Snuffler.

What is the book about?

The novel is told as Elizabeth’s first-person memoir. She’s a reluctant Denver transplant who lost her prestigious Manhattan publishing job in the wake of the 2009 financial crash. This forces her to move to Colorado, the home of her Beat-poet father, where she takes a minimum-wage job at an indie bookstore. She actively dislikes her coworkers, and she’s humiliated to find herself shelving books she once edited.

This first part of the book is a slow burn that culminates about midway, when Elizabeth’s bitter attitude and haughty behavior lead to a shocking confrontation. She’s forced to reckon with herself, and this journey takes her through the lingering shadows of the Columbine shooting and the JonBenét Ramsey case.

The book is also a love letter to Denver. Elizabeth despises the city at first, but as the novel progresses, she falls in love with its quirky charm. The title comes from Jack Kerouac, who uses the phrase “Holy Denver” in On the Road.

Do you think this page gives our readers an accurate sense of what the novel is about? Does it align itself with the novel’s theme?

I think this section gives a clear impression of Elizabeth’s voice and personality. She has a dry humor that sometimes verges on cruelty, but she also has a good heart buried underneath her verbal sharpness. So even though she doesn’t initially seem sympathetic to the Snuffler, she does worry about him.

I also like that the page mentions Trixie. She’s a secondary character who becomes more important as the book develops, and this is the reader’s first introduction to her.

The novel’s theme is laid out in the subtitle, namely shame and redemption. This is Elizabeth pre-redemption, and it’s clear she could benefit from a kinder attitude to her fellow humans.

And by the way, I did actually see someone wearing a T-shirt that said LOSING FAITH IN HUMANITY ONE PERSON AT A TIME. I never forgot it, and then it popped up here in Holy Denver!

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Page 69 

Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption

I had just stroked on my second layer of polish when I heard a noise in the hallway. A strange muffled snuffling, as if someone had a bad cold but was reluctant to blow their nose.

That could only mean one thing: the Snuffler was home.

Before I moved in, I had asked Pat about my fellow basement dwellers. She said, “On one side, you have Trixie. She’s a nice person and she’s like you, someone who lost work due to the crash and needs low rent. And on the other side—well, don’t worry. He’s harmless.”

Which didn’t do much to inspire confidence. After living at The Swiss Arms for three months, I still hadn’t seen this mysterious tenant. I did, however, hear his odd snufflings whenever he trudged by my door.

The sound was actually a relief, because it meant the Snuffler was still alive. He was clearly one of those people who would lie dead in their apartment for weeks until a neighbor—in this case, me—noticed a bad smell. I always took a deep whiff when I passed the Snuffler’s door, and I listened for his phlegmy breath whenever I heard footsteps passing my studio. Confirming that he was still alive was always a comfort, because it meant I didn’t have to worry about him for the next twenty-four hours.

As my final coat of polish dried, I contemplated the mystery of the Snuffler. We never bumped into each other in the hallway, but I would sometimes see his door close when I left my apartment, which made me suspect he listened at the door before emerging from his lair, deliberately avoiding an encounter. I was fairly certain he only did his laundry in the middle of the night, because once when I was having a bout of insomnia, I heard his door open and close, then heard him shuffle away and shuffle back five minutes later.

The Snuffler obviously had something to hide, although I had no idea what. Even though Pat claimed he wasn’t dangerous, I had my doubts. During one of my brief chats with Trixie, I asked what she thought. Trixie said she’d only seen him once, and that was from behind.

“I called out hello,” she told me, “but he didn’t turn around. He was wearing a gray T-shirt with black letters. Do you know what it said?”

“I shudder to think.”

Trixie raised her eyebrows. “LOSING FAITH IN HUMANITY ONE PERSON AT A TIME.”

“Oh my God,” I replied. “He’s the next Unabomber.”

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Florence Wetzel was born 1962 in Brooklyn, NY. She writes in different genres, including the memoir Sara My Sara: A Memoir of Friendship and Loss. Her novels include the thriller The Woman Who Went Overboard, the Swedish mystery The Grand Man, Dashiki: A Cozy Mystery and Aspasia: A Novel of Suspense and Secrets. She has also authored horror short stories, a book of poems and memoir essays, and co-authored jazz clarinetist Perry Robinson's autobiography. Her latest book is Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption. You can find her at Linktree   |   Instagram   |   Facebook

Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption

Released January 6th

In 2009, at the height of the economic crash, Elizabeth Zwelland loses her prestigious Manhattan publishing job in the fallout from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Forced to move to Colorado, the home of her Beat-poet father, she takes a minimum-wage job at an indie bookstore, shelving the very books she once edited.

Bitter and adrift, Elizabeth scorns her coworkers and customers—until a shocking confrontation forces her to reckon with herself. Her journey takes her through the shadows of the Columbine shooting and JonBenét Ramsey case, leading to an awakening forged in hardship and a deepening connection to the city Jack Kerouac once called Holy Denver.

The Garbage (2026) Reading Challenge

If you've been following me for years, you'll know that I really love reading challenges because of the way it stretches your reading comfort zone, but I've always sucked at actually completing them.

In 2015, over at Goodreads, we kicked off our most outrageous challenge ever, borrowing The Beatles Reading Challenge from another group I was a part of, which had turned their songs into reading tasks. And in 2016, we whipped up The REM Reading Challenge. (I really sucked at this one. I couldn't even complete one album, but man was it fun trying!). And then to honor David Bowie's passing, in 2017 we pulled together the Bowie Reading Challenge! In 2018 I decided to take a break from our music theme and challenged everyone to read whatever the fuck they wanted in our RWTFYW challenge. The only rule was that there were no rules : ) In 2019 I spread my love of Guster around, 2020 was all about Ani DiFranco, 2021 had us fan girling over PJ Harvey, and 2022 continued the female artist love with our Liz Phair challenge (I sucked at this one too, didn't complete one album but came soooo close for so many!). 2023 had me returning to my 80s roots and we concocted The Cure challenge, which was my most successful up to that point. And 2024 brought us the Depeche Mode challenge, where I completed a whopping record breaking 8 albums! And we just closed out our 2025 Afghan Whigs Challenge. 

For 2026 I'm going to keep the alternative resurgence theme going and am thrilled to announce that we're hosting the Garbage Reading Challenge!

Garbage made a comeback in 2025 but have been kicking the crap out of the radiowaves since the mid 90's. Shirley Manson is an absolutely killer lead vocalist. 

Whether you know and love Garbage or this is the first time you are hearing of them (I mean it's possible, right?), what I think is most cool about these kinds of reading challenges... is that you don't even have to be a fan of the musicians to participate. You just have to be a fan of READING!!

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Garbage (2025) Reading Challenge

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So here's how this works:

*The goal is to cross off as many of Garbage's songs as you can throughout the course of 2026.

You can challenge yourself to complete one entire album, focus on completing one decades-worth of albums, or build your own challenge by hitting your favorite song titles... it's totally up to you!

*You cross off the songs by reading a book that meets the criteria listed after each song title.

If the book meets multiple reading tasks, cool! You can apply it to multiple song titles, OR you can make the reading challenge more challenging by limiting yourself to one song title per book.

*There may be built in redundancy with some of the tasks.

They are repetitive on purpose, to give you an opportunity to read more than one type of book and still get credit for completing a task. (Sneaky, I know!)

*Please copy and paste the entire list, or your customized challenge list, into your own thread in this goodreads folder and strike through the song titles as you complete them, OR, you can simply copy and paste each song title and its criteria from the master list here as you complete it. (obviously put your name in the thread title so we know whose challenge it is).

*Do not add your list directly to Rule and List thread.

*YOU MUST LIST THE BOOK TITLE AND AUTHOR that coincides with the song as you complete it for the challenge so we know what you read!

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An example of a completed song title task in your Challenge thread would look like this:

<s>“This Bouquet” – Read a book that features flowers on the cover</s> - The Distance from Four Points by Margo Orlando Littell

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Aaaaannnnnnnddddddd here's the list:

A total of 8 studio albums and 91 total songs tasks!

Garbage (1995)

"Supervixen" – Read a book that features a strong female MC

"Queer" – Read an LGBTQIA book

"Only Happy When It Rains" – Curl up with a book on a rainy day instead of going out or doing your chores and take credit for it here

"As Heaven is Wide" – Read a book that features religion

"Not My Idea" – Read a book that was recommended to you by someone else

"A Stroke of Luck" – Save this for the book that became a surprise five star read

"Vow" – Read a book that you swore you would never read, or a book by an author you swore you would never read

"Stupid Girl" – Read a book that features a sad girl  /  weird girl 

"Dog New Tricks" – Read a book that features a dog or has a dog on the cover

"My Lover’s Box" – Read a romance novel or a book that heavily features love

"Fix Me Now" – Save this for the book that becomes your entire personality after you read it

"Milk" – Read a book that features drinking or has a drink on the cover

Version 2.0 (1998)

"Temptation Waits" – Read that book you just bought, go ahead, move it right to the top of your TBR

"I Think I’m Paranoid" – Read a book that is super creepy and had you looking over your shoulder the whole time

"When I Grow Up" – Read a book that features a young MC

"Medication" – Read a book that deals with illness / chronic illness

"Special" – Read a book that was someone else’s favorite

"Hammering in My Head" – If you read a book that gave you a “book hangover”, take credit for it here

"Push It" – Save this spot for the book you pimped the most this year

"The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" – If you read a book that literally took your breath away, take credit for it here

"Dumb" – If you read a book that you should have DNFd and didn’t, take credit for it here

"Sleep Together" – Save this for the book that kept you up all night

"Wicked Ways" – Read a book with a twist that took you by surprise

"You Look So Fine" – Read a book just because of its cover and take credit for it here

Beautiful Garbage (2001)

"Shut Your Mouth" – Save this spot for the book you read this year that that you will absolutely not take any criticism on

"Androgyny" – Read a book with a cover that could work for any genre

"Can’t Cry These Tears" – Read a tear jerker

"Til the Day I Die" – Read a book about death and/or dying

"Cup of Coffee" – Stay in bed and read a book so you can take credit for it here

"Silence is Golden" – Read a book with a cover that features foil lettering/design

"Cherry Lips" – Read a book that is set in the summertime

"Breaking Up the Girl" – If you DNF a book, take credit for it here

"Drive You Home" – Listen to an audiobook on your commute to work / in the car and take credit for it here

"Parade" – If you read a book that you own in multiple formats, take credit for it here

"Nobody Loves You" – Read a book that is severely under read / flying under everyone’s radar

"Untouchable" – Save this spot for your favorite book of the year

"So Like a Rose" – Read a book that has a flower /  flowers on the cover

Bleed Like Me (2005)

"Bad Boyfriend" – Read a book that features an evil or morally grey male MC

"Run Baby Run" – Go buy and immediately read that brand new release you’ve been waiting for and take credit for it here

"Right Between the Eyes" – Read a book that has a body part on the cover

"Why Do You Love Me" – Read a book that you’d be embarrassed to have people see you read

"Bleed Like Me" – Read a gory horror novel

"Metal Heart" – Read a steampunk, industrial, or sci-fi novel 

"Sex Is Not the Enemy" – Read a steamy, spicy book

"It’s All Over but the Crying" – If you read a book you thought you were going to love but it turned out to be trash, take credit for it here

"Boys Wanna Fight" – Read a book that features a lot of violence

"Why Don’t You Come Over" – Do a buddy read, or if you read a book for a book club, take credit for it here

"Happy Home" – Read a book that features a haunted house

Not Your Kind of People (2012)

"Automatic Systemic Habit" – Read a book that is shelved in your favorite section of the bookstore

"Big Bright World" – Read a dystopian novel

"Blood for Poppies" – Read a book with a red cover, or that has blood on the cover

"Control" – Read an audiobook and play it at whatever speed you want

"Not Your Kind of People" – Give an author you didn’t like a second chance and take credit for it here

"Felt" – If you read a book that makes you crave more books like it, take credit for it here

"I Hate Love" – Read a book that you would consider the complete opposite of a romance novel

"Sugar" – Read a book that you’d consider “brain candy”

"Battle in Me" – Save this spot for the book that really toyed with your emotions or set off all of your triggers

"Man on a Wire" – Read a book that deals with grief, regret, longing, or vulnerability 

"Beloved Freak" – Save this spot for the first book you give a 5 star rating to

Strange Little Birds (2016)

"Sometimes" – Read a book from a genre you’ve dabbled in but don’t typically read

"Empty" – If you read a book that everyone loves or hates but you just felt meh about, take credit for it here

"Blackout"  - Save this spot for a book you read that you really liked but immediately forget everything in it after you finish reading it

"If I Lost You" – Read a book that features grief and loss

"Night Drive Loneliness" – Read a book while on a road trip and take credit for it here

"Even Though Our Love is Doomed" – Read a book that makes you feel icky for liking it

"Magnetized" – Read a book that social media influenced you to purchase and read

"We Never Tell" – If you read a popular book and hated it, take credit for it here

"So We Can Stay Alive" – Read a book about the end of the world

"Teaching Little Fingers to Play" – Read a book that features music, musical instruments, or is written by a musician

"Amends" – If you read a book that someone recommended to you, but you didn’t like it, take credit for it here

No Gods No Masters (2021)

"The Men Who Rule the World" – Read a book that has a political theme

"The Creeps"  - Read a book that creeps you out

"Uncomfortably Me" – Read a book that is outside of your comfort zone

"Wolves" – Read a book that features wolves, coyotes, or werewolves (or has a main character that is any animal)

"Waiting for God" – Freebie space! Read anything you want and take credit for it here

"Godhead" -  Read a  book by someone who you believe to be highly influential 

"Anonymous XX" – Read any book you want and take credit for it here

"A Woman Destroyed" – Read a book that features a badass, rage filled female MC

"Flipping the Bird" – Read a book that is full of foul language

"No Gods No Masters" – Read whatever the hell you want and take credit for it here

"This City Will Kill You" – Read a book that takes place in a large city

Let All That We Might Imagine Be the Light (2025)

"There’s No Future in Optimism" – Read a book that’s dark and depressing

"Chinese Fire Horse" – Read a book that’s been translated

"Hold" – Read a book you borrowed from the library and take credit for it here

"Have We Met (the Void)" – Read a Sci Fi, Space opera book

"Sisyphus" – Read a book about a mythological character/creature or a historical novel

"Radical" –  Read a non fiction book

"Love to Give" – Read a book that features love or has a heart on the cover

"Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty" – Read a book with an animal on the cover

"R U Happy Now" – Read a book with a title that used initials or acronyms in it

"The Day That I Met God" – If you read a book and it totally becomes your new personality, take credit for it here