Former Don Diva Magazine Co-Founder Cavario Hunter Writes About Being Raised By Wolves In His New Novel

An Interview by Nikki D. Bosompem.

Cavario Hunter, a New York native and current Atlanta resident was born and raised to be a hustler.  The lullabies his mother sang to him were those of the workings of the streets and how to be the biggest and best hustler to come after the generation from which she came.  His story is contained within the pages of his new novel, Raised By Wolves.  Cavario does not hold back as he tells the story of his life the way it was destined to be for him which is that of a “guerrilla hustler.”

TRA:  Where are you from, Cavario?

Cavario Hunter:  Harlem, New York.

TRA:  After such a volatile beginning to your life, what prompted you to begin writing in the first place?

CH:  I began reading a great deal in about 1995 and one of the books that I read that really impacted my perspective, was Iyanla Vanzant’s Spirit of a Man. In it, she suggested two things that resonated with me, “Be still and write.” So I got still and I wrote.

TRA:  How long did it take you to write Raised By Wolves?

CH:  I began writing RBW just days after I retired from the street. It began as an introspective and over time evolved into a manuscript. My initial title idea was, The Hustler-My Life In Death.

TRA:  What or who do you think contributed the most to the message behind your novel? Why? The message, if that’s what you want to call it, is relative to the reader. The “message” will depend on where the reader is and what they’re from; their perspective will determine their perception. But everyone that reads Raised By Wolves will come away with a new understanding.

TRA:  What event or events in your life caused you to take stock of the person you were becoming when you were in the streets?

CH:  I became the person I was in the streets while I was still in the womb. The streets did not make me the way. My mother and fathers did. I was taught the game from the moment I could comprehend the spoken word. It was whispered in my ear while I lay in my cradle so I was taught to take stock continuously, to constantly assess my performance as I moved through the gauntlet of the game. I was told not to be careful, but to be better.

TRA:  Who would you say is your favorite author and who are you reading right now?

CH:  My favorite authors are Robert “Iceberg Slim” Beck and Guy Johnson. I’m currently reading Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy by Eric Berne, M.D. It’s an oldie but a goodie.

TRA:  What was it like being the head of Don Diva Magazine and transitioning to Hip Hop Weekly?

CH:  A relief. (laughs.) I wrote 75-100 percent of Don Diva Magazine. I sold the first 36,000 and some odd number of copies out of my own hands when no one cared to claim any association. I also took all of the pictures in the first few years. We never got any real distribution so I’d pack up the Don Diva van and drive up and down the east coast, down through the south east and into the mid west. I either drove or I flew to every event across the country to represent Don Diva in person and set up retail locations all while gathering content along the way. So, Don Diva was essentially the “The Adventures of Cavario.” We started the mag in late ’99 and by ’06 I was worn out and the monetary potential was no greater. I looked up one day and realized that I wouldn’t be getting any corporate business and that took all the wind out of me. I was done. A few weeks later I incorporated Body of Power publishing or BoPp for short. Shortly after that, ideas for Hip Hop Weekly began to come alive.  The first issue of HHW was dropped on my birthday, November 7^th of 2006. History is still being made.

TRA:  What other writing projects do you have going or plan to implement in the near future?

CH:  Through my BoPp imprint, I will be releasing a series of true crime novels as well as some interesting and unique works of fiction that reach far beyond the basic urban diaspora.

TRA:  Give me some insights on your reasons for self publishing and your vision behind Body of Power Publishing.

CH:  I self published because, after having built the national and even international (I launched Don Diva England through a comrade of mine named St. John a.k.a. “Speedy”) network while watching the major publishers drop the ball on urban based projects continually. They do not know how to do what I do so, I had to do me. They’ll [major publishers] come eventually, and they will pay to play with my toys. BoPp Inc. is going to be the quintessential publisher of urban content because no single individual has greater access to that content than me.

TRA:  There are a lot of people writing urban literature.  What would you say sets you apart from all the others?

CH:   I actually know of what I write. I was not born to a nurse and a lock smith, I was not neglected by an addicted mother or abandoned by a MIA father. I wasn’t a victim of geography who suffered the misfortune of being raised in a low-to-no income neighborhood and led to believe by virtue of that mishap that I MUST be in the streets. I’m not who I am because I lived in a bad neighborhood and my mommy and/or daddy weren’t watchin’ me, so I hung around the “bad people.” My family was the “bad people.” Most of the books that are put out containing “urban content” were written by individuals who have romanticized views of the “thing” because they grew up looking at it from their window or from their stoop. They idolized my kind and studied our style, our walk and talk, how we wore our clothes and jewelry, and leaned in our customized cars. They mistook all that aesthetic for being the “thing” or “the game” as they love to call it. But what they could not know was that the “the game” was or is not the way it looks, it is the way it is played and the only way to know that is to have been in one of those cars or in some other way in ear shot of those players because that’s where the game was being given. From the whispering lips of one sportsman, to the ones who will follow, I was given the game in its original intended condition so when I attempt to read the drivel referred to as urban lit I’m left to believe that some people are mistaking the sidewalk for the street. I will show the reading public that although they seem close, they’re actually worlds apart. People will know that what I do is what they’ve been attempting all this time.

TRA:  Wow.  With that said, would you have any words of wisdom or advice for new writers or business persons?

CH:  Advice?  Integrity is your greatest commodity so be true to whatever you do. Wisdom? The greatest wealth on earth is health and self-worth. Only knowledge of this is truly gangster.

TRA:  And where can readers find out more about you and how can they pick up a copy of Raised By Wolves?

CH:  Well, my RBW website is currently under construction but I can be reached a number of ways.  Raised By Wolves can be purchased at www.wolfstylemarketing.com and I can be contacted at boppub@gmail.com or you can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cavario.

More articles by Nikki D. Bosompem

This article was published on Sunday, April 4th, 2010 and is filed under Featured, News. You can follow any comments to this article through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.