Urban Reviews: Give us a brief synopsis of Something To Die For.
Travis Hunter: In a nutshell S2D4 is about three people, a woman who gave up everything to be with the man she loved and how that choice cost her even more than she could ever imagine. It's about a woman who did what she had to do so that her daughter could have a life worth living and about a man who returns home to reclaim his life and to make all of their lives better.

Urban Reviews: What inspired you to write this novel?
Travis Hunter: I was inspired because I wanted to delve into the issues of the choices we make in life.

Urban Reviews: Your first novel The Hearts of Men was self-published in 2000 by your own company Jimrose Publishing House. Can you briefly describe your literary journey from then until now?
Travis Hunter: It's pretty simple. I self published The Hearts of Men then went to the BEA expo in Chicago, handed out copies of the book and about a week later I started receiving calls from publishers. Decided to go with Random House and I've been with them since that time.

Urban Reviews: How do you feel about being a male author in an African-American market that is mostly dominated by female writers?
Travis Hunter: It's cool. The ladies need a male perspective sometime and I feel like I'm just the man to do the job.

Urban Reviews: In addition to being an author, you have two other ventures; namely the Hearts of Men Foundation and the Travis Hunter Theater Company. Tell us more about these projects.
Travis Hunter: The Hearts of Men Foundation is my passion, helping kids who could use a hand in life. The Theater Company is to bring novels to life. I'll never forget, I was in New York for the rehearsal of the off Broadway play for my novel Married but Still Looking and I was outside the door when I heard one of the actors saying the lines I wrote and I got chills. That was it for me. I said we gotta do this more often. It's been a grind to get it done, but I'll persevere.

Urban Reviews: Can you give us a glimpse of your next novel?
Travis Hunter: The next novel will be a Young Adults novel with Disney. The book is titled One For The Money. It's teenage characters and their little ups and downs. Well, I can't say little because teenagers are facing some tough challenges these days, and the characters in my books are no different.

Urban Reviews: Who are some of your favorite authors?
Travis Hunter: Richard Wright, Eric Jerome Dickey, Walter Mosley, Terry McMillan, Jihad, James Patterson, John Grisham, Olympia Vernon, and the list goes on and on.

Urban Reviews: Since your debut novel in 2000, what changes have you seen in the book industry?
Travis Hunter: It's gotten real ghetto. A few authors made some money with their titles then everyone else wanted to tell their ghetto stories. Worst than that, the publishers started looking for a quick buck and rushed the work out there. So now you have bad writing, typo's galore and all sorts of crap. I never thought the book business could be niggarized but that's what it's become. Being an author use to have some prestige attached to it but now I find myself defending myself, saying no, I don't write those kinds of books. These days some guy or girl who got locked up and decided to pen a novel is on the same shelves with the greats like Toni Morrison and Maya.

Urban Reviews: What advice would you give to anyone that wants to jump into this business?
Travis Hunter: Take your time and write the best book you can write, then get it professionally edited, then seek out a reputable agent and go from there.

Urban Reviews: Name one thing that the world doesn't know about Travis Hunter?
Travis Hunter: That I'm shy :-)