Visit Joe Clifford's website
Read my review of CHOICE CUTS
Read my review of WAKE THE UNDERTAKER
Hey everyone!
It's Joe Clifford Week! What is that supposed to mean? It means that all my book review slots for this week are celebrating the same guy! It's not something I had thoroughly planned out, but it happened and Joe was nice enough, like Tom Pitts, to stop by and do this flash interview thing I'm doing.
Joe might not be an household name right now, but when his novel LAMENTATION is going to hit the shelves next October, the literary world is going to go crazy for him, so hop on the bandwagon while it's still cool to do so.
Walk us through your ''I gotta do this'' moment, where you sat down and wrote fiction for the first time.
I’m not sure I have such a moment. I knew very early on that I had to be an … artist. Writing, like music or painting, is an extension of that need to create. Which sounds a little hokey, I know. Need. But I don’t know how else to explain it. There exists, in certain brain-addled, disturbed individuals, this compulsion to take in, interpret, spit back out, make sense of this human condition. Which also sounds a little pretentious. But, fuck, how else do you explain cave drawings or Justin Beiber?
What piece of your own writing are you the most proud of, why is that so and where can we find it?
Y’know, I’ve recorded a couple records, painted a bunch, written several books and stories. Fuck, I made a kid. I mean, my wife helped. But I don’t know if I’ll ever produce something I am more proud of than JUNKIE LOVE. The circumstances alone that went into making that book, which started long before the writing part. I am extremely blessed in my life right now. I am not exactly a “happy” man. But this is the happiest I have ever been. So much so that I can forget just how shitty things were. Not in terms of circumstances, at least not growing up. I had a bastard father, but who doesn’t? I lived in quaint suburbia. But my head was a goddamn mess. And that was way before the drug stuff. JUNKIE LOVE is that literal journey, that path, that connection to finding my place in this world. That was my number #1 goal since forever: find my place in the world. And I found it. (I think.) And that book shares the story how I got there.
What was the single best writing advice you were ever given? What was the worst?
Best: If you are good enough, and keep at it, your work will get out there.
Worst: write just for you.
On that second one, it pisses me off. That advice is such an empty platitude. I’ve seen more would-be writers succumb and fall because they believe it. You write for you and an audience. It’s a give and take, and if your work isn’t being received the way you want, you need to look at reasons why, rather than dig in your heels and “just write for you.” Capitulation and compromise, just like the rest of fucking life, is required. You don’t get to just force your will on the world. Same with writing.
Who are the five authors you would recommend to someone who wants to familiarize himself with what you do?
Hilary Davidson, Jerry Stahl, Jack Kerouac, Gillian Flynn, Jim Thompson
Hardboiled, Crime, Noir, Gun Porn, Fairies, Whatever. Should genre label matter? Yes or no and why is that so?
It’d be nice to say no here. And in a sense, that’s true. Like Keith Richards said when they asked if he played lead or rhythm guitar. “No, man, it ain’t like that,” he said. “I play guitar.” Except … we, as readers, have expectations. This goes way back, Joseph Campbell’s Hero shit. Hard-wired, lizard brain stories. Genre is a way to fulfill those expectations. I loved my novel WAKE THE UNDERTAKER. But not everyone did, and I’ve come to realize one of the reasons it had the troubles it did is because it violates these precepts. It was the first novel I wrote, and I took all this shit I love—comic books, pulp, SIN CITY, the 1940s, San Francisco, Raymond Chandler, gangsters, ROCKY—and just figured I’d jam those influences in a book. Doesn’t quite work that way. Genre is a set of rules to play by. Yes, rules are meant to be broken. But you pick and choose which ones to break, and when to break them, and if you break too many you have a literary anarchy. Which also can work. (See: Kathy Acker.) BUT know that doing so also makes your job as a writer a lot tougher. There exists a natural reaction on the part of the reader to say, “Whoa!” And I’m talking most readers, most of the time. There are some who like weird for weird sake. But not enough to sustain a career.
What are going currently working on and what can we expect from you in the next year or so?
I will have two novels written this year. I’ve just finished the draft to the first. It’s called OCCAM'S RAZOR, about a former top-flight NFL prospect turned security director who gets lured back his hometown of Miami to investigate a possible wrongful conviction of a longtime family friend. I think it’s the best thing I’ve written. But I think you always feel that way when you finish a book. Otherwise why are you writing? The year’s second book will be the sequel to LAMENTATION. My publisher (Oceanview) has asked to see another installment (publishers do love series!). I was a little leery about writing a sequel to a book that hasn’t been released yet. I did that with WAKE THE UNDERTAKER, and I think it’s better to see if the demand is there. But I have a plot I like, and I love the character of Jay Porter, the protagonist in LAMENTATION. Most importantly, I see room for him to grow, an arc, etc. I mean, there is more of his story still to tell.
