One Word That Describes Joe Clifford as a Writer is . . .
.jpeg)
Rock-and-Roll
adjective
“I just can’t ever do what I’m told . I steal songs that are just crazy, and I'll sneak them into my books for some reason."
When talking about his past, Joe Clifford described himself as a rock-and-roll writer. “I used to be in a band, and there’s not many art forms like rock-and-roll. Art to me is a lifestyle, its everything. The broken guitars and smashing windows out of hotel rooms, that’s cool.”
Joe shifted genres late in his career, and when asked about the reason for this switch, he explained there was more of a market for Sci-Fi and Horror. “Who doesn’t like Stephen King? You get a lot more flexibility. Plus, people in the genre, they’re all really nice people. You want to stay away from the Romance writers.”
The conversation led to the “death” of the book industry and how AI is affecting this crisis. “The stats right now are 1 in 25 people read a book after high school, not even one book. Someone could be running the nation as a president, and they’ve never read a book.”
“AI is coming for us. AI goes through my stuff so then people can get novels in the style of Joe Clifford. I don’t think we’re giving AI enough credit. We say AI can’t replicate the human experience or broken heart, but the truth is, books like Fifty Shades of Grey don’t become hits because of the quality of their writing.”
Joe Clifford first hit the national scene as a writer for his memoir Junkie Love and has since many other books including the award-winning Jay Porter Thriller fiction series. https://joeclifford.com/
Interview by Kendall Burns