JD Clapp On Books And Writing
For my latest author interview, I turned to JD Clapp. Clapp is based in San Diego and has published three books. His debut novel, “Grit Before Grace,” is due out in the fall of 2026.
This interview has been edited lightly.
You published “A Good Man Goes South” in December 2024. Would you tell me a little bit about it?
This was my first published collection. All of the stories are gritty, were first published in online literature journals, and are under 2,000 words. There’s a lot of flash pieces in the collection, several of which started as thematic calls in Punk Noir Magazine.
How long did it take to write? Do you have a writing routine?
I wrote the stories over a six-month period. At the time, I was writing a couple hours a day. Currently, I’m writing three or four mornings a week before starting my day job. I hope to get back to a daily routine soon but recently my work and taking care of my aging parents has taken over my time a bit.
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My favorite time to write is early morning before anyone is up. I grab a coffee and either write in a notebook longhand or just start hammering on the keyboard. I typically work on one story at a time, finish a fairly clean draft, then let it sit a week or two before editing. After I get a draft I like, it goes to a copy editor before I send it out.
How did you go about getting the book published?
I picked my grittiest stories, the ones with violence, crime and the like and looked for an indie publisher that published collections like that. I sent it to Anxiety Press and Cody Sexton took it. It was a smooth process for my first book. Honestly, I was surprised it got picked up right away. Cody did a killer cover for the book too.
Do you have any literary influences?
I have several. Who I draw inspiration from depends on the type of stories I’m writing. For the stories I set in the outdoors (I write a lot of hunting- and fishing-adjacent stories), Jim Harrison, Hemingway, and [Thomas] McGuane have all been big influences.
For dialogue and pieces dealing with raw human interactions and relationships, I’d say [Raymond] Carver’s short fiction has been an influence. For this book, which has a lot of addiction themes, Bukowski’s work was influential, maybe with a little nod to Stephen King’s shorter horror work.
Why do you write short stories?
I like the short form for several reasons. For me, it’s partly the ability to cover a lot of different thematic territory. I also have a bit of ADHD and writing longer form takes a lot out of me. Finally, I think our collective attention span is more conducive to short fiction these days.
I still love novels but writing one was a real lift for me. The first draft of my debut novel was written over six months and drained me creatively. I needed to take a couple months off after I finished it. In contrast, when I finish a short story, I’m motivated to move on to the next thing. I’m working on a second novel now, but I’m starting to think that, at heart, I’m a short fiction writer (that would include poetry). I’ll finish that second novel, and see where I am then as a writer. I’ve only been writing creatively a couple years now, so who knows where the journey will take me.
