William Clifford Hocker was born May 8, 1949, in Henrico County, Virginia. He attended Virginia Randolph High School and graduated from Suffield Academy in Connecticut. He received a B.S. degree in English from the California Institute of Technology, graduating in 1970 with honors.
Hocker's career began as an economics research assistant at Caltech's Environmental Quality Lab. He later worked at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles as coordinator of AFI's publications office, where he edited oral histories of pioneers of the movie industry. After returning to Virginia in 1978, Hocker was for several years a substitute teacher in Richmond Public Schools while developing business as a freelance writer. Since 1983 he has written numerous articles for the publisher D. M. Harding & Associates. Wm. C. Hocker also writes in fictional genres.
Cliff Hocker has been a member of Saint Elizabeth's Roman Catholic Church and has sung in its gospel choir. He has been a volunteer at the Carpenter Center of the Performing Arts. He roller skates as a hobby and has an interest in minority business enterprise, innovative technology and environmental preservation.