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Notes on writing, history and the places behind the books.
cliffordbeal · Feb 26 · 3 min read
Risky business: putting your hometown into a novel
My new novel, Little Sins, admittedly started out partly as an exercise in nostalgia as I have lived for many years a few thousand miles away from where I grew up. It…
cliffordbeal · Jan 15 · 2 min read
Why "Little Sins"?
With the publication date of Little Sins getting closer, I’ve been asked: Why did you write it? You’ve previously penned historical novels set hundreds of years ago so…
cliffordbeal · Nov 26, 2025 · 2 min read
Innocence Lost: Death and trauma in the “coming of age” novel
Here’s the premise: two sixteen-year-olds, best buddies, are out camping alone in local woods when they stumble across a body in a shallow grave. First off, they…
cliffordbeal · Oct 30, 2025 · 1 min read
Here's a free trip to Providence, RI. Hope you like 1963.
A couple of years ago I published a short story in Mystery Tribune magazine called "Shooting the Breeze." It's a tale about two retiree neighbours during a downtown…
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