Clifford Beal, originally from Providence, Rhode Island, worked for 20 years as an international journalist covering defence and security issues for Jane's Defence Weekly. He published his first non-fiction historical work, Quelch's Gold, in 2007 and now writes historical thrillers (under the name Ethan Bale) including Hawker and the King's Jewel, The Lost Prince, and The Knight's Redemption, all published by Canelo Books and set during the twilight of the English Wars of the Roses. He also writes contemporary mystery and suspense, publishing short fiction in the genre. His latest work, a novel of domestic suspense set in New England in 1968, is called Little Sins.