Newtown Author’s Historical Fiction Novel

Melds History And Modern Finance

By Nancy K. Crevier

Two men duel in the pre-dawn hours of July 11, 1804. Financial colleagues sway on the surging ocean off of the Bahamas, June 10, 2015, fishing for what may to be more than dolphin and tuna. Captain William Kidd reflects uneasily on his April 23, 1696 voyage from the London harbor to take on pirates, at the King’s command. Their lives will converge in a story of history and treasure that leads the reader to the turmoil of today’s financial times.

These are the characters that populate Currency, a novel by Newtown author and former bonds trader L. Todd Wood, who traded his day job with a New York City financial firm this December to focus on his new career, as a writer.

Currency is the first novel for Mr Wood. It weaves the lives of historical figures Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton and Captain William Kidd with that of fictional character Connor Murray, a New York City financial bonds trader with connections in the Caribbean, who is seeking treasure, adventure, and romance.

“The idea was percolating with me for years,” Mr Wood said on December 27, just eight days after Currency became available as an Amazon Kindle e-book. A distant relative of Aaron Burr, and an 18-year veteran of Wall Street who traveled around the world, particularly in the Caribbean, Mr Wood had gained familiarity with Burr and Hamilton — the first secretary of the treasury of the United States, born in Nevis, in the Caribbean, and the founder of the Bank of New York and the Federal Reserve — as well as the legends surrounding Captain William Kidd and his treasures.

“The novel converges three historical incidents with what’s going on in today’s financial situation, geopolitical issues, and where our country is at with federal debt,” explained Mr Wood, and his hope is that it will get people thinking “as to what could possibly happen.”

Beginning with the Hamilton-Burr duel of 1804, which ended in death for the former President, then introducing the financial trader Connor Murray of 2015, aboard a pleasure cruiser off of the Bahamas, before sending the reader back in history to the launching of Capt Kidd’s ship from London in 1696, Mr Wood sets the scene for the novel in a manner that he hopes will engage the curiosity of the reader.

The book has been two years in the works, Mr Wood said, written during the early morning hours or as he traveled by train to his job in New York City.

“The book more or less evolved,” he admitted, with no definite storyline in mind, other than that it would begin with the Hamilton-Burr duel and eventually encompass today’s financial issues.

“The pieces would fall into place, as I wrote,” he said. “I would write scenes, usually from some incident or place I visited, and store them away until they found a place in the book,” said Mr Wood. He drew not only on his experiences in the financial world, but on his experiences as a Special Operations helicopter pilot during the late 1980s and early ’90s. His familiarity with the Caribbean islands also figures largely in this writing, he said.

As a first time novelist, Mr Wood found writing to be a pleasurable but difficult calling.

“It took a lot of time and a lot of research,” he said, to pull together the fiction and non-fiction aspects of the book in a believable manner. “There were thousands of details,” he said. “I was actually surprised at how things came together.”

His goal in writing the economic thriller is to start a conversation among readers “about what’s going on with the country, financially,” Mr Wood said. He has utilized the historical details of Hamilton’s financial savvy, the lore of Captain Kidd’s buried treasures, and his main character’s financial insight, he said, to put the focus on the US financial issues of today.

“I hope I have done this in an entertaining way,” said Mr Wood, who is hopeful that readers who love history, thrillers, and international politics will find Currency a book of interest. What readers will learn, he said, is as broad as that of the history of finance to the effects of today’s interest rates on modern day life.

“People might see from the beginning how the characters will come together in Currency,” Mr Wood said, “but I don’t think they will foresee the ending of the book.”

He is pleased that initial reviews of those who have purchased the book on Amazon or have borrowed through the Amazon Prestige program have been positive.

“That’s great to see,” he said.

Mr Wood is looking forward to promoting the book locally and nationally through Newtown resident Phil Keane’s marketing company, Zinc Inc, and hopes to book local readings and talks in the near future. Currency was also available in print from Amazon beginning January 1.

“I’m hoping Currency will go viral. I think the timing of publication is good, with the upcoming 2012 elections,” Mr Wood added.

Mr Wood has already begun work on a second novel of historical fiction, tentatively named Sugar, about the history of sugar trade in the Caribbean.