This book lays the author's family tree against events in history with the presumption that individuals from the author's genealogical past were present and participated in the events. The author's family tree includes, inter alia, notables such as Aaron Burr, courtiers in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and accomplices to Charles II's escape from England. It also includes family situations that involved murder, the Great Depression, and every war that Americans have fought in since the French and Indian (Seven Years) War in the mid-18th Century. Because this is the first book in the series, the stories are laid out in thirteen stand-alone vignettes, each of which is the foundation for a full-length novel in the future.
Roughly five years of research went into developing the author's family tree; it was at the end of that research that a decision was made to memorialize some of the intersections with history in novel format. The author took great care to ensure the historical accuracy of the events contained in each chapter, while at the same time inventing the fiction behind the family's involvement.
Other books by Michael Paul Hurd
Michael Paul Hurd was born in Michigan in 1959. He is the son of Paul S. Hurd and Carolyn J. Hurd (both deceased). Married to his wife, Sandy, since 1980, they have two sons and three grandchildren; however, their eldest son, Adam, passed away from cancer in 2010.
During his formative years, Michael Hurd lived in Michigan, Virginia, and New Hampshire. He graduated from Hopkinton High School, Contoocook, NH, in 1977.
Hurd is a veteran of the United States Air Force, serving from 1978 until 1992, and was Honorably Discharged as a Technical Sergeant. While on active duty, he earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Maryland/European Division during an assignment to England. Once honorably discharged, he was employed for another 26 years as a civilian employee of the United States Government and retired in 2018 along with his wife. It is during this time that Hurd developed a love for the written word and the deep research that was needed to author first book, "Lineage." For Hurd, that work simply fell together after finding numerous anecdotes about his family history during the research. Work on "Lineage" started in late 2018 and was completed in February of 2019, with a Second Edition being released in May, 2019. The "Lineage" series was inspired in part by Sara Donati's "Wilderness" series and the many works of James Michener.
The original “Lineage: A Novel” was constructed so that each of the chapters could be spun off into a full-length book. As of October, 2020, three more books had been released in the series and a fifth book is a work in progress, with publication planned for early in 2021.
Michael Hurd is an avid fisherman, has hiked all 43 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, and is a slow-but-steady road bicyclist. The Hurds currently reside in Maryland, within 10 miles of all three grandchildren. They travel extensively and are huge fans of the Disney Cruise Line.
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