Lawrence is frequently accused of being a “Renaissance Man” – writer, explorer, scuba diver, astronomer, luthier and musician.

After graduating from The Ohio State University with a BA in English language and literature, with an emphasis on creative writing, Lawrence attended a summer seminar at the Royal College of Music in London where he studied early music and learned to play the lute. His interest in history and archaeology led to another trip to Turkey, where he lived for three months, studying ancient ruins and the history of the area. His interest in astronomy led him to focus on archaeoastronomy, the astronomy of ancient civilizations long before the discovery of the telescope.

He has since become somewhat of a world traveler, visiting heritage sites in England, medieval towns in Europe and the Middle East, and ancient ruins in Central America and the Caribbean, where he also acquired his certification in scuba diving, since so many ruins lie under the sea. An avid writer, he spent much of his time writing articles and submitting them to various journals.

Along the way, he learned to build telescopes, telescope eyepieces, and historical musical instruments. He has built many dozens of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque stringed instruments that are used all over the world by musicians in Universities and Early Music groups. More recently, he spent 12 years designing and engineering Star Wars toys for the Kenner toy company. During the “Star Wars years”, he continued to write and began to develop ideas for his first novel.

A recent trip took him to Veracruz, Mexico, where he explored the origins of the guitar, which was first introduced by the Spanish invaders in the 16th and 17th centuries. The research that resulted from this trip can be found on his website Cincinnati Early Music. When not writing, Lawrence currently performs early music with his medieval music group, the Noyse Merchants. The members perform on instruments that he has built. He is married with three adult children.