Author · Musician · Pilot · Thinker · Engineer
R. Lee Townsend
Novels of the strange and the deeply human, and non-fiction that asks what we really mean by “real.” Written by a Maryland bassist, pilot and engineer with five decades of stories to tell.
Science fiction✦Mystery✦Comedy✦Espionage✦Historical fiction✦Consciousness✦Aviation✦Essays✦Music✦Science fiction✦Mystery✦Comedy✦Espionage✦Historical fiction✦Consciousness✦Aviation✦Essays✦Music✦
Historical fiction
Red Hands
Eleven thousand years before anyone would call it Carolina, a boy drowns days before his naming, and Red Hands, Medicine Woman of her people, does what no one expects.
Signed copy · sold here by the author
Personally signed and shipped by Lee from Maryland. Arrives in 10–14 days. Plus shipping.
Or buy direct from Amazon
Opens Amazon.com in a new tab. Amazon sets its own prices, which can change.
15 booksNovels, a non-fiction trilogy, essays and practical guides
55+ years on bassIncluding The Ravyns, heard on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack
Sport PilotNearly 1,000 cockpit hours; STEM aviation volunteer at Essex Skypark
~30 years in pro audioSystems design engineer, producer and founder of Adobo Records
Fiction
Quantum-paradigm science fiction, a haunted-woods mystery, transatlantic comedy, an espionage family saga and Ice Age historical fiction.
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
The Freezing The Light Trilogy
Non-fiction. Not alien tales, but an honest look at perception, consciousness and what we really mean by "real."
Freezing The Light Trilogy
Freezing The Light: The Complete Condensed Trilogy
The whole trilogy, re-edited and condensed into one volume.
From this site · signed
Pre-order signed$23.99
Freezing The Light Trilogy · Book 3
Escape From Whoville
The nursery door is off its hinges. Step out into the open air.
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
Freezing The Light Trilogy · Book 2
The Light In The Mirror
Are you looking at the universe, or the smudge on your own glasses?
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$18.99From Amazon
Essays & Guides
The curmudgeon's essays, a pilot's safety primer and a practical money book.
From this site · signed
Signed copy$10.95From Amazon
Kindle short read
A Multi-Solipsistic View
Solipsism is not narcissism. What if there are many worlds of one?
From Amazon
Kindle short read
Strategies For Dealing With Physical, Emotional, And Psychic Pain
Practical ways of coping with pain of every kind.
From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$10.95From Amazon
From this site · signed
Signed copy$9.99From Amazon
Meet the author
A storyteller who has lived several lives at once
Raised in Baltimore as the son of an attorney and the grandson of a spy, Lee has spent his life collecting stories from the stage, the studio, the cockpit and the edges of the unexplained. His books range from quantum-paradigm science fiction and a haunted-woods mystery to a transatlantic comedy, an espionage family saga and Ice Age historical fiction.
His style is informal and informative at the same time. He loves words, and it shows.
“
This story drew me in, hooked me and I couldn’t put it down. I could smell the mud, hear the thunder, feel the unrelenting heat. The tension resolved beautifully at the end.
Jill B., on The Oracles of Patapsco
From the Substack
We Decorate the Cell
Next time you’re downtown, stand on a corner for ten minutes and watch people go by.
Death by Convenience
The machines won’t have to kill us; we’re saving them the trouble.
The Cosmic Antenna
Unpacking the "Brain = Brane" theory and how your mind might just be a higher-dimensional Wi-Fi router.
Music
Five decades on bass
From The Ravyns to Never Never and Leather & Lace: The Stevie Nicks Experience. Available for live fill-in and session work.
Services
Studio, systems & skies
Production, mixing and mastering; pro audio systems design; web, CAD and event logistics; and free flight-simulator STEM instruction.