Bio: The eldest son of a minister, Brian David Stansell has been on a Jonah journey, fleeing the early call to write Christian fiction publicly for many wasted years. Thankfully, it did not take a ride through a whale’s gut and a subsequent ejection upon the shores of Nineveh to get him back into obedience to God’s calling on his life. He and his wife, live in the Texas heartland, love to annually travel to mountains and have even visited the filming sites for the LOTR in New Zealand. He does avoid ocean cruises, though, for he strongly suspects that somewhere out in the deep blue a disappointed whale is stalking him every bit as much as Captain Hook’s crocodile. He briefly taught English composition as a grad-student at a major Texas University and thankfully did no irreparable harm to young minds there. He has a BA in English, majoring in British and American Literature, and has a lifelong love for Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Thriller Fiction especially arising from Faith-based authors. He cut his literary teeth voraciously ingesting the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, to name a few, and has an appetite for the suspenseful works of Dean R. Koontz and an extensive collection to prove it. Most of all, he loves Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Creator of all that is, was and ever shall be. It is from that personal relationship with his Savior that he now has the courage, faith, and gall to publicly fan to fire those continually burning embers of creating fiction that point others to The Almighty and into seeking His Mysterious Depths above all.
His current WIP includes biblical dragons, mystical pools that reflect other worlds, a cursed mix of half-human hybrids, and two major biblical prophets of old skulking through the between world, awaiting the revelation of The One coming to set all things in order.
You can find him stealthy working on revising his current manuscript, boldly pre-published in defiance of all critics and his better judgement online at Excavatia.wordpress.com
In honor of my Dad and my Heavenly Father:
Dear Dad,
I am so honored to be your son. I don’t deserve it. So many other good fathers are not half the man you are. You have taught me to think independently and not just follow the crowd. You’ve taught me that courage is sometimes being willing to stand alone for what is right and resist the detractors. You and mom have taught me to love the Lord, my God, first and foremost. That I need please no one else but Him and that in doing so all of my other relationships in life should align to that primary one. You’ve taught me from the precious Word of God and taught me how to value and hear His voice and fellowship with Him even as I am free to fellowship with you. Children often learn to see God through the filter of their own parents, and I am so grateful to you and mom, allow me to see Him clearly. Not in perfection, but not through clouded distortions either. You’ve instilled in me a confidence that fellowship with Him, brings the quickening power of His Presence to contend with every situation I may face in life and the one beyond it. You’ve instilled in me a certainty of the supernatural, and a hunger to become aligned in my own life in spirit, soul and body to the One who, as the perfect Father, loves me into completeness. You taught me how to consider and not take the world’s messages at face value. To be sober and vigilant and discerning in a world shrouded in deception. To look beyond this Surface World and dare to dig deeper for the design and meaning in it. I am able to see clearly in both my writing and in my worldview, because you have taught me to look through the lenses of the Holy Word of God, and see my world through His vision, and abandoned the stigmatism and distortions of my own perspectives. In effect, you and mom both have taught me how to see and live life. To yearn for the abundance that Our Lord promises. To seek to unwrap the gifts He has installed along the way in this delightful and sometimes tragic scavenger hunt of life. Thank you for being my dad first, and my friend second. I love you for prioritizing that order. You knew I needed it that way.
I love you, Dad! Happy Father’s Day!
Love Always, Your eldest son,
Excavatia 