​The Quail Bell Crew

Christine Sloan Stoddard is the founder of Quail Bell and was recognized as a "Top 20 Media Visionary in their 20s" by Folio Magazine for the achievement. She is the author of Water for the Cactus Woman (Spuyten Duyvil, 2018), Belladonna Magic (Shanti Arts), Heaven Is a Photograph (Clash Books), Desert Fox by the Sea (Hoot 'n' Waddle), Hispanic & Latino Heritage in Virginia (The History Press), and other titles. Her first children's title, The Book of Quails (Clare Songbirds Publishing House), illustrated by Sami Cronk, is due out in 2019. Christine's art and writing have appeared in Ms. Magazine, The Feminist Wire, Bustle, Native Peoples Magazine, Yes! Magazine, The Brooklyn Quarterly, Bushwick Daily, and elsewhere. In 2019, Christine will earn her Masters in Digital & Interdisciplinary Art Practice from The City College of New York-CUNY. Christine is a graduate of VCUarts in Richmond, Virginia.

Gretchen Gales is the executive editor of Quail Bell. She is the author of a children’s book The Wall (DoDream Organization) and has been interviewed for her writing achievements at Dear English Major, Her Campus, and For Creative Girls. Gretchen's writing, both formal and literary, primarily covers topics such as mental health, feminism, education, and beyond. Her written and visual works have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bustle, The Establishment, cream city review, Interim, Blue Lady Publishing, and over 40 other publications in online and print. Gretchen is a graduate of VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences in Richmond, Virginia and currently teaches secondary English.

Ghia Vitale is a senior editor and writer at Quail Bell. She specializes in writing about topics like body positivity, sexuality (including autosexuality), feminism, dating, relationships, identity, polyamory, being fat, anime, the occult, and more. Other publications she’s written for include BUST, The Establishment, Ravishly, The Horror Zine, Mookychick, and more. Ghia graduated from Purchase College with a BA in literature. She also has minors in psychology and sociology. Before she graduated, she had enough credits to declare a gender studies minor, but could only choose two minors. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more updates. Pro tip: Ghia is always down to see pictures of your cat!  

​Lashelle Johnson is the nonfiction editor of Quail Bell. She is a Munich-born AfroIndigenous writer and the founder of Watermelanin Magazine: an independent literary magazine produced by artists of color, for artists of color and the readers who support them. Her writing has appeared everywhere from The Establishment to those riveting conversion emails littering your inbox. Lashelle is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned her Master of Public Administration from VCU’s Wilder School and BA in English from the College of Humanities and Sciences. She daylights as a policy analyst.

Ren Martinez is the fiction editor of Quail Bell Magazine, as well as a writer, performer, and storyteller. She was featured in the book Nine Lives: A Life in 10 Minutes Anthology, and published in The Quotable 17: Atmosphere.   Her work has appeared in The Mary Sue, RVA Magazine, Potluck Magazine, Nostrovia Press, GayRVA, FabFeminist, and elsewhere. Ren has performed in theater productions in Richmond, Washington D.C, Denver, and England. In 2014, she wrote and performed in Happiness is a Warm Gun, a parlor-style theater production for The LIDA Project. Ren is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and Marymount University and works as a disability advocate.

Archita Mittra is the poetry editor at Quail Bell. She is a writer, artist, creator with a love for the vintage, whimsy and darkly magical. Her work has been published or profiled in Thought Catalog, Gurl, Your Tango, Maudlin House, The Things, Luna Luna Magazine, School of Witchery, Bolde, Lifehack and elsewhere. She has a Diploma in Multimedia and Animation from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and has completed her B.A. in English Literature from Jadavpur University, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in the same. She also reads tarot cards, has a lifelong fascination with the magic and the supernatural, and enjoys calligraphy, photography and baking among a host of other things. You can find out more about her and her work on her website, read her poetry on Tumblr and follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

Erynn Porter is an assistant editor at Quail Bell. She has a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from the New Hampshire Institute of Art; she is currently Creative Nonfiction Editor for Blanket Sea. She has been published or is forthcoming in Bust, Entropy, Brooklyn Magazine, and more. She often jumps between her interests of writing about her chronic illnesses, fiction, and to anything else that grabs her attention. You can often find her eating candy while editing her own work; she claims that candy is the perfect editing food. When Erynn isn’t editing, she’s reading with a cat curled up beside her. You can see more of her work at erynnporter.com.

Luna Lark is an assistant editor at Quail Bell. Born a mermaid, she has since learned to walk on land and make a magical life for herself in New York City. She lives in a brownstone often confused for a castle, where she feasts on antique books and the hearts of men. One day she aspires to write the true history of the world and become an architect for coral reefs.

Want to get in touch? Read our submission guidelines. For all other inquiries, contact us here. Please do not email members of The Quail Bell Crew individually. Trolling, harassment, and other forms of unwanted contact will be ignored or reported to authorities as deemed appropriate. Read our legal mumbo-jumbo.