What people say about Hells Bells:
Why subscribe to Hells Bells?
A subscription gets you access to each and every newsletter and the Hells Bells website. Subscribing means you don’t have to worry about missing something—every edition of this newsletter will come directly to your inbox.
Some newsletters follow a specific beat or thread. Not this one. I never know exactly what an edition of this newsletter will contain, thus readers never know quite what it will contain but we all seem to be handling this well.
Subscribing is free though if you have resources to spare, paid options are available.
I donate 10% of all my writing proceeds, including from this newsletter.
About Hells Bells
Hells Bells started out in April 2022 with the hope that committing to writing something monthly would encourage me to prioritize writing. In addition to writing about my current hyperfixations, research, and conversations with strangers, I also share B-sides and backstories related to my recently published work.
Here are some of my faves:
- Great Boots to Wear on Bridges While Exploring Rabbit Holes (A new story in Eater about a restaurant in my hometown & all the research I got lost in along the way trying to learn more about why Wolfeboro, NH calls itself, "The Oldest Summer Resort in America.")
- Pinecones Keep Falling On My Head (behind the scenes from my story about Passamaquoddy elver conservation)
- Another Trip to the Convenience Store, This Time with Birds (reporting live from one of my favorite convenience stores w/cedar waxwings)
- I Was Driving in the Dark (more nocturnal convenience store stories)
- I Quit (behind the scenes of 9-5 jobs, trying to write, quitting, becoming a mother, etc.)
Who writes Hells Bells?
Me (Michele Christle). I am a writer, parent, hype guy, and curious human living along a tidal river in unceded Penobscot territory in what is now called Maine.
Technically:
Michele Christle is a writer whose work focuses on culture, ecology, and place. She grew up in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and studied sociology and anthropology at Lewis & Clark College. After serving in the Peace Corps in Cameroon as an agroforestry volunteer, Michele earned an MFA in Creative Writing from UMass Amherst. Her writing has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Eater, Insider, Down East, and Cultural Survival Quarterly. Michele has 20 years’ experience working in communications, oral history, education, and journalism. In recent years, she’s worked with Maine Sea Grant, Maine Audubon, Out in the Open, Atlantic Black Box’s Walk for Historical and Ecological Recovery (WHERE), Torchlight Media, and as a producer/facilitator for StoryCorps’ One Small Step program through WERU Community Radio. Michele serves on Maine Community Foundation’s Waldo County Committee and the Frankfort Dam Committee. The recipient of a Bodwell Fellowship, a LEF/CIFF Fellowship, and residencies at Hewnoaks and Shannaghe, Michele is working on a longform writing project and documentary (with filmmaker Eli Kao) about eels. Michele lives on a river in unceded Penobscot homelands also known as midcoast Maine.
Christle is pronounced “crystal.”
*“Hells Bells” is not a reference to AC/DC but the expression itself
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