• magnificent; very impressive.

 

– ˈmōlə/

– noun

             • Mola molas, or ocean sunfish, are the heaviest bony fish in the world, weighing in at up to 5,000 pounds and reaching up to 15 feet in length and 10 feet from top to bottom. They look somewhat like gigantic smushed blobs and often float sideways at the surface of the ocean. They are my favorite fish.

 

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Little-known science fact: a surprising number of marine biologists, of which I was one for about a decade, have their favorite marine animal tattooed somewhere on their body. While I never did pay this permanent homage, I most definitely do have a favorite invertebrate, the octopus (because, well, watch this), and a favorite fish. Molas are some of the most delightful, strange, and unwieldy animals alive. They are not at all graceful when they move. They serve no “apparent purpose.” They are fabulous. All in all, they are somewhat like the creative process.

 

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Splendid Mola was created to bring together everything I love and do. I write, both fiction for kids and Tales of Sea & Circus, an online magical realism serial for grown-ups and am represented by the very fabulous Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency. I lead writing and yoga retreats and workshops. I teach yoga and have created, opened, managed, and sold a very nice yoga studio. I own Yoga:edit, an editing service for yoga-related writing. I used to work on a boat, where I designed and led multi-day snorkeling and education trips for kids around the Channel Islands and assisted with blue shark tagging. I love to bring people together in salons and soirees. I love holding space for people. I lead yoga classes at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators National Summer Conference, and I love that, too.

 

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The Splendid Mola Retreat for Writers and the 1-day Urban Mini-Retreats are designed to give writers a container in which to create. Open to any writer working on any project, these retreats offer protected and protracted writing time and a deep haven from having to think about anything other than your writing. They include all-levels yoga geared toward creatives; delicious, chef-prepared or catered meals; and the support of other writers.

 

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If you want to know more about me, including my credentials and whatnot, here’s my editing bio and here’s my yoga bio. If you want to sign up for any mailings from me, which are short and joyous and happen only when I really have something to say, you can do that here.

 

But mostly, what matters to me is that you know this:

 

You are splendid. Your project is worthy and needed. The process by which you create—even and especially when it feels like a mola—is exactly right. So is your art, whatever it may be.

 

Go to it.