Look! The Sun is Shining on Antarctica!

Put on your hats and mittens and grab your mug of hot cocoa: today is the official release day for WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA: Poems from the Frozen Continent!

Big, big THANK YOU to everyone who has already made this book feel so very welcome. I loved reading all your generous Poetry Friday comments. I am still in the midst of busybusy, and I look forward to catching up with everyone's blogs very soon!

I do want to mention what a fun project this was to work on -- and I adore Anna Wadham's illustrations!

To think it all started when fellow Alabama YA author Ash Parsons put into my hands THE WHITE DARKNESS by Geraldine McCaughrean... for more background information, see Catherine Flynn's lovely Poetry Friday post. For the first poem I wrote in the collection, see Linda's Write Time post that includes a personal ad written by an Adelie penguin! And for an excerpt from the novel that I absolutely adore, keep reading!

But first, allow me to share the promotional poster for the release event I'm sharing with Jim McClintock, author of LOST ANTARCTICA, to be held this Saturday at Anniston Museum of History:

And now, from THE WHITE DARKNESS by Geraldine McCaughrean:

"What kind of word is big enough to describe Antarctica? To begin to capture anything here, big would need twenty-seven syllables. Words can’t cope. The space between the letters ought to make them elastic enough, but they aren’t. The tails under the g’s and y’s and qu’s and j’s ought to help them grip, but they slide about helplessly. Cliffs are the length of counties. Icebergs are the size of cities. Prospects run as far as the sky. Parallel lines never meet because there’s no disappearing point. Adjectives die in the wing the moment they see Antarctica, and plummet onto the Plateau. Words are no good."

...which are fighting words for a poet, you know? Must. Find. The. Words.

You can discover the words I chose by reading WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA! :) May you enjoy your visit to the frozen continent.