SCBWI Inside Story - May 5 - UW Bookstore - Bellevue, WA

Twice a year, once in spring and once in fall, the Western Washington region of SCBWI (The Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators) hosts a really fun and important event called Inside Story. Authors from the region gather together to present (alas, very briefly) their new releases, meet and greet the public, sign copies of their books, and much more.

I was originally planning on attending the event this past November, but then my release date was postponed to, well, actually, yesterday, April 28!

INTERLUDE- Fibonacci Zoo is out!! Actually, the books are all in the process of being shipped to booksellers around the country, but I can now finally say, after nearly two years of work on this project, that my book is out and available for sale. Woo-hoo!!

Ok, interlude over. So now it's almost May, and the time has rolled around for me to attend. The event will be this coming Tuesday, May 5 (just one day after Star Wars day - you sci-fi nerds know who you are) at the University of Washington Bookstore (Go Dawgs!) in BELLEVUE (not the main branch by campus).

Photo credit: www.starwars.com

The event runs from 7:00-9:00 and there will be 28 of us there promoting our books. I would love to see some 'fans' out there welcoming in Fibonacci and coming to say hello! We THINK (hope, pray) we will have books there in time for signing after the event, but we're cutting it close. Regardless, you'll get to hear some of the back story behind the writing and publishing of this exquisite book (and no, I'm not in any way biased!) along with many others, and there will be fun for the whole family - details below!

TUESDAY • MAY 5 • 7:00PM

SCBWI Inside Story

Bellevue Store

Love children's books? Crazy about kidlit? University Book Store and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators of Western Washington are excited to present this spring's "Inside Story" event for booksellers, librarians, teachers, and children's book lovers. Featuring over 25 local children's book authors and illustrators, the evening will feature behind-the-scenes looks at all of the authors' and illustrators' most recent or upcoming publications. Additional activities will include fun trivia games, cool prizes, tasty treats, time for book signing, and the opportunity to meet and chat with dozens of talented authors and illustrators from the area.

Participating authors and illustrators will be:

Kevan Atteberry, Martha Brockenbrough, Dori Hillestad Butler, Stacey R. Campbell, Andrea Gabriel, Kathryn O. Galbraith, Joanna Gorham, Shannon Grogan, Brenda Z. Guiberson, Steven Henry, Patrick Jennings, Kelly Jones, Doug Keith, Karen Kincy, Sara Nickerson, Margaret Read MacDonald, Craig Orback, Julie Paschkis, Katherine Pryor,
Tom Robinson, Jeanne Ryan, Suzanne Selfors, Rori Shay, Dana Sullivan, Derek Sullivan, Laurie Ann Thompson, Carly Anne West, and Toni Yuly

Presented by The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators of Western Washington in partnership with University Book Store.


Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging and anxiously waiting along with me for this book to be released. I hope you really like it. I sure do!

The Golden Wha....?

So there I was, minding my business, paging through the latest issue of....well...erm...let's just say it is a popular home decor magazine, aimed primarily at women, which we will call...."GH." Anywho...

As I was reading about the keys to picking the right size and style for my new chandelier (wondering if people really go out and buy new chandeliers, but realizing that this magazine article indicates they actually do!), I see "The Golden Ratio." Sweet - Fibonacci lives, even in the pages of a home design mag! Well, not so fast...

Ah, the Golden Ratio...just what you need to pick out a....wait, is that a chandelier?

What you don't see here is that in the paragraph above this box in the article, is the text below: 

Nothing like a good 'equation' to determine how big your chandelier should be, right?

So apparently the Golden Ratio is an 'equation', cool. Though, I don't see any equal signs, and I don't even see any variables. Still, 'phi' lives on! Wait. What is that again?

Let's go back to the top image. This so-called 'equation' just says to measure the length and width of the room and add the two numbers up. Change the units to inches and that's the size you want. Um...what about 1.618...? Is that some kind of ratio between the sides of your room? Or maybe how tall and how wide the chandelier should be? Maybe you need to have the number of lights and the number of chairs at your dining table in the ratio we know as phi. Something, right?

Nope. Nothing at all related in any way to Fibonacci, the actual Golden Ratio, or the number phi. It's just a term someone made up, thinking it sounded math-y enough to catch readers' eyes. Mission accomplished but for all the wrong reasons.

Note to 'GH': next time you want to share a mathematical FORMULA (which is what this is, not an equation) and you want to give it a fancy name, make sure that name doesn't belong to something else that actually IS math-y and relevant. This is no Golden Ratio. It's neither golden nor a ratio. It's simply a way to measure your room and pick out a chandelier.

Now, if I could only find a chandelier for my 21'x13' room! Wonder how big it would be....

Release News!

Very exciting news is afoot. This week marked the arrival of my official Advance Review copy (I tell everyone it's the only existing copy in the world, but I have a hunch that might be hyperbole). That means the official release date is now set - April 28!

Order your copy of Fibonacci Zooi today!

Of course, you can always to go Amazon.com right now and pre-order it. Their date shows April 10, so I don't know if they have some secret pipeline to book ordering (they ARE Amazon, after all) or if that's just when they start processing pre-orders. But either way, you can get your copy on order now if you like.

From Amazon, you have three options:

• English paperback: $9.95
• English hardcover: $17.95
• Spanish paperback $9.95

But if you would like to look at even more options, and maybe learn a little more about me, the supremely talented illustrator Christina Wald, or Arbordale Publishing, just click on the hyperlinks and they will take you where you want to go.

For an in-depth look at the writing process (for me at least), and how Fibonacci Zoo came to be, please read this interview (download, if you like!). I am in the process of setting up bookstore and school visits, so anyone wishing to schedule a time for me to come out and present the book, the Fibonacci Sequence in general or its many applications, or just to talk about the challenges involved in bringing a story from idea to the bookshelves, please just message me here, or visit my web site at Author Tom Robinson.

Finally, I want to announce that my first official appearance with Fibonacci Zoo will be May 5 at
7:00 pm at the University of Washington Bookstore (Bellevue site). The event is called Inside Story and it's sponsored by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I will have a short time to present my book and the story behind the story to teachers, librarians, booksellers, and anyone in the general public who is interested in new children's releases. I would love to see a lot of Fibonacci fans out!

Count on Fibonacci!!

What the Flock?!?

As we inch ever closer to the release of Fibonacci Zoo, this happened.

We were flocked by Young Life last night! Flocking is a fundraiser during which a 'flock' of flamingos (is that even the correct name for a group of flamingos? Hm....time to do a little research!) [Update - a group of flamingos is called, appropriately enough, a "stand".] is surreptitiously left on an unsuspecting family's front lawn, along with an envelope with information about what Young Life is all about, what they are raising money for (usually for sending kids to summer camp), and an invitation to pay (donate) to have the flamingos removed the following night. It's a fun, low-stress way to reach out to the local community, to educate folks about what Young Life stands for (I got my Young Life start in Kent, WA in 1984), and get the kids who will ultimately benefit from the funds raised out in their community.

But ... it seems they left the wrong number of flamingos (and, apparently, a small white dog that strangely resembles our dog Roxy). 

What's the correct number? If they had visited Fibonacci Zoo first, they would know. But you don't have to visit the zoo. All you need to do is read the book to find out! Coming next month. ‪#‎ArbordaleKids‬

Children's Book Week - May 4-10, 2015

I am pleased to announce the 96th annual Children's Book Week which will take place during the first full week of May. During this event, events will be hosted across the country in all 50 states with a focus on encouraging children to engage in reading and exploring new books. 

Look for events near you by visiting the CBW Web site. Beginning in March, children can vote for their favorite new books of the year. So encourage any kids you know to get out, read, and vote! And starting in April, be sure to have them read and vote for Fibonacci Zoo! Voting is currently closed, but you can visit this site for more information. 

I hope to be hosting an event in Chelan, WA, either at the Chelan Public Library or a Riverwalk Books as part of this year's celebration. Stay tuned for more information.

Fibonacci Zoetropes

Say what? Yes, zoetropes. And I have to confess. Before today, I had never heard that term before. But now that I have and have seen this video, I can't stop thinking about them.

What you are about to watch is the remarkable work of one John Edmark. John printed a number of 3D sculptures, each in its own way reflecting the Fibonacci Sequence. In one of the links, you will see how the 'golden angle' shows up in these pieces of art.

But the art isn't the real art here. He started them spinning, some up to 550 rpm, and then captured their spins with a stop-action video camera with a very fast shutter speed (1/2000 of a second). The combination of spin and shutter speeds produces a strobe-like effect, and the results are breathtaking.

Please take a few minutes to enjoy John's video work, and then follow the links to see some of the behind the scenes details of all that went into this production. Fibonacci. It never stops.

Try these links for the story behind this incredible video:

Blooming Zoetrope Sculptures by John Edmark

John Edmark's Stanford Web site (videos)

Consecutive Dates

Photo credit: USA Today

Well, a big consecutive date is now in the past. 12/13/14 has come and gone, and now we look ahead to the next major milestone of this kind. Most people note that because 13/14/15 isn't going to be possible next year, and indeed none of the integers that follow will ever be possible (as December is the 12th month), the next major such date will be 01/02/03, in 2103, a little over 88 years from now.

Photo credit:
KeepCalm-a-Matic

But never fear, Fibonacci is here! We actually have a Fibonacci date coming up in just under seven years! First let's look back at the last Fibonacci date. It would have been 05/08/13, or May 8th of last year. Our European friends would even argue that where they live, that date would have been August 5 of 2013, even more recent.



So when will the next Fibonacci date be? On August 13, 2021, the date will be 08/13/21. Sorry, Europeans. No such date for you. So make your plans early, and prepare for the last Fibonacci date celebration of the century!