An Interview with Angie Smibert

Aiden Nomura likes to open doors—especially using his skills as a hacker—to see what’s hidden inside. He believes everything is part of a greater system: the universe. The universe shows him the doors, and he keeps pulling until one cracks open. Aiden exposes the flaw, and the universe—or someone else—will fix it. It’s like a game.

Until it isn’t.

When a TFC opens in Bern, Switzerland, where Aiden is attending boarding school, he knows things are changing. Shortly after, bombs go off within quiet, safe Bern. Then Aiden learns that his cousin Winter, back in the States, has had a mental breakdown. He returns to the US immediately.
But when he arrives home in Hamilton, Winter’s mental state isn’t the only thing that’s different. The city is becoming even stricter, and an underground movement is growing.

Along with Winter’s friend, Velvet, Aiden slowly cracks open doors in this new world. But behind those doors are things Aiden doesn’t want to see—things about his society, his city, even his own family. And this time Aiden may be the only one who can fix things… before someone else gets hurt.

1. If you had to choose one book from your childhood to read aloud to others, what would it be?

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.


2. What is your favorite part about being a writer?

I love getting lost in writing the story. You know, that point where you’re writing away and all of the sudden it’s 5 pm or 12 am and you have no idea where the time went.


3. You are given a dream vacation, where do you go?

London. I’d love to see all the historical and literary sights, take in a play or two on the West End, and maybe even take the train to Edinburgh.


4. How would you describe yourself in just one word?

Curious.


5. What upcoming reads are you looking forward to?

I have to read Insurgent by Veronica Roth. (I’ll have probably done so by the time this comes out!)

I was born in Blacksburg, a once sleepy college town in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. I grew up thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian; organic chemistry had other ideas. But I always had stories in my head. Eventually, after a few degrees and few cool jobs—including a 10-year stint at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center—I wrote some of those stories down.

I’ve published many short stories, for both adults and teens.