Meet One of Our Knight Authors: Andie Smith ’19 ’24MPA
The Book Nook at UCF Knight Market this year will showcase 12 alumni authors. Leading up to the event, we will be spotlighting our Book Nook authors!
Andie Smith ’19 ’24MPA
Tell us a little about yourself!
My name is Andie Smith and I am a young adult author, literary agent, and editor! I graduated from UCF with my Masters in Public Administration in 2024 and my Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2019. When I’m not doing something in publishing, I’m usually at Disney World with my husband or cuddling my two fur babies at home.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I grew up as an avid reader, always reading way above my grade level. I was the girl with a book in her backpack, ready to take out at any moment. As I got into high school, my love for reading turned into a passion for writing and I got very involved with my school’s journalism club and a local Central Florida magazine. I had always thought about writing a book but that it was impossible.
During my undergraduate year at UCF, I started writing stories and posting chapters on Wattpad. The response and engagement I got was so unexpected, it took me a while to understand I could really do this writing thing. So then I took the leap and wrote what became my debut novel, and then rewrote it a bunch of times before it was published last year. But that Wattpad story sort of started it all, and I’ve been flowing with ideas and excitement as an author ever since.
What’s your writing process? What inspires your writing?
My writing process depends on when I have time to write, which isn’t every single day. I’ve learned to be okay with not writing every day, but making it count when I do sit down to write. I typically like to shut myself in my office and focus without distraction, even music. I am so envious of authors who can write while listening to music, I wish it was something I could do! I don’t usually have a “goal” for the day, but I tend to keep going in a chapter or section of the book until I feel I’ve gotten all my ideas out for the day.
Most of my writing is inspired by dreams! For my new dystopian novel, I had a dream of the entire plot and frantically woke up around 2 am, typing as much as I could on my phone so I wouldn’t forget. The next morning I started writing, and I finished the first draft in a month. It’s the fastest I’ve ever written a complete draft, and it was a constant flow of information and details from my dreams. I’m also a science geek, so all my books tend to feature some sort of scientific concept where I draw inspiration from.
What else?! What are you currently working on right now?
I’m currently working on the second book in The Bonded Series! It’s been so strange to write a book for a series before the first one even comes out, but I’m so excited to see what people think and use that momentum into finishing the second story.
I’m also drafting a YA fantasy with some country-specific myths and lore… but I’ll keep that one in the vault for now.
My Books:
COVALENCE: The Bonded Series, Book One
My new book, COVALENCE, is the first in a young adult dystopian trilogy. It’s about a young girl who is assigned to be a Builder in her society, and when she turns 17, she will undergo the Covalence Ceremony and Bond to another of her Kind. Only she doesn’t want the life the City offers her, so she’s secretly building a plane to escape and ends up having to work with her enemy from another Kind to make it out. It’s near future, found family, forbidden romance, and a play on the scientific workings of covalent bonds.
LUCKY ENOUGH
My first novel, LUCKY ENOUGH, came out last year and is a young adult contemporary story about a girl who loses her father and has to navigate that grief while balancing all things high school: friends, family, boys, etc. There’s romance and friendship and self-discovery. It’s inspired by my own story of losing my father at a young age. I wanted to take what I went through and fictionalize it in a way that people might relate to, especially young teens.
