Tracy has lived an eclectic and diverse life. She was born and raised in the city of New Orleans, steeped in local traditions such as Mardi Gras and the diverse culture of music that flourishes within the city.  In high school she played drums in a band and wrote lyrics for the original songs they performed.  After a few semesters in college she moved to Orlando, Florida where she met a core group of friends who enjoyed writing and sharing their poetry with one another.      In 1994 she moved to Atlanta, Georgia with less than $200 and a dream of starting a new life in the big city while living in close proximity to her beloved Appalachian Mountains. When a steady job never materialized and the money was spent, she found herself living in her Volkswagen van on the streets. This grim opportunity to see life from the deep underbelly was an inspiration for many of her pieces.      Upon her return to New Orleans, she began a woodworking apprenticeship and delighted in this specialized trade that she occupies to this day.  At that time she began reading her poems on poetry night at Java Grotto, a small coffee shop in Mandeville, Louisiana that was subsequently lost in Hurricane Katrina. She also served as a tour guide for two years at a local Museum, where she discovered a real love for research and the presentation of historic information.  Fascinated with her genealogical roots, she has done extensive research on her family's history.      Discovering Renaissance Faires was a natural progression in her love of history.  She became acquainted with a member of the Louisiana Renaissance Faire's Living History Center and was inspired to gear her woodworking talents towards the recreation of various items of historic and fantastic origin. In 2005 she started her first online shop, The Green Dragon, www.thegreendragon.us, selling curious and imaginative woodworks.      In 2010, with a growing collection of poems she decided to pursue the self publishing market, where she could maintain control of the selection, design and formatting of her book in its entirety.  Her first poetry book:  I Wandered from New Orleans; Poems from the South is now available on her website, www.tracyconway.com, www.amazon.com and other online retailers.