Tricia Vita

In the wintertime, we lived in my grandmother's house in New Haven, Connecticut,where I attended school. When the carnival season began in April, I became the first correspondence student in the history of St. Anthony's School.

I spent the first 17 years of my life on the midway, often yearning to travel far beyond the carnival circuit. A scholarship took me to Sarah Lawrence College, then to a study-abroad program in Japan, where I spent three years in Kyoto.

After graduating from college with a dual major in Creative Writing and Asian Studies, I landed my dream job in New York City. I worked for the Tokyo publisher Shueisha, scouting projects for the book division and penning "New York Message" columns for the Japanese edition of Cosmopolitan.

Now a New York City-based writer, I live in an apartment that's not much bigger than our old travel trailer. But just as cozy.

In 2001, homesick for the midway I'd left behind, I went on the road with S & S Amusements, touring the Pennsylvania fairs. Since then, I've worked as a game agent with Wade Shows at New York City's Big A Fair, the Delaware State Fair,the Michigan State Fair and the Central Florida Fair, as well as in New York's Coney Island.