If you meet Tracy LeCates Petry someday, don't be surprised if you end up being a character in one of her books.

Many writers choose to write what they know, and Tracy, an East Haven resident, definitely gets inspiration from her life and the people around her-even people she has just met.

Tracy, along with her husband, Martin Petry-also an author-will meet more people at a local author program at Hagaman Memorial Library in May.

Tracy, who has written several books and co-authored others with her husband, says she looks forward to events such as the one at Hagaman.

"I love meeting people who have read my books or who want to read them," says Tracy, noting that most people want to know more about the characters in the books.

Most people also have no idea they might become one of those characters in an upcoming book. In fact, two characters in one of Tracy's books are modeled after two employees who work at the Dunkin' Donuts on Hemmingway Avenue.

If Tracy wants to write about something she doesn't know much about, she researches it. In her book Turn a Blind Eye, one of the characters is a profiler of serial killers who is also blind. Because she couldn't write about how this character saw clues, Tracy had to figure out how to communicate just how this character conducted her work.

"I put gauze over my eyes and went on the bus and went shopping," recalled Tracy. "I lived like a blind person for the week. It's not all book research. It's 'get-in-the-shoes' research."

Tracy gets inspiration from others as she creates characters in her books, and she also likes to help inspire other writers. She and Martin help others self publish their works through My Mutt Publications, the publishing company they started.

The couple recently helped a woman from their church publish a book of spiritual poetry, as well as a book of lyrical poetry from someone they met on Facebook. Tracy says she enjoys helping others achieve their dream of becoming authors.

"We're putting that dream into a physical form," says Tracy.

Achieving that dream of writing books never gets old for Tracy.

"There's a freedom to sitting down and not knowing what you're going to write and watch the story develop," says Tracy. "I surprise myself as I'm going along."

Throughout her career, Tracy has learned on the job.

"I never started a job with any knowledge [of the responsibilities]. I just picked it up along the way," she says. "It's self-taught, like writing was. Nobody can tell you how to write a book. You can't be taught to write a book. You either can or you can't."

Tracy says she always liked to write short stories, but it wasn't until after she reconnected with Martin on Facebook in 2008 that she began to think about writing books. She learned that Marty had written a book, recognized that he needed an editor, and asked to edit his work.

"After working with him on three or four books, I thought I could do it, too," says Petry of her writing.

Her first book, Orchids, is the first in a series of four murder mysteries. The other books in the series are Fallen Angel, Harmony, and Turn a Blind Eye. Orchids was published in September 2009, about the same time that Tracy and Martin published Convoking Hell together.

Between work as a dispatcher for a medical courier company in West Haven and her writing, Tracy says she spends about 14 to 15 hours a day in front of a computer. In addition to her researching and writing, she still edits Martin's books.

Tracy is currently working on her next book and she is still collaborating with Martin.

"I want to amuse people, entertain people, and scare people," she says. "I want to keep them turning the pages."

Tracy's books can be found on the shelves at Hagaman Library, as well as on Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.smashwords.com. The books are also available in Nook and Kindle versions.

Tracy says writing is what she wants to do and she hopes to continue to write many more books.

"Shelves full," she says. "Not only mine, but for other people. I want people to think, 'If she did it, I can do it.'"