Born in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee, Mr. Smith has loved books even before he could read them. In 1995 his first short story was accepted by Louis L'Amour Western Magazine, and he has been published in magazines since then on a fairly regular basis. Author of numerous award winning short stories and novels, Troy is currently a Doctoral candidate in the History Department at the University of Illinois. He says, "I don't write about things that happen to people—I write about people that things happen to."