For years physicist Amanda Clark dreamed of being a writer. Four months ago she quit her computer job to write science fiction, thrillers and intrigue novels, one of them to be set in Shanghai.

 

Science, fiction and Shanghai -- this may sound like an odd mix but somehow an American expat has made it work and is pooling her experiences to realize her dream and hopes to become a published novelist.

 

Amanda Clark, a physicist and writer, has been living in the city for nearly two years but recently gave up her day job for science fiction, thrillers and intrigue.

 

Clark has finished one novel, plans to rewrite a second; others are in different stages of progress. One will be set in Shanghai. She hopes to publish one, set in Antarctica, late this year. She won't breathe a word about the story.

 

Caught up in her many characters, such as a search-and-rescue worker who keeps stumbling upon crimes and a person confronted with daunting new technology, the 47-year-old says: "I have spent years dreaming of being a full-time writer." The woman from Hillsboro, Oregon, finally did it.

 

"There was not ever going to be a better time than this to do it, although the scary part was the fear of failure. But it was more terrifying to let that dream go."

 

So four months ago, the physicist with a PhD in ionosphere wind dynamics took leave from her project manger's position at an American computer company to pursue her literary dream.

 

"I initially chose science as I wanted to know how things worked and I thought physics was the best way to do that as everything comes down to physics."

 

Science to fiction may seem like a contradiction or at least a huge jump. However, she says, "I have a bachelor's degree in English literature so I have always had divided interests and there is a lot of science in science fiction writing," Clark continues.

 

"If you take out the science the story falls apart. My stories have science at the heart of them. The science is in the characters' behavior or work and it is what drives the story forward."

 

The point of science is to come up with a new understanding of our world, universe or whatever you happen to be standing on, she explains.

 

Clark has been writing on and off for 20 years. "However, I got really serious four years ago and I have had many adventures in between."

 

For example, she has a black belt in taikwando and one in hapkido. "I taught self-defense classes back in the United States, so my fiction has many combat scenes in it."

 

Everything that comes into a writer's mind is milled around and then goes into the writing, she says.

 

"I use features of everyone I know for my characters but then they soon take on a life of their own."

 

Shanghai is a good base, Clark continues. "I love the sound of the traffic and the general life on the street, although I live on the 34th floor of one of the tower buildings so this noise is often just a background sound."

 

A book in progress is to be based in Shanghai. "In my experience when I am in the middle of a situation or place I cannot write about it. I need to get away from it and then think about it so my Shanghai novel will probably happen when I leave this city."

 

It is very easy not to experience Shanghai when you live here, she continues.

 

"You can get consumed by work but since I have been off work for the last four months I have seen so much more of the city."

 

Clark moved here two years ago when her husband was transferred to Shanghai by his company.

 

She now plans to move on to Beijing in the near future. "I am already planning regular trips back here. It is an exciting prospect to live in two cites in China. People say you either love Shanghai or Beijing but you can't love both, however, I think they are wrong."

 

Either way, Clark's future plans are based on writing.

 

(Shanghai Daily July 24, 2007)