I’m an engineer who likes to dabble in writing. Or maybe, deep down, I’m really an author who has been masquerading as an engineer for the past twenty years, and all this math and science and stuff has just been a façade to get at some really good but exceedingly niche writing material.
I’m best described as a mutt of engineering: an undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics, with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and another Master’s in Industrial Engineering. I have worked in the military (5 years active duty Navy), worked in private industry, worked in government, worked for international organizations, and even one of those quasi-government entities that is the US National Laboratory system. I like the way engineering helps solve, fix, and create things. But to be honest? The review, approval, and consensus process of engineering can sometimes be utterly stifling. You don’t get your way, and sometimes you don’t get your way for what feels like dumb and incorrect reasons.
Writing gives me freedom of expression without being beholden to the Endless and Soulless Bureaucratic Review Committee (ESBRC, because everything formal and official has to have an acronym). My verbal SAT score was higher than my math SAT score, so that tells you something; my engineering might suck, but at least I can explain to you clearly and succinctly why it sucks. In writing, the number of books you sell serves as the ultimate measuring stick of how good / engaging / interesting your writing. Which I suck at, too, but it’s still fun to try.