I'm also a stickler for detail, having done a great deal of technical writing in my former career as a Software Engineer/Web Developer. I've found that those years of daily efforts to keep everything I wrote clear, concise and on-point at all times has improved the quality of my fiction immensely.
And what a funny coincidence that you're a Physics guy; my favorite among my novels is called "Adelaide Einstein," comic fiction about a middle-aged wife and mom facing empty-nest syndrome who's convinced to return to college to study Physics. She eventually goes on to be part of a team that's nominated for the Nobel Prize.
Like most Liberal Arts majors, I had a great fear of Physics and delayed taking it till the last possible semester of my program---but once I was *in* a Physics class, I liked it so much that I often think I would've switched my major if I'd taken Physics sooner. My surprise enjoyment was part of the inspiration for that novel.
P.S. To others reading this thread, who may be interested in Indie Author matters...an interview I gave to 'The Writing Cast' podcast is now live and can be heard here (no iPod required):
http://thewritingcast.com/blog/?p=39