After three years of part-time work in the book industry, she has won a sought-after scholarship to an international bookselling conference in Australia in June.
Mrs Clark will also spend two days as an intern at a Melbourne book store and tour Universal Book Distributors, a division of Penguin Random House.
Mrs Clark said she was astounded and thrilled to be selected.
"The scholarship was offered by Booksellers NZ, to go to the conference in Melbourne by the BookPeople [formerly the Australian Booksellers Association].
"All the booksellers from the whole of Australasia are coming together ...
"[The scholarship] was open to all members of Booksellers NZ to send one person ... I had to fill out this questionnaire that asked, ‘why do you think you are the best bookseller in New Zealand to go’," she said.
Other criteria included a video interview and providing references.
Mrs Clark grew up in Brisbane in a family that encouraged reading and went on frequent library visits.
After school, she did not go on to tertiary study. Instead she followed the snow to Canada, where she lived for four years and met her husband Henry.
Fast forward a few chapters to 2015, and the Clarks settled in Wānaka.
Their two sons were born in New Zealand and the family have become regular visitors to the Wanaka Library.
After working administration and accounts jobs, Mrs Clark was delighted to join the Next Chapter team after the store opened about three years ago.
Since then, she has learned a lot about book genres, trends, readers and writing reviews.
"I don’t ever set reading goals, like 70 books a year. But a couple of years ago I started writing reviews for every book I read. Most of the time, my reviews are just for me, but I do share them with my mum and my sister," she said.
Mrs Clark’s favourite genres are fantasy and young adult fiction.
"What’s trending? Definitely romantasy. That is really hot right now. It is a cross between romance and fantasy — for example Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series, or Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros or The Serpent and the Wings of Night by
Clarissa Broadbent. I have read them all and they are all fantastic," she said.
Audio book platforms, such as Libro.fm, also take her fancy, as she can download and listen to books while doing jobs at home or in bed.
"That’s how, as a busy mother, I get to read as much as I do," she said.
But working in a bookshop was still the best job ever.
"It is amazing. It is my home away from home.
My to-be-read list is out of this world and I don’t have enough time," she said.
