I’m very pleased that my report on Disruptive Imaginations, the joint annual conference of the Science Fiction Research Association & the Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung Joint Annual Conference was published in the November issue of Locus magazine.
Report on the Disruptive Imaginations Conference
There remains a story I didn’t tell, about going hiking in a nightgown, but that will have to wait for another day.
These are the articles and essays that I finished in October:
[Descending into Illusion: The Black Hole Effect](https://fearoflanding.com/demystifying/descending-into-illusion-the-black-hole-effect/) (Fear of Landing) – this is a breakdown of a specific pilot illusion that I wanted to write separately from any specific crash, so that I could refer back to it with other pieces. I’m quite pleased with it.
[The Illusion of a Perfect Landing](https://fearoflanding.com/accidents/accident-reports/the-illusion-of-a-perfect-landing/) (Fear of Landing) Of course, I had to start with an example of the Black Hole effect but I found one with a happy ending.
[I am not OK: Horizon Air flight 2059](https://fearoflanding.com/accidents/i-am-not-ok-horizon-air-flight-2059/) (Fear of Landing) in which a jump seat pilot pulled the red handles in an apparent attempt to disable the engines. I interviewed a lawyer friend of mine to add some legal detail to the aviation information.
[20 grams of holy water](https://sylviawrigley.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/138004234) (Accidents and Incidents) I’m told it is old fashioned to use caps-case in headlines these days but I’m struggling with this, I have to admit
[I met a man on a steam train](https://sylviawrigley.substack.com/p/i-met-a-man-on-a-steam-train) (Accidents and Incidents) My first essay about the Axalp Air Show which ended up not being about the airshow at all.
I’m going to be attending the AXALP ’23 Air Force display next month! This is a flight display and live-firing exercise run by the Swiss Air Force every year. The spectator areas are 2,200 metres amsl (7,200 feet) and although there’s a shuttle taking me from Briez to Axalp, I’ll be hiking the final 708 metres (2,320 feet). I cannot tell you how excited I am about this.
If you are interested in more detail, please read my newsletter post about it here: Wheels Up for Raclette
I’m thrilled to have another story in Nature Futures! I have to admit, this one has an author’s note that’s longer than the story.
“Don’t be mean, Paul. We’ve never had to live through data scarcity.” I cleared last week’s menu, as if that helped. Paul was right, Mom was getting worse. There was nothing so trivial that she wouldn’t save it to the cloud and then make a back-up.
You can read the entire story and author’s note at Nature.
I’m pleased to be presenting at Disruptive Imaginations, the Joint Annual Conference of the SFRA and the GFF in Dresden. I’ll be speaking on the subject of Murderbot and AI on Thursday morning in room ABS/114. I hope to see you there!
I am delighted to announce that I’ve been selected for a month-long writer’s residency on Hrísey Island in Iceland. Next May, I’ll be packing my bags and moving to the island! I’m very grateful to Gamli Skóli, a non-profit organisation supporting artists, photographers and writers, who are providing accommodation and working space. I’m hoping to get a grant to cover travel expenses. The residency will be focused on a narrative nonfiction project which I submitted as a part of my application and at the end of the month, there will be an exhibition on the island (I have no idea how I’m going to do this).
They’ve sent me the initial paperwork which points out three times that it is not possible to buy alcohol on Hrísey. However, the island does have forty species of nesting birds, a supermarket, two museums, a restaurant, a hundred and fifty plastic puffin decoys, and a resident ghost. There are also regular ferries to the mainland with a bus to Akureyri, a city with several breweries, shops and a thriving restaurant scene, so I don’t expect to be suffering overmuch.
Duolingo does not offer Icelandic, which means it is now 0 for 3 of the languages I have asked it for (Welsh*, Estonian, Icelandic)!
This was my second application to the residency. I was worried it would a tough sell, as an older woman working on narrative nonfiction. So I’m immensely happy that I get to have this opportunity!
*(to be fair, they added Welsh but not until after I’d left Swansea).
I’m excited to say that my latest story, Cyber Junk, has sold to Nature Magazine. Who decides what’s worth remembering? Cyber Junk explores the generational divide of data hoarding and information overload in the digital age. This will be my eighth appearance in the magazine.
Pilot Error is out now as an e-book at all good bookstores!
Buckle up for an exhilarating ride through the world of aviation mishaps in Pilot Error! Aviation expert Sylvia Wrigley provides an eye-opening exposé of mistakes made in the cockpit, ranging from comical blunders to catastrophic consequences.
Discover the man who crashed a vintage plane for YouTube views, the helicopter pilot who tried to defend receiving a blow-job in the cockpit, and the man who crashed his new plane seven times in seven days. From drunken escapades to mid-air collisions, this collection of true stories will leave you in awe and in stitches.
With vivid storytelling and a keen eye for detail, Sylvia captures amusing, infuriating and tragic screw-ups from all over the world. Pilot Error is a captivating and eye-opening read that will have you shaking your head in dismay with every turn of the page.
Interested? Choose your preferred retailer to buy it now!
I’ve mentioned Tell Me a Story before, a truth-or-lie interactive story-telling event every month here in Tallinn. It’s turned into a core group of story-tellers and we started talking about what else we could do together. These discussions led to a super fun project called Buckwheat Mill, an English-language väriety talk show hosted by Heldeke!
In the English language, they say “chew the fat” to describe people chatting about nothing. In Estonian, they say “mill the buckwheat.”
This is a live-streamed show which means that if you have some time to spare, you could watch some of Tallinn’s best English-speaking performers putting on a show. Oh, and me.
The show is from 19:30 – 21:30 Estonian local time (EEST) and it is FREE, but you need to sign up for an online ticket here: https://fienta.com/buckwheat-mill. Fienta is an established ticket seller platform and they only require your email address to get your ticket for the live stream event.
Not sure what time that is? Well, the show starts at 9:30am in Los Angeles, 11:30am in Dallas, 12:30 in New York City, 5:30pm in London, 18:30 in Mannheim and 01:30am in Tokyo. Or you can visit Time and Date event time announcer which should automagically show the event start time in your local timezone.
I will be doing a multi-media segment officially called The Explosive History of the Astangu Tunnels although in my head, I call it This is where the body is buried.
This is the debut of Buckwheat Mill and we’re all very excited to share it with the world! Please come join us on the livestream!
I’m delighted to share that I have another short story in Nature magazine!
In response to your request for a modification to the atmosphere of break bulk cargo hold 17
I loved the image by Jacey and this introduction on the Nature Futures twitter feed:
Trapped on a cargo ship light years from home, on a journey to who knows where. A group of survivors struggling to keep alive. But there’s only one way to get what they need. They’re going to have to write a letter…
This is my sixth short story in Nature Futures.