About Sylvia
Sylvia Spruck Wrigley was born in Germany on the 7th of March
1968. She spent most of her childhood in Los Angeles but escaped
at the end of the 1980s. After a few years of drifting, she moved
to England where her accent was irretrievably damaged. She
somehow ended up in Estonia with no good explanation. You can
contact her by email at
[email protected].
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The Routledge Handbook of Star Trek
22 June 2022
Memory Alpha is a collaborative project to create the most accurate and accessible Star Trek resource on the Internet, thoroughly exploring every aspect of the franchise. It is effectively a living encyclopedia of all things Trekkie.
And now, I'm a part of it! My name is listed on the site for my chapter on Age and Aging in the Routledge Handbook of Star Trek. This is an unexpected and exceptionally pleasing validation of my work.
in: Documentaries, Star Trek literature: The Routledge Handbook of Star Trek
I'm Still Standing
4 May 2022
Just a quick note to say I am still here and working on getting my life back in order. Bear with me and watch this space.I will be telling a story at Heldeke on Friday!
25 November 2021
Next week, I'll be performing at Theatre-Bar Heldeke! in Tell Me A Story, a fantastic improv event hosted by Dan le Man. 
Six people tell six stories. One of them is a lie. Is it me? Is it one of the others? There is no recording so only those attending the event will ever know for sure.
BUT not all is lost! The show will be live in the theatre and streamed online! You can buy an online ticket and take part on Friday the 3rd of December on the YouTube channel at 19:00 Eastern European Time (GMT+2).
That's 5pm in London and 9am in Los Angeles. Click here to check your local time zone.
This is my second time doing the show and I'm very much looking forward to it.
Estcon 2021 Report in Locus
16 October 2021
My introspective piece on attending a convention in the tail end of the pandemic was published in the October issue of Locus magazine.
THIS ESTONIAN SUMMER would have been right at home at the Locus office in California: Sunny days under brilliant blue skies with just a slight breeze to keep the heat from becoming stifling. Perfect for the annual outdoor science fiction convention held at Udu Farm in central Estonia. The event wasn’t confirmed until just a few weeks before, but the vaccination program had reached full throttle and infection rates remained low, dwindling almost to zero in June and July.Estcon is remarkable in that the event is always held outdoors, come rain or shine, which means it is the only convention that has been able to convene safely during COVID times. Precautions are taken. So far, not a single COVID infection has been connected to the event.Guests were encouraged to bring tents in order to allow the existing accommodation to be parcelled out per household. I filled my hot-pink backpack with food and clothes, slung my tent and sleeping bag into a crocheted carrier, and took the train south. This was my third outing with my tent, so I considered myself an old hand. I set up in a shady spot by a stream with only minimal cursing and swearing and very little bloodshed (I accidentally stepped on a small frog).
You can read the whole thing on the Locus website.
Substack Newsletter and Six Words of Russian
9 September 2021
I launched a Substack newsletter over the summer in order to better share my creative nonfiction. This month, the featured essay is Six Words of Russian, telling the story of camping on Aegna and blackmarket beer.
As this was now my fourth time camping, I figured I was an old hand. A forest commuter. A modern-day mountaineer. A middle-aged, overweight, trailblazing adventurer …or at least well on the way to becoming one. I knew exactly what I needed for my trip to Aegna.My lumpy crochet bag held a tent, an air mattress, a battery-operated pump, a sleeping bag, a small pillow, a kilo of charcoal, and a large metal tea kettle.
My hot-pink backpack, picked up half price at Sports Direct, held a change of clothes, bathing suit, large towel, a flat water bucket, a lantern, a small portable video camera, 600g sliced pork, two types of cheese, 200 grams of flour, salt and yeast so that I could make bread, ground coffee, cream, the espresso hand pump that my daughter gave me, a liter of Coke Zero, half a head of lettuce, two bananas and an apple.
I had everything I needed for an overnight stay. I also couldn’t move.
You can read the whole thing on my newsletter, Accidents and Incidents. While there, please subscribe (it's free!) to receive monthly essays and mishaps.
22 June 2022
The Routledge Handbook of Star Trek4 May 2022
I'm Still Standing25 November 2021
I will be telling a story at Heldeke on Friday!16 October 2021
Estcon 2021 Report in Locus9 September 2021
Substack Newsletter and Six Words of RussianSylvia's Books
Without a Trace 1970-2017
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in 2014 is considered the greatest aviation mystery of our time but it does not stand alone. How could a military pilot chasing a glowing unidentified object disappear from radar in an instant? How did India's military misplace five fighter jets? Did a young Australian pilot flying over the Australian coast really get abducted by aliens? These questions and more are explored in Volume 2 of Without a Trace.
Read more…
Without a Trace 1881-1968
For many, aviation still brings with it an air of mystery, a century-long magic trick. Though most of us will board an aircraft at some point in our lives, we know little about how they work and the procedures surrounding their operation. It is that mystery that makes these losses, such as the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, so terrifying.
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Wail (as Kenzie McLaughlin)
Wail is a story of friendship and death. Not necessarily in that order.
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Why Planes Crash — Case Files: 2003
Why Planes Crash Case Files: 2003 follows eleven aircraft disasters from 2003, detailing how the accidents happened and how they might have been avoided. This "CSI for aviation enthusiasts" series examines both the history and the current climate of aviation to unravel the instigating events which led to these catastrophes.
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Domnall and the Borrowed Child
The best and bravest faeries fell in the war against the Sluagh, and now the Council is packed with idiots and cowards. Domnall is old, aching and as cranky as they come but, as much as he'd like to retire, he's the best scout the Sithein court has left.
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The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
In this age of constant surveillance, it shouldn't be possible to lose a Boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers. It's inconceivable that the aircraft flew for seven hours without anyone noticing that it was up there, completely off track. Yet, that's exactly what happened.
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Why Planes Crash — Case Files: 2002
The second book in the Why Planes Crash series covers incidents and accidents in 2002, including two in-flight suicides, the Sknyliv airshow disaster, how to write off a Saab 2000, an aircraft collision over the runway, a dramatic river landing, Air China 129’s flight into a Korean mountain, and finally, an in-depth view of the Überlingen mid-air collision.
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Why Planes Crash — Case Files: 2001
This, the first of the series, deconstructs eleven of the most interesting incidents that the world saw in the year 2001. These include a detailed analysis of the disastrous runway incursion at Linate, the passenger interference leading to the Avjet Aspen Crash and why an Airbus A300 disintegrated over Queens.
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You Fly Like a Woman
Getting a pilot's licence was the furthest thing from her mind – until an ex-RAF instructor suggested that she wasn't competent to do so. The thing is, he could be right. Sylvia has just a few weeks to prove that she can fly as well as any man.
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