Katherine Villyard's Blog
November 5, 2025
My CONjuration Panels! let me show you them!
Are vampires making a comeback with the popularity of the AMC+ TV show? What are the ���rules��� of being a vampire in various books and media? Where did the vampire myth come from? Who are some of YOUR favorite vampires?
Katherine Villyard, Chris Riker, Susanne Allen, Matthew Quinn, Claud Bowman
Saturday, November 15, 12:00pm������ Enchanted Forest
James Potter Stinks ��� CONjuration���You���re so much like your father��� seems like an insult when reading Order of the Phoenix. How did James go from an entitled bully to a revered hero? How tinted are the rose-colored glasses of grief? Join the trash talking as we indulge in our Snape-like hatred of James Potter.
Laurie Hess, Katherine Villyard, D. S. Watson
Saturday, November 15, 2:00pm������������ King���s Cross����
Live Readings: Books in Print and Books in Progress ��� CONjurationLive readings by multiple authors present at CONjuration. Each author will present two short readings: one from a work already in print, then a second from a work still in progress.
Eli Rainwater4:00-4:20Barbara V. Evers4:20-4:40Katherine Villyard4:40-5:00Evelynn Carver5:00-5:20D. S. Watson5:20-5:40Mab Morris5:40-6:00Saturday, November 15, 4:00pm�������������������� The Bard���s Nook
November 3, 2025
Kickstarter!
Immortal Gifts is a friendly neighborhood vampire story with 18th, 19th, and 20th century Berlin, London, and New York historical elements and modern New York and New Jersey settings. It includes sweet, no-spice romance elements but is mostly about found family, acceptance, healing, and a friendship that lasts centuries.
To celebrate my audiobook release, I’m also creating a limited edition hardcover that will be signed, numbered, and unique to Kickstarter. If you miss out on this one, the only way to get it will be to wait for my next Kickstarter and the second edition, which will likely be different.
If you’re interested in the audiobook, this will be the only time to pick it up for at least two months. Don’t get FOMO! Grab it now! It’s by Artistic Whispers Productions and they are amazing!
(You can also grab paperbacks and ebooks!)
Back the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/villyard/immortal-gifts-hardcover-paperback-and-audiobook
October 1, 2025
Countries and US States I’ve Been To
Let’s start with the US states, as it’s probably more impressive. I counted driving through places but not (obviously) flying over them. I’ve lived in Texas, Washington, Utah, Virginia, and Georgia, but I’ve driven through or visited a lot more. My father was military-connected.
(Map created here.)
Now, for the world map of places I’ve been:
(Map created here.)
Yeah, this is pretty Western-Europe-centric because my father was stationed in Germany. Ich liebe Deutschland! but it would be nice to branch out and see some more places. I wanted to go to Greece really badly because my mother, having been given nightmares by a parent giving her Grimm’s Fairytales as a child, handed me a copy of D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths instead… but my mother said no. This was the late 70s, so shortly after there had been turmoil there.
So there’s a stunning lack of Latin America, a stunning lack of Eastern Europe, a stunning lack of Asia, and a stunning lack of Africa and Oceania. I would like to remedy that, and will post an update after I have one. I mean, Montreal WorldCon is coming up in 2027, and some of the upcoming bids are Ireland, Prague, Australia, and Rwanda. So we’ll see!
September 30, 2025
Kickstarter!!!
Do you love beautiful books with custom art? Do you love multi-narrator audiobooks? I have something for you:
Immortal Gifts is a vampire fantasy about mortality, immortality, grief, love, and overcoming prejudice. Abraham, my main character, was a 19th century Jewish violinist. The Berlin Academy didn’t allow Jewish students, so he claimed to be a convert. His patron, Ludwig, turned him into a vampire to save him from consumption. This left Abraham struggling to be both a vampire and a proper Jew. If you know about Kosher… it’s a thing. Meanwhile, Ludwig’s maker, a Spanish Inquisitor turned vampire, wants to kill Abraham because he considers eternal life to be a reward for Christian faith… making him consider a Jewish vampire an abomination.
This project is about paperback and hardcover editions with custom hand-drawn map and chapter headings and a multi-narrator audiobook! If you would like a no-spice multi-narrator, dual timeline book with a friendly neighborhood vampire, his bi/pan wife who has two moms, and a vampire friend who is questioning his identity (but is probably homoromantic ace), this is the Kickstarter for you!
Check out this audiobook preview:
Check out and follow the Kickstarter!
September 3, 2025
Align your email domain
So, if you have an author newsletter–or, indeed, any other kind of newsletter–your email service will probably ask you to “authenticate your domain” or “align your domain.” They probably even have something adorable that you can copy and paste!
So, the first thing you’re going to need is an email domain. Do not tell Mailerlite or MailChimp or whomever to send mail as your gmail address. You will be blocked. Instead, you presumably have an author website (I mean, it’s the law… okay no but They tell you that you have to have one, and would They lie?) So if you don’t have an author website with a domain name, you probably want to go grab one. Reedsy tells you how to do it here.
So, when you set up your author website, you bought a domain name (the thing people type to get to your website). If you want to know more about DNS, you can go look at my explanation here, but maybe you don’t care and that’ll just make you tense. You can do this without knowing how it works. I mean, you use microwave ovens and do you know how they make food hot? It’s enough that they do, right? I mean, I find this stuff fun, but I’ve been assured that I’m strange and maybe you don’t.
So, again… your mail provider probably gave you adorable strings of text for you to copy and paste. All web-based DNS is basically a series of blanks for you to paste your text into. DO NOT TOUCH WWW. That’s your website. You mainly want to add.
So Mailerlite has this help page, but… the short version is: Either there is a dropdown that says things like A, CNAME, TXT… or there are sections on the page labeled A, CNAME, TXT. Scroll down if you want me to explain what those are, but the main thing is, you need to create the kind of record they’re asking for. Like if they tell you to create a CNAME, you either use the dropdown to say it’s a CNAME or scroll to the section that says CNAME and create the record there. If they tell you to create the thing as a TXT, make sure that the dropdown or section is TXT. The trickiest one might be the SPF record, if you have other stuff in there already. There are online tools that might help… or you might need to involve your ISP. On the other hand, if you own the domain but don’t use it for email, go wild! But generally speaking, it’s save to ADD to an SPF record. If you don’t know what that other stuff is, leave it alone. Use the online tool to fix the syntax if you have to.
Mailerlite (and presumably the others) will tell you if you did this right. Sometimes it takes a long time for your changes to take effect (your DNS will probably tell you how long) so if they say it takes 4 hours and you’re hammering on Mailerlite after 15 minutes and they don’t see your changes, that’s why. Wait.
Another common issue is that they’ve asked you to copy and paste “something.yourdomain.com” into the box but your DNS provider only wants you to paste “something” into the box and leave the “yourdomain.com” part as understood. Try deleting the “yourdomain.com” part and see if that fixes it.
If they don’t have a confirm button, or if they’re not giving you good information, use what the pros use: MXToolbox. I mean, they’re going to give you a computer jargon reply, but also the reply will be green or red and might include something that will tell you what you did wrong. If you’re really confused, ask the mail provider or your DNS provider. Either should be able to help you. I mean, if you really don’t know how the microwave works, would you go beyond making sure it’s plugged in when trying to figure out why your food isn’t getting hot? but also, someone does not need to be a licensed repairman to heat up an Amy’s frozen entree. I believe you can copy and paste! but there’s no shame in getting help if that’s not working.
Good luck!
As threatened, here is my explanation of what the various DNS thingies (A, CNAME, TXT) mean.
A (or AAAA if they’re using IPv6, but your mail service is almost certainly not asking you do do this): This is an A Record or Address Record and is a name to ip address mapping. (Like Quad9 DNS being 9.9.9.9, or dns9.quad9.net, or Google DNS being 8.8.8.8 or dns.google.) Like I said, it would be weird for them to ask you to create one of these.
CNAME: This is a canonical name, and it’s probably something like saying that listserv._domainkey.yourdoman.com is actually on your mail provider’s server. This is good; they’re sending mail for you and they want to be managing all that domainkey stuff.
TXT: this is what it sounds like, a text record. It includes information about your domain that email uses to make sure that the email is allowed to come from there, and also “verification” for various services that want you to prove you own the domain.
August 5, 2025
Research for Authors (the Gen X librarian edition)
(Swear warning, as I have opinions.)
Do you have a library degree? If so, go ahead and skip this post. I give you permission!
For everyone else: here is how NOT to research your novel (in no particular order):
Ask ChatGPT. Don’t do it.Wikipedia. Look, anyone can edit Wikipedia. I mean, the advantage of Wikipedia is that anyone can edit it, and the disadvantage of Wikipedia is that anyone can edit it. I mean, okay, do your early research there, but don’t base your entire novel on Wikipedia. Most (but not all) of Wikipedia is good. Don’t base your novel on the part that isn’t. Non-peer-reviewed books: look, anyone can write a book. I mean, okay, do your early research there, or read there for fun, but confirm. Do not base your entire book on Joe Blow’s Guide to 19th century London. Also, the video of the guy who read the thing and is talking about the thing. Just read the thing.TikTok.“But Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatherine!” you say. “What the actual fuck, what am I supposed to read to understand the topic? Maybe I don’t actually fucking CARE enough about this topic in my fiction book to actually do any research!” I mean, fine, you do you! but you might want people who know something about outer space or 15th century Venice to actually like your book, right?
What you want is what your local public library calls “digital resources.” You can look things up in actual academic databases! (What, were you afraid I was going to tell you to go to the university and ask the reference librarian? That’s a great option! But you can also use scholarly databases at home. For example, my library offers JSTOR, which is what I want, and also a lot of newspapers and the like.)
In addition, these were considered markers of a good source when I was in library school:
Primary sources. People who were actually there writing or talking about what happened. (Yeah, fuck those videos with the guy who read the thing trying to explain the thing to you. He’s not a primary source, and he’s also adding his own slant to the information. He’s taking you farther away from the thing by adding an extra interpretation layer to the thing. JUST READ THE THING. There is no substitute.)Peer-reviewed journals. What these are: Professor Whomever writes an article and submits it to a scholarly journal, and a bunch of other professors read what Professor Whomever wrote and decide whether Professor Whomever is flat out lying or making shit up before it’s published. (It is not required for the other professors to agree with Professor Whomever, only that they think Professor Whomever is publishing something that’s not a lie.)Things that rely on the previous two (but the previous two are better).There are other things that are good resources that aren’t the above three, but what you want to watch out for is a book by Joe Blow who contradicts literally everything all the primary sources say in his THRILLING NEW TAKE.
(Look, I get it, I’m Gen X and we read really fucking fast because we had no internet and very few TV channels. READ THE THING. There is no substitute for READING THE THING. You’re an author so presumably you like reading, right?)
“But Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatherine!!! Literally everyone knows this thing but the primary sources all unanimously contradict what everyone knows!!!” Yeah, that’s called a myth. Sorry, I’m old and believe in facts. I also believe in non-situational ethics. So old!
In fact, the primary sources contradicting what you thought you knew is cool! It’s called learning. Learning is awesome!
On the other hand: sometimes you get a myth that’s so entrenched that people will literally not believe you if you include it in your novel. You have to decide how to handle that. You can either skip it entirely somehow, or take the chance to show the reader that it’s a myth… depending on how confident you feel and how strongly you feel about the thing.
One last thing: alas, what with the rise of Generative AI, you can no longer trust your own eyes. You want an actual human being who was there to verify that this was what happened. Preferably more than one. There’s a lot of fake photos and video out there, and it’s only getting more convincing. You want a documented chain of evidence that someone was there and saw the thing in person.
And that, dear reader, is my profane guide to research. I am at the old end of Gen X, and also have two master’s degrees (art and library science). So, uh, I went to college to learn this stuff… and was immediately poached into IT. Make of that what you will.
July 18, 2025
Come see me read!
Are you going to the Seattle WorldCon? I am!
Broad Universe Rapid Fire ReadingReadings
Room 347-348, Wed. 7:30���9 p.m.
Join Broad Universe for a fun, fast-paced group reading to showcase the work of women and nonbinary authors who will read a short snippet from a recent work. Discover new writers, enjoy chocolate, and enter a drawing for a book, all while you support women and nonbinary people working in speculative fiction. Broad Universe is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to expand awareness of and promote women and other underrepresented gender identities in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Learn more at Broad Universe.
Marta Murvosh, Amanda Cherry
I plan to bring bookish giveaway items!
July 8, 2025
I am a winner!
Immortal Gifts is a Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner!
June 17, 2025
The Dreyfus Affair
From the “I researched and then cut it” files…
John and Eliza were unrecognizable as the street urchins we���d taken in. They were clean, healthy, dressed in the finest clothes money could buy, and we had a governess for them. John was eight and Eliza was five. Despite not really having a schedule, they would still fall asleep during my concerts. I was teaching them both music. I loved them with all my heart. My only regret was that I wasn���t raising them as Jews, but they already had a faith when we found them. My people believe that the righteous of all faiths���or no faith, for that matter���have a place in the World to Come, so my regret was grounded in, as the Talmud says, to replace ourselves on earth and continue the traditions of our fathers and mothers, rather than any kind of fear for their immortal souls. Then again, what with the horrible situation in France with poor Dreyfus, perhaps it was just as well that they were Christian. The papers from France had a tendency to portray Jews as vampires, which gave me a horrible identity crisis of the thank you, Baron, for turning me into an antisemitic stereotype type.
So, let’s talk about it!
(This is another section I cut because my poor Jewish sensitivity reader was starting to find the sheer mass of oppressions triggering, and they also objected to my protagonist allowing someone else to dictate his identity.)
The Dreyfus Affair was a French political scandal that lasted for over ten years. The short version is that a French army captain was convicted of treason–allegedly selling secrets to the Germans–and there was a lot of publicity of this from antisemitic groups and newspapers. It was later found through handwriting analysis that a different man was guilty. Rather than release or retry Dreyfus, the army initiated a cover-up, but the information was leaked. The open antisemitism involved in his trial and conviction–it was implied that he was part of “an international Jewish conspiracy” (sound familiar?)–as well as the publicity around it, shocked the world’s Jews.
Dreyfus was brought back from Devils Island for a retrial. As his trial proceeded, army officials and the royalist Catholic press released startlingly anti-Semitic statements, including a warning that the Jews could face mass extermination. Despite these scare tactics, Dreyfus had the evidence���including the papers, the handwriting, and Henry���s forgeries���working for him during the retrial.
I did a search to see if the Dreyfus Affair was the first instance of the antisemitic Jewish vampire cartoon, but I’m not having a lot of luck. That said, well. Even if it is–vampires became popular in English with Polidori and Le Fanu in the 19th century–blood libel is very, very old. Dating back to at least the 12th century, it’s the accusation that Jews need the blood of Christians as an ingredient in certain rituals. Not only does this not make sense–Jewish rituals predate Jesus, who was a Jew–it ignores that blood is specifically forbidden under kosher law. But logic and reason don’t matter when people need an excuse to commit violence against their neighbors. See this article for more.
June 13, 2025
Squee!!!
I’m one of Barnes and Nobles 10 Favorite Indie eBooks of 2025!
Immortal Gifts��is a gripping vampire tale that blends history, suspense, and romance. Katherine Villyard delivers a powerful story of survival, identity, and the price of being different.
