Katherine Villyard's Blog

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.

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.

Come see me read!

Are you going to the Seattle WorldCon? I am!

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Readings
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!

I am a winner!

Immortal Gifts is a Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner!

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.

—MyJewishLearning.com

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.

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.

“Jewish Oaths”

There’s a thing that authors do when they’ve done a lot of research that I’ve heard referred to as “I paid my dues and now it’s your turn to suffer.” ���� You’ll (maybe) be pleased to hear that I toned down/removed the passage about “Jewish Oaths” from my manuscript before sending it to the copy editor:

I needed to leave, to hide. If I were arrested, well. It was common to humiliate Jews in court, to make us swear oaths standing on a sow���s skin while calling down biblical curses upon ourselves and blaming our people for the murder of Jesus. Moses Mendelssohn convinced some states to moderate these oaths, but Prussia���which contained both Berlin and Wreschen���kept them intact. We���d only been citizens since 1821. Prior to that, Prussian law had forbidden us to live in cities and we would have to pay massive ���protection��� taxes to get around that.

(TBH, I removed it because my Jewish sensitivity reader was starting to find the sheer mass of oppression triggering.)

The Jewish Oath is, sadly, historical. The Oath More Judaico dates back to Justinian. At least by Abraham’s time they’d dispensed with the thorns dragged “between the loins”?

Another “fun” law was that Jews were only allowed to testify in court while standing on a three legged stool, forced to pay a fine if they fell off, and lost their case if they fell off four times.

As to the taxes:

Following the expulsion in 1571, virtually no Jews inhabited Berlin for a century. This changed in 1663, when the elector of Brandenburg allowed Israel Aaron to enter Berlin as a court Jew. Soon afterwards, in 1671, 50 prominent Jewish Viennese families were allowed into the city as Schutzjuden, protected Jews who paid for a residence permit allowing them to engage in certain businesses and worship in private homes. The Jewish families were also given a cemetery, a mikveh (ritual bath), and a hospital. In 1714, the first synagogue, known later as the Old Synagogue, was established at Heidereutergasse in Mitte.

This community grew, despite the restrictions on residence and family size, and, by the beginning of the 18th century, there were approximately 1,000 residents of the Jewish ghetto. The community paid a great deal of its income in taxes: a protection tax, a residence tax, a head tax and a payment required to work in certain professions were all used at one point or another to extract money from the community.

Nonetheless, the Jews excelled as merchants, mainly selling precious metals and stones, and as bankers. Soon, they were among the richest people in Berlin, and by the halfway point of the 18th century, the Jewish population totaled 2,000 people.

—Jewish Community of Berlin, Germany

In short: yeah, if Abraham went to court for the situation with his landlady, things would not have gone well for him. It was probably better for the Jews of Berlin that he disappeared.

Louis Lewandowski, Felix Mendelssohn, and Immortal Gifts

Or, Not the Football Player. ����

One of the things I do for fun when I’m not working, writing, spoiling cats, or playing the Sims is… singing in Jewish choirs. Kind of a niche hobby, I suppose. But as such, that means I’m pretty familiar with Louis Lewandowski. He wrote a lot of Jewish choral music. Like, a lot.

He was born April 3, 1821, Wrze��nia, Poland, and died Feb. 4, 1894, in Berlin. Lewandowski was the first Jew admitted to the Berlin Academy. (They didn’t change the rules for him, they made an exception.) Those of you who have read my book might be feeling a moment of familiarity at this point. This is not a coincidence.

As I said in the back of my book, Abraham is not Lewandowski. They just share a birthday–moved a day during edits–a birth place, and a desire to attend the same institution.

But Lewandowski was legitimately admitted at the request of his friend (and rumored crypto-Jew) Felix Mendelssohn. I thought it was more dramatic for Abraham to make the choice many in his position made, and lie. The Spanish Inquisition didn’t consider conversion at swordpoint to be “forced’–they insisted that one could choose to die instead. Abraham didn’t fake-convert at swordspoint, and arguably Prussia had more pressing heresy issues than Jews pretending to convert for academic reasons, what with the whole Protestant Reformation thing going on. But it’s a thing he definitely comes to regret.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, wrote hundreds of songs and had a long, productive mortal life. He’s stylistically very much like Mendelssohn, as you might expect from two friends of similar backgrounds from the same time and place.

Abraham’s pretended conversion owes more to Mendelssohn’s father, Abraham, a banker and the son of Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. At the age of seven, Felix and the rest of his family converted to Christianity in a private home baptism. This was done less out of any religious fervor–Abraham Mendelssohn reportedly raised his children without religion prior to their baptism–and more to a sense that Judaism was doomed. He even tried to get the children to change their last names to something less Jewish. This was unsuccessful; Felix was proud of his Jewish heritage.

As to his actual religious convictions: Felix Mendelssohn was highly reticent on the topic. People have debated his faith, but in the absence of an actual statement from Felix himself, nothing can be proven.

Here are the Lewandowski pieces I’ve sung the most (note: to my Abraham’s horror, Lewandowski was pro-organ-music)

Louis Lewandowski – Halalujoh Psalm 150 // Synagogal Ensemble Berlin CD: “Tuet auf die Pforten”Ma Tovu by Louis LewandowskiLouis Lewandowski – Kol Nidrei // Synagogal Ensemble Berlin CD: “Die Liturgie der hohen Feiertage”Unetaneh Tokeif

Honorable mention:

Louis Lewandowski, Enosh Ps.103

Panel Discussion WITH ME

Check out this awesome panel discussion with Elisa Hansen, EH Drake (moderator), Aisling Wilder, Josephine Napiore, Andrew M Boylan, and ME.

Immortal Gifts – The Sims 4 save file

Do you play the Sims 4? I’ve heard it called “a casual game,” but I’ve never met a Sims 4 player with a “casual” relationship to the game. It’s so addictive!

Because it’s my thing, I’ve created an Immortal Gifts save file, with the following caveats:

It requires Vampires, Cats and Dogs, and might make you download the free Holiday pack. (Cats and Dogs is usually $40 and Vampires is usually $20, but you can pick them up on sale right now until May 15–Cats and Dogs is half price and Vampires is 30% off. If you missed it, they go on sale a lot. Either way, they’re popular packs!)Limiting packs meant limiting career and skill options. For example:The lawyer career comes with Discover University, so I made Ludwig a Patron of the Arts. The medical career requires Get to Work. (I made Morgan an athlete, because that’s her hobby.) Etc. If you own those packs, you can certainly change their careers, but I’m not going to make you buy two more $40 packs just to play the save! The only way to be a veterinarian in the Sims 4 is to own your own vet clinic, so Destiny owns the clinic. I am not able to create Ludwig’s penthouse with Cats and Dogs and Vampires. He lives in the nicest house in Willow Creek. If you want him to have a penthouse, you’ll need either City Living or Lovestruck. (City Living is closer to New York, for what it’s worth.)I can’t really create a “Victorian farmhouse” because my lot choices are… limited, and also I don’t consider myself a good enough builder. (Abraham lives on a big lot! That said, Vampires is the Victorian decor pack… and one of the other worlds does have a nice 64×64…)There is no cello skill in the Sims 4 at all without mods! If you download the mod and want to use it with Bridget, you’ll need to cheat her skill up or endure her practicing a lot. ����Ludwig might not love his clothing choices as much as I would like. ���� I’m spoiled rotten with my bajillion packs and limited packs means limited options. That said, you can, of course, use any other packs you own, or custom content if that’s your thing.If you use the popular mod MC Command Center (free download), certain pets will not age for reasons (install before launching the save). If you can’t or don’t want to use mods, you can turn aging off, or use age-down treats as needed. I generally prefer to play on long lifespan, but it’s all up to you! (I also like UI Cheats and Bienchen’s Dog and Cat sanity. Do be aware that mods break with every patch and require updating.)I built the vet clinic Destiny owns, but I don’t consider myself a builder. If you are a builder, feel free! This save is more about relationships and characters.There is no religion in the Sims 4. (If you own Get Together, perhaps you could make Destiny’s coven, etc., a club and set the club hangout to be a lot you downloaded or built? I wouldn’t buy the pack just for this save, though.)

I started the save in 2022 for Reasons and always intended to share, and the time is now! (Yes, the hairs are all different, see above.)

Some cool gallery lots related to my save (although I cannot speak to what packs they use):

San Myshuno Synagogue. OMG SO GOOD.There are honestly a lot of great synagogues on the gallery, but if you’re looking for a modest neighborhood option, I play with this one.Need a mikveh? Here’s a great one!Have seasons? Want to celebrate Sukkot with your Sims? There’s a great sukkah here! (Just don’t let your vamps burn in the sun!)Need a chuppah (wedding canopy) for your Sims? This one is great!I used this lot for the video above and enjoy it: Dollhouse Victorian I would have used it for Abraham here, but it requires Get Together and I wanted to limit packs.

Download:

Looking for a cozy, comfy experience? (Or new to the Sims 4?) I recommend this version! (Set between the chapters Scheherazade and Coda. Hang out with the characters! Take care of their needs! Go to work with Destiny! etc. This is honestly my preferred play style.)Looking for a bit more drama? I recommend this version. (Set between the chapters Fallout and Scheherazade. A certain someone is available for you to Vampire Duel with in this version…)

Either version might have a surprise or two.

Instructions: This goes in your saves folder. (It’s not a mod! it’s a save!) That’s Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Saves. If you go to copy it over and it asks you if you want to overwrite, SAY NO. Rename the file–change one of the numbers that is not a 9 to a 9–and try again. When you reach the main screen, you click Load Game and pick the one named Immortal Gifts.

If you don’t have the required packs, it’ll give you an error message about it and not open.

Unlike what you might have experienced with the gallery, you HAVE TO have Vampires and Cats and Dogs. Once a pack has touched a save, it requires it forever more. If you download Sims from the Gallery with packs you don’t have, they might be bald and naked but they will import into your game. Similarly, if you download lots, the game might try to replace missing items and they might be weird choices, but they’ll import. But a save? Sorry. No. It might also force you to download the free holiday pack, but that’s free.

Do you want me to create a version with Seasons and ALL THE HOLIDAYS OMG? Let me know in the comments!