My name is Kris Waldherr and I'm an author, illustrator, and designer. After decades in traditional publishing, I founded Muse Publications during the darkest days of the pandemic. In 2022, our first book was my novel Unnatural Creatures: A Novel of the Frankenstein Women, which received critical acclaim. Since then we've published four books and have seven more in the works. Learn more about Muse.

As an author, my many books for adults and children include Bad Princess, Doomed Queens, and The Book of Goddesses. My fiction has won fellowships from the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts, and a reading grant from Poets & Writers. My debut novel The Lost History of Dreams, a Victorian-set gothic, was awarded a Kirkus star and named a best book of the year by CrimeReads. View my books.

I’m also a tarotist who teaches the tarot to writers and other creatives. My latest book is Tarot for Storytellers: A Modern Guide for Writers and Other Creatives, which is now available. Contact me to schedule a workshop. I've created two tarot decks, one of which is the Goddess Tarot. 

As an illustrator, I've had my art exhibited in the Ruskin Library, the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. 

I live and work in Brooklyn in a Victorian-era house with my husband, the anthropologist Thomas Ross Miller, my daughter and her cat Zuzu. I adore traveling to far-flung places to research books, sitting in my garden with a cup of coffee, and brainstorming with author friends—I truly see life as a creative journey.

How It Began. How It's Going.

1. CHILDREN'S BOOKS

As a child, I always wrote stories and made art. However, a full scholarship to the School of Visual Arts seemed a sign I should focus on art—writing could wait. While at SVA, I learned about the Pre-Raphaelites, which inspired me to become a book illustrator and designer. After graduation, I threw myself whole-heartedly into my new career and soon sold Rapunzel, my first picture book, to Dial Books. Later, I freelanced for Dial as a children's book designer while illustrating my second picture book, The Firebird. I also began to write again, which led to my writing and illustrating my third picture book, Persephone and the Pomegranate.

2. GODDESS POWER

After publishing Persephone and the Pomegranate, I decided I wanted to create illustrated books for all ages—books that would be treasured by women and their daughters—as well as more books about goddesses. My next book was The Book of Goddesses, which became a One Spirit/Book of the Month Club bestseller. Its success enabled me to fully focus on illustrating books for myself and other authors; I stopped freelancing as a book designer. In time, The Book of Goddesses led to the creation of The Goddess Tarot, which has over a quarter of a million copies in print.

3. WOMEN'S HISTORY

The success of The Book of Goddesses made me eager to push my creative boundaries. Next up was The Lover's Path, perhaps my most innovative book: the book design featured folded out letters, maps, and a fictional backstory inspired by the life of Tullia d'Aragona, a famed poet-courtesan of 16th century Italy. I also became a mother, which inspired the gallows humor of Doomed Queens, a survey of how women have been systematically disempowered throughout history. The New Yorker praised Doomed Queens as “utterly satisfying” and “deliciously perverse.” I also moved my studio into a storefront in Brooklyn, which doubled as a book arts gallery.

4. NOVELIST 

In 2009, I participated in my first National Novel Writing Month. To my surprise, I loved the experience so much that I expanded from creating illustrated books to writing novels. Another big change: I moved my studio from the storefront into the top floor of a Victorian house, where I now abide with my family. In 2019 my debut novel The Lost History of Dreams, a reworking of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Victorian England, was published by Atria Books. However, I'm still obsessed with women's history: my nonfiction book Bad Princess was chosen as a selection of the Junior Literary Guild.

5. PUBLISHER AND TEACHER

In 2021, I began Muse Publications with the help and support of several colleagues. Another effect of the pandemic: I began teaching the tarot and writing at The Writers Circle, Hugo House, and other writing centers via Zoom. My latest book Tarot for Storytellers: A Creative Guide for Writers and Other Creatives encapsulates these classes and workshops, along with my personal philosophy about tarot and creativity. As for what's ahead, Muse's publishing program is expanding in 2025—to be kept up to date, sign up for our newsletter.

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