Autumn M. Birt Crafts Fantastical Worlds Filled with Magic, Adventure, and Grit

Lessons in Writing, Self-Publishing, and Creativity

Autumn M. Birt discusses her journey from debuting Born of Water to mastering world-building, balancing multiple genres, and embracing travel-inspired storytelling, while offering invaluable advice for aspiring authors navigating self-publishing.

Autumn M. Birt is an award-winning and bestselling author who masterfully blends epic fantasy with immersive world-building. With over 20 novels to her name, she has captivated readers with intricate fantasy landscapes, dystopian thrillers, and even real-world adventures. Whether crafting elemental magic in Myrrah or navigating the emotional depths of war-torn futures, Birt brings a richness to her storytelling that stems from her own explorations across the globe.

In this exclusive interview for Reader’s House Magazine, she shares the inspirations behind her fantasy realms, the challenges of debuting with Born of Water, and the lessons she’s learned from a life spent travelling, writing, and embracing the unexpected.

Autumn M. Birt is a master storyteller whose immersive worlds, rich characters, and thrilling adventures captivate readers and ignite the imagination.

What inspired you to create the world of Myrrah and its elemental magic system?

In the early 2000s, I had a story in my head about a professional woman—secretly a water elemental—who notices a girl with strange magic potential at a conference. But the idea stalled. Around the same time, the office where I worked had a massive Mediterranean painting—red cliffs, crashing waves, a brilliant sun, an endless sky. One day, I realized it held all the elements, and I wondered—what if my heroine lived there? That was the day Myrrah was born, along with Niri and Ria, the characters who would bring it to life.

What was the biggest challenge in writing Born of Water, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge? It became my debut novel. Despite having a BA in English, I had a lot to learn about novel writing. I took adult education classes, wrote, rewrote, and rewrote again—including printing out the entire book and rearranging chapters on my living room floor. It was a process, but I stuck with it, publishing Born of Water in 2012.
Since then, I’ve grown tremendously as a writer, but this book remains a reader favorite, even winning reader awards as recently as 2020!

How do you balance writing across multiple genres, from epic fantasy to dystopian thrillers?

I read across multiple genres, so writing in them feels natural—like switching between different book series. I find it refreshing to go from a magic-filled epic fantasy to a gritty, fast-paced thriller.

But genre is just the surface layer. No matter what I write, I stay true to what defines my stories—deep, complex characters with a lot of grit who have big problems to solve in a fast paced style. And I always try to include themes of friendship and love, because I think those are important in the world and our lives.


Your love for travel is evident—how has your nomadic lifestyle influenced your storytelling?

I think traveling has had a two-fold effect on my story telling.

The first is that I think my love of discovering new places—being overwhelmed by amazing scenery, smells, or tastes—bleeds into my writing. Readers often say my worlds feel real, and that’s because I write as if I’m standing there myself.

And the second is it makes some of the fantasy travel a little less “fantasy.” I have to admit I roll my eyes to read stories with people walking an aching number of miles in a day with absolutely no gear, catching dinner, and the weather is great. Just nope. My stories have mud, biting insects, plants that might eat you, days that you are thirsty, and you have to carry your tent—unless you have a pack animal… like a dragon.

“Readers often say my worlds feel real, and that’s because I write as if I’m standing there myself.” – Autumn M. Birt

Do you have a favourite character from any of your books, and if so, why?

I do love many of my characters and often when I’m writing a series, there is an absolute favorite there. But, looking back, the one that I still really love is Captain Jared Vries from Friends of my Enemy.

This is a dark, deeply emotional dystopian series that is often referred to as “Jane Austen meets WWIII.” And Jared… is just so darn flippantly himself. He is the sort of character that has a comeback so witty even enemies have to laugh. And he is loyal, skilled enough to survive a futuristic wasteland, and is just the sort of bloke you’d want as a best friend.

I think that is why I love him. I’m so glad he popped into my mind, helped me write the series, and has stayed on as a sort of“good” guardian angel with a sarcastic streak.

How do you approach world-building to make your settings feel immersive and believable?

There’s a science to world-building… and maybe an art to it, too.

To me, the true essence of making a fantastical place real is to create ecosystems—probably because I have a degree in ecology! If you can design a habitat that has evolved in a landscape, understand how a human-like culture would live there, add in their habits, beliefs, clothes, houses, you can make it feel real.

The hard part, really, is creating this immense knowledge base in your mind and not dumping it on a reader. Every reader should have the opportunity to explore through the eyes of the characters. Plus, there should be enough gaps, they get to add in their imagination as well. It takes a lot of work, but it is so much fun to write and share worlds with readers.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors trying to navigate self-publishing and marketing?

The first would be when you are writing your first book, don’t rush it. Take the time to learn to write well, get help, get feedback, expect to have to rewrite it. It takes time to learn the ropes and if you go into it thinking you’ll be great on your first draft, you are going to face disappointment. Instead, embrace the learning, love the journey, make friends along the way, and you’ll come out with an amazing book, some wonderful supporters, and a passion to write.

The second would be you will have to market, indie or traditionally published author, but you can figure out what that looks like for you. Maybe you’ll just want to run paid ads. Maybe you’ll share your writing journey on social media. Perhaps you’ll just post pins of characters. The important thing is to find a way of marketing you enjoy and that connects you with readers who will enjoy what you write. There are a million ways of making that happen.