Author Spotlight: Meet M.H. Birkelund!

There is a particular kind of silence that writers chase. It settles over a house after the school run, when the kettle has boiled and the morning's chaos has thinned into something almost sacred. For M. H. Birkelund, this silence is an invitation to where stories begin.

Birkelund, a romance author and mother, writes from the intersection of real life and deep imagination, crafting love stories shaped by the wisdom that only comes from living fully and reading voraciously. This week's featured author is Michelle H. Birkelund.

Michelle's photo shared with permission

From Reader to Writer

Like so many storytellers before her, Birkelund's journey began not with a pen, but with a book. She first picked up writing fiction at sixteen, fresh off the high of finishing a sweeping fantasy series. The ambition was immediate and uncomplicated: she figured she could write something like that too. But life, as it tends to do, intervened. She set the craft aside, and it wasn't until the strange stillness of the COVID era that she returned to it with renewed purpose. Once she discovered the self-publishing landscape, something clicked into place. Years of devoted reading suddenly became more than a pastime. They became a foundation.

She has always loved a great love story, describing herself as "a simple Pride & Prejudice romantic at heart." In her younger years, she gravitated toward fantasy novels, though even then, it was the romantic subplots that held her attention: what the genre has since come to call romantasy. She has a romantasy project quietly in the works, but her true north remains the emotional interior of her characters. Grand worldbuilding, she admits, is not her signature. The human heart is.

Writing What You Know

Early in her career, another writer offered Birkelund a piece of advice that would become a kind of compass. As writers, we always struggle to know everything, she was told. The truth is that we should always write what we know. That is where the best stories come from. She has carried that counsel ever since, weaving her own experiences into fiction with care and, as she puts it, "some embellishments here and there."

Birkelund is not one for prescriptive craft books or rigid narrative formulas. Everything she knows about writing fiction, she says, comes from reading. A lot of reading. She acknowledges that the shelves are full of guides promising better structure or tighter plotting, and that those tools genuinely help some writers. But she holds a quieter conviction: the best stories are the ones their authors are wholly passionate about telling. "You can follow all sorts of narrative rules," she reflects, "but if the love for the story gets lost in the process, the chances are that the story isn't going to be that great in the end."

Her inspiration, she says, comes from the world itself. She tries to hold onto those sparks, knowing they may be the first bright thread of something larger.

A Room of One's Own (Sort Of)

Being a mother shapes the architecture of Birkelund's writing life in ways both limiting and clarifying. She tends to schedule her writing around her children being in school or sleeping in the evenings. To accomplish her tasks, she sets goals, whether it is a word count or a chapter to finish, and works within those boundaries. But when a scene catches fire, she doesn't stop. "If I stumble into a great writing sprint, then I don't stop until I'm ready to stop." In that way, she has a schedule. But she also needs to feel the story she's writing, so it doesn't come across as forced.

Unlike writers who rely on curated playlists to summon inspiration, Birkelund prefers quiet, or at most, music without lyrics. When she truly gets into a scene, the world around her dissolves entirely. Her dream, she confesses, is something many authors share: a proper writing retreat. "Just a number of days without chores and responsibility and nothing else to do but answer to the whims of my imagination and where my characters take me."

The Characters Who Arrive Unannounced

Birkelund's characters come to her in unpredictable ways. Some appear fully formed, she says, "with a full background check and a highwired personality," while others reveal themselves slowly, scene by scene. She tries to picture where they might be in their lives and how that context would shape them: their fears, their desires, the walls they've built.

And when a draft is finally done? She takes a deep breath. She questions her own sanity. Then she marvels at the fact that she accomplished something like that. After the initial rush, she steps away, giving the manuscript space to breathe before returning with fresh eyes.

"Time is a key element after the first draft is finished," she says. "Time to change and improve the story."

Letting a manuscript rest is an act of patience. A story grows in solitude and collaboration. When it came to editorial support, here’s what she shared about TME:

Working with TME was easy. I mean this in the sense that they are concise in their feedback and very helpful with wanting your writing to improve in any way. They care about the writing and your story, which makes for helpful and useful editing.

Follow M. H. Birkelund's journey on her website, Instagram, Goodreads, and Substack.

Hey, there’s more! Head over to our Instagram and TikTok to vote for your favorite stories in the "Make It Bitter or Make It Better" Writing Challenge! Your vote helps celebrate talented writers and authors like Michelle and the stories they've poured their hearts into.

If you want to experience professional editing that's sure to level up your own story, sign up at themanuscripteditor.com and send in your document today!