Meet Douglas A. Burton

Douglas A. Burton is a novelist and storyteller whose various works emphasize heroic women in fiction. Burton’s debut historical novel, Far Away Bird, brought Byzantine Empress Theodora to life through an intimate biographical account. The novel collected numerous awards including gold medals for the IBPA’s Best New Voice in Fiction, Readers’ Favorite Historical Personage, and eLit’s Best Historical Fiction eBook. Far Away Bird was also a finalist for the Montaigne Medal (Eric Hoffer Book Award) and Screencraft’s Cinematic Book competition. His articles and work on Theodora have appeared in Ms. Magazine and have been cited on Wikipedia. More recently, Burton’s short story ‘The Vaccine’ won the 2024 NextGen Short Story Awards for the Scary Story/Paranormal category.

Burton’s newest book, The Heroine’s Labyrinth: Archetypal Designs in Heroine-Led Fiction, is a nonfiction writing craft book that boldly presents a paradigm shift for story structure. Sourced entirely from heroine-centric stories. the heroine’s labyrinth model offers a completely original and groundbreaking alternative to the hero’s journey. The book has been endorsed by Hollywood and storytelling gurus such as Christopher Vogler and Matt Bird.

Burton currently lives in Austin, TX with his wonderful wife, Crystal, and two energetic boys, Jacob and Lucas.