The Official Launch of The Romantic Spirit Collection
Presented by Story Playscapes’ Founder, Susan L. Marshall
The Romantic Spirit … we find its beauty in its freedom and wonder; individual journey; deep emotional capacity and connection with nature.
At Story Playscapes, the Romantic Spirit exists eternally and we work to provide our Readers with an every day, deep connection
with its journeys through Susan L. Marshall’s diverse publications.
Dawn and Dusk Deluxe Edition
Arrives May 12, 2026
Story Playscapes is proud to present its new signature Romantic Spirit Collection: Dawn and Dusk Deluxe edition of Adira and the Dark Horse by Susan Marshall. This curated publication captures the beauty, existence and journey of the timeless Romantic Spirit in the person, the community, the mystery and love itself. It features the full, unabridged book and the addition of Susan’s metaphysical poems: A Mosaic of Dawn’s Eve and Evergold Dream. This edition is adorned with a premium hardbound cover with dusk cover art; a dust jacket with dawn cover art and premium paper for a luxurious and bespoke addition to any bookshelf. Pre-order your copy today.
People’s Choice
Favourite Quotes of Susan L. Marshall, 2026
“Dipping my bare brush
into your garish gold eyes,
I draw your dreams close.
They dance divinely within,
sparking silhouettes alight.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Harboured Love in Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry.
“Now I inhale the air, the microcosmic particles of the earth and all that I tread upon. I keep inhaling, drawing in the fragments of time that we have both make shifted our ways through. Their presence, their fleeting moments, their courage, their truths, cannot ever be captured in a single breath.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Adira and the Dark Horse.
VOTED #1
“The autumn leaves remind me of my own faded memories.
The leaves hold their own precious stories,
which drift about in the wind,
finding a new place to settle
and continue to exist.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2023): Fleur of Yesterday.
Published at Vocal Media, USA.
Photo credit: Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
“To be held again, to be touched, even through absence of presence, through his cardigan, unravels my heart. Somewhere in its life filmstrip, my heart’s beats have captured something special. A deep memory, a lingering love moment, a sensation, a passion, anything that I may dare face again.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Whispers of My Deep Soul … If I Could Just Return … to the Love I know.
“Whispering wind,
a quiet breath
exhaled across years
of tiny fragments of light.
Glowing in the breeze,
like silent fireworks,
accentuating my wanders
through life’s debris.”
Susan L. Marshall (2025): Whispering Wind in Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry.
“I look out at the beach
as night begins to fall.
Echoes of a time
still splash in my ears.
It is persistent,
gently prying into the
silver moon of my mind,
where the tide has come
to shore and wallows.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Mind Time in Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall.
Published at Vocal Media, USA.
Photo credit: Nicolas Cool on Unsplash
“If spirits could speak, they would tell you that mine rose high that afternoon, almost double circling the air. A sign that the deep pounding of my desire was enough to catch and freeze for eternity. I was totally allured by the very presence and rawness of you, as you reached for my hand.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Wild Love at Christmas Eve: A Romance.
“Echoes of life call to me,
like sparks of hope in the darkness.
Times of play and freedom …
“The trees we would climb,
higher and higher towards the sky,
releasing our dreams towards the heavens.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2023): All the Hope We Carry.
“We stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment, connecting through our ache, our longing for each other. I feel a tremendous pull towards him and a longing to be held close. Sliding down onto the floor, I feel him embrace me tightly and I place my head against his chest.
“I can hear Mitch’s heart pounding strongly. “My beautiful wife,” he says softly, stroking my hair. “I love you with all my heart.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Adira and the Dark Horse.
“Her long hair maps out street marks desperately. They swirl in and out of existence, depending on her memory. Her strands are like candle wicks, which burn alight with hope as they shine, waiting for his mystery to reappear.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Love’s Dying Road: A Romantic Metaphysical Fiction.
“Her hot flame melts the chill
as she draws me into her arms.
Her kiss a streak of lightening,
that electrifies my deep soul.
“Undoing my shirt buttons,
she strokes my chest alight.
A pure glow that wraps her
in my deeply aroused desire.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Wild Love in Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry.
Published at Vocal Media, USA.
Photo credit: Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
“The music intensifies, the drum beats now accompanied by Spanish guitar. A tune that tingles deep within, alighting my desire. Our eyes stare into each other’s, bodies tingling, raw and ready. Leaning closer, he presses his hips firmly against mine. I feel his heat, his desperation, his forbidden soul.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Our Forbidden Love: Its Romantic Journey Home.
“I allow myself to believe
that I just might be that bird,
taking a small adventure
across my tiny island.
“I could have wings that soar,
high above the red stained streets
into a much calmer, brighter sky.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2023): All the Hope We Carry.
“The dress I seek cannot be found.
It is tucked away deeply inside
the constant flickering shadows
of my very absent mind.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2023): Fleur of Yesterday.
“Gritting my teeth with determination, I floor the engine again, trying to gain as much distance as I can away from Redfin. Third gear it is!
“The wind is even stronger now and I feel like my hair is going to fly off my head. A strong whipping sound bursts into my ears as I floor the accelerator again, engaging fourth gear. Nouveau Road is wide and long enough to take the truck and its speed for a little while.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Adira and the Dark Horse.
Published at Vocal Media, USA.
Photo credit: Олег Мороз on Unsplash
“Fiercely wilful, Lori closes her eyes, refusing to acknowledge Coro’s darkness. His searing heat scorches her icy soul. His world is one that was unwanted by her and so she had outgrown it; her spirit thriving in the comfort of her iced cold life world. She had found a new way to exist, freeing herself from the controlling story lines and sketches. It is a peace that she has nurtured and clings to dearly.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Lori’s Free Will … in a World of Ice and Fire.
“When you hold me close
I breathe in your special scent.
You are my sanctuary.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): My Beautiful Mother in Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall.
Published at Vocal Media, USA.
Photo credit: Nicolas Cool on Unsplash
“The assured nature of you, as you shared your spirit, Renauld, in that moment that you stepped closer to me; wiping rogue strands of my black hair away from my face. Your heat, your presence, my pounding soul. The sticky afternoon air. Do you remember how we merged with the breeze as you pressed your hips against mine and swayed steadily? Did the evocative jazz music, adrift in the wind, arouse you too?”
-Susan L. Marshall (2025): Wild Love at Christmas Eve: A Romance.
“Grasping hold of the stair case hand rail with both hands, I take a deep breath. It takes a lot of strength to lift my body weight off the balcony and swing it across to the staircase. Somehow, I succeed, landing my feet successfully on a single step.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Adira and the Dark Horse.
“I could follow dusk always,
brushing it with stripes and dots
of simple beginnings
for us to share in time.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2024): Dusk Heart in Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall.
Susan L. Marshall is an Award-winning and Amazon best-selling, contemporary metaphysical literature author and artist, whose unique voice has captured the hearts of Readers across the globe. We invite you to join her journeys here at Story Playscapes,
as she unravels the Romantic Spirit through story, theatre and art.
“Nature is vast, beautiful, life-giving, evocative, healing and ever-changing. Its array of wondrous settings are places of deep inspiration for a Romantic wanderer like me. When in nature, I have learned to pay close attention to the wondrous detail around me, down to its finite detail. I have an ability to attune myself to the heightened energy of the moments I am in and to flesh them out for presence, meaning and existence.
— Susan L. Marshall, Founder, Contemporary Metaphysical Literature Author & Artist.
“It also helps to listen, to the world and atmosphere around me; to attune myself to its rhythm; immerse myself in its deeper states … therein lies its profound meaning and beauty. I love unravelling the journeys of the Romantic spirit
through writing, theatre and art.”
Amidst the magnificent hues of Australian cosmos, flora and fauna, treads Romantic wanderer, Susan L. Marshall, deeply attuned to the energy and detail around her. In a ray of sunlight; a slowly falling leaf; the cresting waves of the sea; a bird fluttering its feathers and many other treasured moments, she discovers spirit, soul and story.
Susan L. Marshall is the founder of Story Playscapes, an independent Australian publishing house. She is an Australian author, poet, dramatist, theatre practitioner, illustrator and essayist, known for her distinctively profound, metaphysical and deeply emotive work. Susan is also the founder of her monumental Theatre Playscapes style for young adults (introduced in her dramatic literature: Fleur of Yesterday and All the Hope We Carry). She is a multiple award recipient (Top Story Award at Vocal Media; Award for Special Civic Service; Arthur Andersen Prize for Business Studies and an Australian National Volunteer Award for her work in literacy education). Susan is also the Amazon best-selling author of Bare Spirit (which is also recognised as a Popular Psychology publication) and Wild Soul (which was also a #1 Hot New Release at Amazon Australia and #8 Hot New Release at Amazon USA). In her work at Story Playscapes, Susan dedicates herself to unique global literacy initiatives, such as the My Story Meadow Project and the Romantic Spirit Alight Readers’ Garden, which work to provide reading, writing and wellbeing experiences for her global readership.
Susan’s body of work includes more than 35 publications, which contribute significantly to shaping the narrative of contemporary metaphysical literature. She creates works that fuse metaphysical philosophy with a diverse range of genres. Her distinctive writing voice is renowned for its unique mystical, lyrical and Romantic qualities, which share a heartfelt and sometimes surrealist narrative, evoking wonder and awe. Susan’s works provide a special focus on the eternal nature of the Romantic Spirit and its journeys through every day human experiences; internal landscapes; deep soulful experiences and natural worlds. Her major professional publications, produced by Story Playscapes, are available in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe.
In 2026, Susan L. Marshall will step into her new era as author and debut illustrator, on the upcoming release, in March, of her publication: Princess Zyra’s Lost Storm: An Australian Childhood Myth. Susan is also continuously developing new publications and the highly anticipated product line of Story Playscapes’ premium and bespoke, signature Romantic Spirit Collection. Its first edition, to be released in May, will present her renown novel: Adira and the Dark Horse in a luxurious, premium hard cover, Dawn and Dusk Deluxe edition.
Discover the breathtaking journeys of the Romantic Spirit …
Story Playscapes’ publications, written and illustrated, by Susan L. Marshall, are now available at all good book retailers across the globe.
A Pre-Release Reading of Part 1 of
Princess Zyra’s Lost Storm: An Australian Childhood Myth
This official reading is presented in support of Story Playscapes’ global literacy initiative. On February 20, 2026, our founder, Susan L. Marshall, the author and illustrator of Princess Zyra’s Lost Storm: An Australian Childhood Myth, reads Part 1 of this whimsical and enchanting story in verse to children and their families, across the globe.
Arrives March 3, 2026
Publication Preview
Amazon Bestsellers in Australian Poetry
Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry
by Susan L. Marshall
An evocative, soul-stirring poetry collection for adults that is a tribute to Susan L. Marshall’s refined, globally renown, metaphysical artistry.
An Amazon best-selling publication.
A #1 Hot New Release in Australian and Oceanian Poetry at Amazon.
Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall
by Susan L. Marshall
Susan’s sensual verse draws upon breathtaking imagery to distil
and transcend single moments, which arise the ‘bare spirit’ from within.
An Amazon best-selling publication.
‘An Adira Cazon Literary Mystery Series’
Adira and the Dark Horse (Book One)
by Susan L. Marshall
Adira and the Dark Horse, by award-winning and Amazon best-selling author, Susan Marshall, is suspenseful as both a slow burn and a fast paced, lyrical journey of Romantic spirit, courage, community and love in danger. A fusion of metaphysical mystery and small town romance, it is an atmospheric and gripping page turner in search of truth and justice.
The Monumental Theatre Playscapes Series
Fleur of Yesterday
by Susan L. Marshall
Award-winning Susan Marshall makes history with a new theatrical style: Theatre Playscapes. Fleur of Yesterday is the premiere Theatre Playscapes play.
This publication also includes the monumental article that introduced Theatre Playscapes to the world: Theatre Playscapes: A New Theatrical Style.
All the Hope We Carry
by Susan L. Marshall
A play that respects the war survivor, who faced with the traumas and turbulence of war, must find ways to carry themself and to survive. All the Hope You Carry will linger with you long after you have read it.
This publication also includes the inspirational article: Theatre Playscapes of Hope.
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