“My practice as an artisan author and illustrator is dedicated to harmonising raw light, natural and genre fragments with rigorous design architecture. I engineer interactive literary spaces that stimulate cognitive and energetic development; spark reflection, spiritual awakening and reshape how we experience the page and our interactions with literature.”
— Susan L. Marshall, Artisan Author, Illustrator, Founder & Artistic Director
I invite you to read my Founder’s Statement below, where I officially introduce the vision of our unique Soulful Formalism style of
Contemporary Metaphysical Literature.
The Founder’s Statement: Soulful Formalism
In the contemporary world, we often find ourselves existing amongst historical fragmentations: precious moments, memories, energies and feelings that are treated as scattered and non-unifiable shards of a past and a present that sometimes feel too broken to understand, claim or even hold onto. For a very long time, traditional thought has treated life as a singular ‘object,’ which is to be studied from a distance, forgetting the resonating rhythms of life and spirit; along with the subjective beauty of the human heart.
I am an internationally acclaimed best-selling artisan author; a Top Story Award recipient; an illustrator, a theatre practitioner, a pioneer of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature and the literary architect of Soulful Formalism.
Through my spiritual discipline of Fragmentique, I do not simply see fragments, I actively curate them. I believe that even in a ‘broken’ world, there is a dignified, unified whole that awaits discovery. My work is metaphysical reconstruction – I work through the light, dark and shadows of our human experiences and build a sturdy bridge back to the Romantic Spirit.
By using the intentional rhythms, pulse and sublime of Heightened Energy and the high contrast perception, ontology, relativity and cause and effect of Metaphysical Noir et Blanc, I provide a structural intersection of literary and visual art with maths /science that serves two purposes: to guide you towards emotional resonance and an intellectual homecoming.
Honoured by International Acclaim, I invite you to step away from the clinical voids that have existed in our past. Come discover and rest in literary architecture, designed specifically as a sanctuary of discovery and integrity for the depths of the Romantic Spirit and its human soul.
The structure is my promise. The soul is our destination. You are home.
I officially coin the term: Soulful Formalism as my form of literary architecture, this day: 4 May 2026.”
— Susan L. Marshall
Founder & Artistic Director, Story Playscapes
Pioneer of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature & Theatre Playscapes
Professional Illustrator
Literary Architect of Soulful Formalism
Internationally Acclaimed Best-selling Author / Top Story Award Recipient
The following special correspondence tracks the decade-long architectural development and familial mandate that brought
the forgotten voices of the Gozo survivors into Contemporary Metaphysical Literature.
A Literary Announcement
Special Correspondence from the Studio of Susan L. Marshall
“If we carry enough hope, we can heal the world.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2023): All the Hope We Carry
THE GENESIS OF SOULFUL FORMALISM:
A DECADE LONG COMMITMENT TO THE VOICES OF GOZO
MELBOURNE, 16 MAY 2026
The publication of All the Hope We Carry within our Theatre Playscapes style marks a definitive evolution in Contemporary Metaphysical Literature. While appearing to audiences as a rapid release following Fleur of Yesterday, this specific work conceptually and chronologically preceded it. The text required nearly a decade of rigorous structural development and historical distillation to fully transition from its original presentation, Indigo’s Haven, into my foundational breakthrough piece for Soulful Formalism as my literary style.
The structural scaffolding of this play was engineered to answer a critical historical void. The dream-like, fractured landscape of Maren serves as a literary sanctuary for the real, documented traumas endured by the population of Gozo during the Second World War.
A Sacred Historical Mandate
The genesis of this work rests upon a solemn familial mandate. My late maternal grandmother entrusted the historical accounts of her experiences as a war survivor in Gozo, directly to me, issuing a clear directive to bring the forgotten experiences of the Gozo survivors to light.
Her primary accounts from the island reveal a profound state of wartime isolation: the citizens were left entirely in the dark, with no access to critical information regarding why the conflict was escalating around them or what was happening globally. This play shows deep compassion for my Nanna’s experiences as a young mother, who did all she could to survive the war. It also directly answers my Nanna’s urgent appeal: that the world must finally be made aware of the severe struggles and psychological containment experienced by the Gozo people who were under siege.
Structural Allegory and
Narrative Architecture
To elevate these raw historical accounts into high art without sacrificing their essential, precious gravity, I meticulously attributed my Nanna’s protective, maternal influence to Doris. I further transcended her maternal spirit of survival across the characters of Claire and Samuel.
Doris and the Hospitaller Legacy: Doris functions as a profound tribute to the wartime women of Gozo. She represents the historical figures aligned with the Hospitaller tradition—the localized, courageous women who stepped forward to care for, heal, and comfort those injured during the relentless bombardments. Operating as a Hospitaller woman directly from the sanctuary of her own home, Doris embodies the quiet, domestic heroism that kept the community alive amid devastation.
Claire’s Picture Grassland: Designed as a psychological and visual vessel, this landscape mirrors the unyielding pursuit of a better life. It archives Gozo as it existed prior to wartime devastation—an untouched sanctuary of open horizons. Through Claire, this geography operates as a preservation of hopeful existence, even without the presence of her father.
Samuel and the Embodiment of War: Samuel represents the direct manifestation of war on the human body and the protective responsibility born from conflict. He physically disappears from his war torn home, into the safety of a picture grassland, signifying the displacement of the self under duress. Yet, as the shadows of war persistently breach this sanctuary, he is faced with the immediate reality of what it takes to survive and those hidden within—including the mothers and their children seeking refuge in the limestone caves. Samuel embodies the agonizing necessity of preservation, even rising with burnt wings above the natural world to confront the ‘other’ in the sky to keep the world and its hidden inhabitants safe.
The Citizen Chorus: The environment itself operates as an extension of ancestral defense and sanctuary. A chorus of Citizens transform into a vibrant mist, representing the Gloster Sea Gladiator biplane fighters, who protected Malta and Gozo during the war. They were affectionately named Faith, Hope and Charity, by the people. The ambient mist transform their collective spirits into a protective shroud to shield Samuel, Yarrow and their sacred grassland haven from external destruction.
The Fractured Light Prism Studies: Heightened Energy & Metaphysical Noir et Blanc
The narrative integration of these heavy historical truths was achieved through my disciplined fractured light prism studies. By splitting the text into distinct bands of spiritual and emotional energy, I balanced the severe shadows of conflict with the brilliant rays of human endurance. Within this structural matrix, indigo light is anchored securely inside Lady Solary, manifesting the purest form of light. Lady Solary’s light stands as the epitome of Heightened Energy, functioning as the ultimate catalyst for hope and a profound savior against despair: a celestial sanctuary of absolute truth and protection that wartime darkness could not diminish.
Crucially, these early chromatic explorations served as a vital creative catalyst; the fractured prism studies were the definitive beginning of Metaphysical Noir et Blanc for me. They provided the essential framework to map out the stark, contrasting architectural dualities of light, shadow and darkness that now define my broader artistic universe.
All the Hope We Carry ultimately demonstrated to me that the literary form must expand to hold the weight of collective memory. Through a decade of formal discipline, a private promise I kept for my Nanna has been transformed into a permanent public record. I am finally at peace that the voices of Gozo are no longer lost to the historical margins.
As I continue to develop my Soulful Formalist Literary style, my Nanna’s beautiful spirit and story are embraced deeply within me.
If you wish to learn more about All the Hope We Carry, you can visit its Official Publication Page.
Using Soulful Formalism as my overarching style, I pioneer Contemporary Metaphysical Literature.
I invite you to explore its officially coded literary category below:
Contemporary Metaphysical Literature
– A Literary Category –
Acknowledgement of History of Metaphysical Literature and Fragmentation
In the development of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature as a literary category at Story Playscapes, Susan L. Marshall acknowledges the significance of the form and conventions of three distinctive eras where Metaphysical Literature was / is prominent.
1. Ancient Greek Metaphysical Philosophy and Literature
Susan L. Marshall draws her grounding of metaphysical philosophical principles and theories from the works of Aristotle. Her creation of contemporary metaphysical literature derives extensive inspiration from her Ancient Greek Antiquity, particularly the works of: Homer, Sophocles and Aeschylus. Susan particularly draws from the conventions of pathos and cartharsis in the development of her work. She will also sometimes draw from the resulting metaphysical and ethical philosophy of Stoicism.
2. Metaphysical Poetry of the 17th Century
Susan L. Marshall acknowledges the work of Metaphysical poets of the 17th Century (pioneered by John Donne). From this time, she extends the use of the following conventions: metaphysical conceit, deep intellectualism, paradox and colloquial diction.
3. Japanese Philosophy: Ma and Ki sei
Susan L. Marshall acknowledges the Japanese philosophy of Ma as representing an emptiness or void that can be social, physical or related to time. Using this philosophy, Susan blocks out background noise, bringing focus to the energy, light, shadow and darkness of fragments she discovers. Susan also draws upon the Japanese philosophy of Ki sei, to attune to the energetic life flow and rhythm of fragments, leading to their reconstruction and literary formation in a united mosaic.
4. Historical Presentation / View of Literary Fragments
Susan L. Marshall also acknowledges the historical view / presentation of literary fragmentation in the Romanticist era as a yearning for nature, individualism, emotion, awe of the sublime and a description of beauty that could never be complete. She also acknowledges the historical view / presentation of literary fragmentation as ‘broken,’ particularly through Modernist and Post Modernist / Post Structuralist literature. Susan’s work in contemporary metaphysical literature, challenges this view, through metaphysical reconstruction of fragments, leading to metaphysical truth for the human condition as subject, their Romantic Spirit and wellbeing.
Contemporary Metaphysical Literature
At Story Playscapes, Susan L. Marshall defines her literary art with the primary classification of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature. She is a prominent creator of this literary category, which defines the fundamental purpose and identity of her writing. Her work in this genre, is produced using her unique, coined form of Soulful Formalism.
Purpose,Technique & Form: Through the creation and use of her coined Soulful Formalist from and her original Fragmentique technique (conventions: Heightened Energy and Metaphysical Noir et Blanc), Susan L. Marshall focuses on the metaphysical reconstruction of Fragments, forming a non-linear, mosaic narrative, which works to assist the reader to discover the metaphysical truth of narrative. The addition of Romantic Academia, as a formalised literary convention, provides her work with a focus on setting the Romantic Spirit Alight, in both story and for the reader, through its yearnings and experiences of the everyday. The structure of Fragmentique is highly flexible in the way it has enabled Susan to use a diverse range of genres (genre as fragment and to give contemporary voice in her writing), in her works. Blended with metaphysical perception, ontology, cause and effect and/or relativity, the genre fragments ‘bend’ to take on new approaches through her writing.
Susan L. Marshall has divided Contemporary Metaphysical Literature into three distinctive conventions. Conventions are methods that Susan uses to develop her work and help to build the architecture of contemporary metaphysical literature. The three conventions are:
1. Heightened Energy: Attunement to moments through the heightened energies of nature, for example: a glowing ray of light, a bird fluttering its wing, the cresting of sea waves or vibrational energy. These moments (and more!) often strike Susan with an ‘awe’ (sublime) and soothe her own wellbeing. They become fragments, which she fleshes out in writing as the ‘hero’ of a moment for the Romantic Spirit’s journey. Heightened Energy fragments, along with Ma, help to gage the central focus, void, pulse, blocks, flows, rhythms, atmospheres and harmonies of the piece. They provide fragments of setting, spiritual connection, as well as motivation and drive for the character’s ontological state at any given point.
2. Metaphysical Noir et Blanc: The metaphysical reconstruction of fragments discovered through light, shadow and darkness. These fragments are sourced from the natural world, human moments, memories, specific genre, visual arts, etc. Susan uses a metaphysical pallet that contains natural and sensory fragments: curating works using words that are etched from her fragment finds, metaphysical philosophy, genre choices and literary / artistic inspirations; in order to provide them with meaning, leading to the development of mosaic of metaphysical truth for the Romantic spirit.
Metaphysical Noir et Blanc is about Susan being able to block out the background noise and to really focus on the depth of the moment that she is curating. It involves her being able to see things like:
-perception of light and shadow and how that creates emotional resonance, ontology, relativity, cause and effect, etc.
-use of Ma and its void or emptiness to focus on energy and shades of light, shadow and darkness. Blocking out background noise and bringing focus to the fragment.
-foreground and background focus and how they interplay for deeper meanings, perception, etc.
-deliberately bringing focus to the light of the moment and letting it shine its glory.
-seeking the mystery in the shadows and delving into what the darkness brings to emotional depth.
-different shades of dark and light and how these impact on meaning. Blurring, blending, etc to achieve effect.
-deliberately bringing focus to an aspect of world or character (light) against the shadows (whether real or imagined).
-Use of Ki sei to provide life rhythm and structure to fragments.
Susan uses a lot of visual art techniques in writing, to help to curate these raw moments of ontology for the reader. She aims to show how these moments, like a mosaic, form a greater part of the eternal Romantic Spirit’s journey.
3. Romantic Academia: Susan L. Marshall’s Romantic Academia is a unique, formalised literary convention, which differs greatly from the broader internet aesthetic of the same name. Susan has transformed it from a vibe or visual aesthetic (as on social media), to a structured literary discipline. For Susan, Romantic Academia involves her drawing from her knowledge of fragments of Romanticism and Dark Romanticism to build the foundational approach to her work. She also utilises her scholarly influences from other literary, theatrical and visual arts masters / practices to inform her of the Romantic aesthetics and forms of her works. Primarily, Susan’s Romantic Academia is an aesthetic and character convention, as her ”scholarly” focus is on the human condition as a subject, finding meaning and existing, while its Romantic spirit finds a way to thrive and be set alight in our contemporary every day. Susan draws upon her work with Heightened Energy and Metaphysical Noir et Blanc fragments, to detail the Romantic Spirit’s journey in the contemporary world.
Susan’s dedication to contemporary metaphysical literature works to provide a wellbeing experience for the Reader. As they engage with the mosaic narrative, they find clues in the fragments, which they also work to dually metaphysically reconstruct, as the story is read. Not only does it set a character’s spirit alight, yet also provides a wellbeing experience for the Reader.
Extension of the Contemporary Metaphysical Literary Category at Story Playscapes:
1. Susan L. Marshall’s development of her original Theatre Playscapes style and resulting essays and dramatic literature.
2. The My Story Meadow: Soulful Literary Salon and its work on literary development (through Susan’s writing études) and support of global literacy.
3. The Romantic Spirit Alight Readers’ Garden, which provides wellbeing experiences for readers through their engagement with the spiritual flow of quotes/fragments from Susan L. Marshall’s professional publications.
Literary Categorisation & Availability of Susan L. Marshall’s Publications:
Susan’s major professional publications, published here at Story Playscapes, are categorised as Contemporary Metaphysical Literature and Romantic Academia. They are available at all good book retailers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
Creator and Qualifications:
Susan L. Marshall
Bachelor of Arts (majors in English, Drama and Theatre Studies).
Postgraduate Bachelor of Teaching (Primary and Secondary).
Official Foundation Date / Date of Announcement:
14 April 2026.
I invite you to read my essay article: Fragmentique: Susan L. Marshall’s Signature Technique, below,
which shares with you how I use my signature technique to develop Contemporary Metaphysical Literature.
Fragmentique
Susan L. Marshall’s Signature Technique
“Harnessing winter’s energy I drift,
my free wild woman’s soul,
alight with day’s deep desires.” 1
Above is a quote from my poem: Wild Woman Soul in my best-selling poetry collection: Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry. In winter and all other seasons, I face the natural outdoors and attune myself to its myriad of energies. Time does not feel restrictive, yet frees me and enables me to focus on states of being and presence. I harness the elements and seasons, firstly attuning myself to the most basic form of light energy.
If I stand amongst the dappled hues of natural light outdoors, I can absorb its evocative presence. Streaks of blue, purple or red, accompanied by dancing dots of white that project their crystal-like glows, prism-like and far reaching. Dusk is my favourite time of day to witness this ethereal presence of light and to feel the weight of its being, as it carries the wisdom of the day.
“I could follow dusk always,
brushing it with stripes and dots
of simple beginnings
for us to share in time.” 2
I see fragmentation in natural light, which may exist as an intense power, a soft glow or a deep fragility. Neither of these are positive or negative, as I do not view my perception of light as definitive. The above quote from my poem: Dusk Heart in my best-selling poetry collection: Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall, demonstrates that dusk as both a source of light and a time period, can be transformed into simple beginnings via the brushing of stripes and dots. Light (even at a time of day like dusk), is the source of my beginning of Fragmentique, my artistic technique. Metaphysically, I believe that light is a carrier of being in the rich array of forms as it chooses to present itself. I consider that light is deeply connected to the soul of its perceiver and provides a deep, personal sense of absorption and connection with energies and aspects of the natural world. When I attune myself to fragments of light and the way it shines on world aspects, I am able to use Fragmentique to shape being.
Aristotle, the philosopher and polymath, once stated in his publication: Metaphysics: Book I: Alpha: “The essence, i.e. the substantial reality, no one has expressed distinctly.” 3 His observation is significant in metaphysical philosophy, as it draws our attention to the importance of recognising what it is to be. As a first principle, a beginning, to our creations of art in its diverse forms, we must first understand what we see and appreciate its raw presence, as fractured as it is, in time and space,
for it to carry any purposeful meaning.
Martin Heidegger, the philosopher of phenomenology and existentialism, is notably famous for critiquing the world of the aesthetic and to question its very focus and purpose in life itself. He noted that beauty in aesthetic is one of the key essential phenomena that he believed interlocked with science, technology, culture and the decline of the divine, to express directions that our contemporary world continues to move and to build its own history.4 Heidegger referred to such trajectory of movement as a form of subjectivism in human nature and argued that it was used as a way to gain mastery and/or complete control over objective reality that we are faced with. 5
I will not deny the fact that we as humans, can be subjective in our views of reality. I raise an issue in Heidegger’s argument, in the way that it derives from the Cartesian view of an object (including in Descartes work), as being detached and distanced from its observer and so therefore it becomes
external to a subjective view.6 This poses the idea that the object is somewhat definitive and inflexible in its nature and I note, can stand in opposition
to the personal interpretations that may be presented of it by its observer.
Metaphysically, I draw upon Aristotle’s metaphysical philosophy/science of being qua being 7 and its continued, vital connective importance in our rapidly paced world. I invite us to continue an appreciation for the virtue of the very state of being in our world, in relation to its very existence. We can continue to focus on the universal principles, essences and substances of objects, aspects or elements of the world, rather than only their specific properties. We may begin with a universal understanding of how such presences be. From there, we can extend our understandings, beyond our physical realm, to venture into a deeper understanding of why such presences exist, through being and how we connect with them on a deeper emotional and/or spiritual plain.
In my authorship and illustration work, ontology is important to me, as it allows me to consider the deeper, internal connections that we build as humans with our world. Metaphysical philosophy allows me to delve deeper into those first causes and principles, to understand that the logic of what I see can be transcended into an experience that belongs to the carrier of that moment and therefore unravels their journey. If I refer to my connection with light once more, I have a physical and sensational response to the way that light fractures may bend, blur or glow (among other presentations). What light shines upon, helps me to attune myself to and define its visibility and meaning, in search of a greater truth. This is the core purpose of Fragmentique: to attune myself to the fractured light as the beginning of mystery. In turn, the light leads me to seek the deeper truths that it unravels through my visions and connections.
“The land of Maren my island,
calls to me in my fretful sleep.
Like dancing ribbons of light,
it winds its memories around
my starved, yearning torso,
tearing at my aching heart.” 8
My profound beliefs of light can be unravelled deeply, as demonstrated in the above quote spoken by Doris, in my publication: All the Hope We Carry. In this dramatic literature publication, I use my Fragmentique technique to reveal the truth of light as a source of faith, hope and vision. It is an aspect of the world that is carried by Doris, Claire and Samuel, in ways that reveal their emotional states, fragility and determinations to survive a devastating war.9 Light as a being, far transcends its logical definition, it permeates the conscience of the reader, enabling them to experience, first hand, the significant impacts of the way it presents itself and works towards healing.
Why light? It brings life, vibrancy and sight, therefore the beginnings of perception, connection and can catalyse cause and effect. It proudly displays other energies (kinetic, mechanical, etc.) in the way it glows, offering fractured views of the world that mesmerise me and provide deep connection. In these moments, I am nurturing my wellbeing and finding that connection between my physical and mental realms. I am discovering my balance between doing and being.
The work that I share with our global readership, whether that be via my writing etudes or professional publications, are designed for a wide ranging, international audience. Every day I feel blessed that my deep connections with nature and its energies, have enabled me to produce art that helps readers to connect with every day moments in new ways. I have come to realise that this rare, innate gift I have, has a greater purpose. To explain this further, I take a moment to appreciate the dichotomy between two important views of life. On the one hand, we have the Temple of Doing, which universally, we can agree, focuses on our very actions and productivity in the world and how we may perform tasks. It can create a task oriented mind set, and possibly lead to stress, if we do not complete work on time or meet the demands of our busy world.
With my interests in metaphysical philosophy, I aim to help our Readers become more aware of the Temple of Being, which is a cherished belief amongst many religions and cultures around the world. It is up to us to nurture our very beings, to take care of ourselves and to realise that our very presence and connections with our world are vital. Attunement with our own beings and our attempts to preserve and nurture their essential states of existence, are core foci of my written publications.
“Exhaling, my breath is strong, trekking an age of light, which glows dimly in the distance. Light that bounces across the earth, flashing images of familiar, warm faces, tallow candles, silk and red gum trees. Moments of precious heritage that should be treasured and prolonged.” 10
In the above quote, Private Detective Adira Cazon, in my metaphysical mystery, Adira and the Dark Horse, is a detective who fights at all costs, to preserve her own Temple of Being and its truths, extending her guidance to protect the presence and integrity of Girl and a pleading people. She is a unique detective that belongs to not one single religion or culture, yet rather journeys across her own plain of Romantic spirit.11
“As sea water sprayed against her arms,
Princess Zyra stood tall and brave.
Sand seeping between her fingers,
she met the gaze of the full moon.” 12
In the above quote from my children’s metaphysical myth: Princess Zyra’s Lost Storm: An Australian Childhood Myth, young Princess Zyra bravely faces her arid land, beginning with the assistance of the glowing light of the full moon. As she builds her own cosmos, called Sea Castle, she begins to realise that her unique, mystical connection with the cosmos is also helping her to develop and nurture her very own Temple of Being, which reflects itself in unique ways in her world and manifests into a moment of self actualisation.13 I am drawn to the beauty and mystery of what it is to be and nature is always my first, waking steps in finding those mysterious aspects to help shape the being, presence and spirits of my characters.
I declare that for myself, valuing my Temple of Being involves me attuning myself to my Romantic spirit. 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.
I find 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.
Worlds and their universes are not viewed as ‘whole’ entirely in my metaphysical visions. Rather, I consider them to exist in fragments, which can draw one’s focus to aspects that can be explored with depth and breadth. To show that reality can be interpreted metaphysically involves an ability to engage with the motions, states, moments and atmospheres of time, space and place. I work to add wonder and awe to my writing, via deeply profound, mystical connection. In this way, I work to make the most smallest experience vivid and wondrous for the reader. At its core, my writing aims to set the character’s Romantic spirit alight via its journey of revelation, connection and self actualisation within time, space and place.
We can learn to value our own Romantic individualism, emotions, connections with nature and experiences. This in turn can lead us to learning to care for our beings. We must find balance also, in our performative actions, not eliminating our Temple of Doing, yet learning to appreciate that our very actions and productivity can shape who we are at a larger and even more personal scale. This is tricky, in a very busy and over saturated world,
yet very important for our own growth.
As a contemporary metaphysical literature author, my use of my signature Fragmentique, involves me drawing from my deep connections with the fragments of light and aspects of nature that it illuminates (eg. leaves, colours, light fall, feathers, raindrops, etc.) and their energies, to create a rich metaphysical palette that I, for example: sort, spilt, blend, blur, dot, streak, mix, dab, etch and attune myself to.
“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.” 14
I love to watch my worlds, characters, atmospheres, moments and any states of being grow as I engage with my technique. This is evident in my above quote from Fleur of Yesterday, where I use the metaphor of autumn leaf fall to represent fracturing of memory. I engaged with the fragmented existences of Fleur, the Carnation flower, human memory, yesterday and love, nurturing their states of being.
My signature technique, Fragmentique, exists throughout all my existing publications, including those yet to come. I look forward to sharing more about my journey with this technique in my writing with Readers in the future as I create new works.
Thank you for joining us on our journey here at Story Playscapes.
Susan L. Marshall
13 March, 2026.
ENDNOTES
1. Marshall, Susan L. (2025): Wild Woman Soul in Wild Soul: Contemporary Classical Winter Poetry. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
2. Marshall, Susan L. (2024): Dusk Heart in Bare Spirit: The Selected Poems of Susan Marshall. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
3. Aristotle (350 BC) Metaphysics (Book I: Alpha). William David Ross (Trans. ed). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
4, 5 & 6. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive (n.d.) Heidegger’s Aesthetics. Accessed here
7. Aristotle (350 BC) Metaphysics (Book IV: Gamma). William David Ross (Trans. ed). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
8 & 9. Marshall, Susan L. (2023): All the Hope We Carry. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
10 & 11. Marshall, Susan L. (2024): Adira and the Dark Horse. An Adira Cazon Literary Mystery: Book 1. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
12 & 13. Marshall, Susan L. (2026): Princess Zyra’s Lost Storm: An Australian Childhood Myth. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
14. Marshall, Susan L. (2023): Fleur of Yesterday. Story Playscapes, Melbourne, Australia.
From the Editorial Desk ~ A Journey of Remembrance
In our previous features, we explored the genesis of Soulful Formalism and the vision and application of my Fragmentique technique to create Contemporary Metaphysical Literature. We also looked at how collective memory keeps forgotten history alive in our hearts.
Yet, true remembrance is a living path. It moves from quiet reflection into active creation. In the journal notebook entry below, we step inside the creative sanctuary of Susan L. Marshall to see this philosophy breathe.
Adira and the Dark Horse stands as a beautiful testament to this journey. Through its intricate page designs, the echoes of the past find a natural home in the present. Ancient paths mirror modern footsteps. The deep, unspoken longings of the heart across generations are gently held and protected.
We invite you to explore this synchronized world. Discover how structure serves the soul, and find the delicate beauty waiting to be uncovered in the following Journal Notebook Entry: The Speculative Craft and Soulful Formalism of Adira and the Dark Horse.
JOURNAL NOTEBOOK ENTRY
The Speculative Craft and Soulful Formalism of Adira and the Dark Horse
23 May, 2026
TOP SECRET ONTOLOGICAL CASE NOTE:
Adira Cazon’s
Secret Mantra
“Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly.”
– Epictetus, Discourses, Book 3, Of Personal Adornment
Susan L. Marshall’s overarching artistic style is Soulful Formalism and she masterfully deploys her speculative craft through her signature page architectures to let her vibrant, Contemporary Metaphysical Literature form resonate with absolute clarity.
It is the ultimate manifestation of Soulful Formalism: proving that structural symmetry can hold the deepest, most complex echoes and mysteries of the human soul. Here, the arts, mathematics and organic science work in perfect synchronisation, demonstrating the profound capacity of systemic architecture to map the invisible contours of human endurance and the lyrical beauty of the spirit.
The Romantic Spirit Collection: Canon Foundation
Adira and the Dark Horse is officially presented as a flagship installment of The Romantic Spirit Collection. As detailed within its definitive blueprint, the text stands as the supreme representative of this collection: bound intricately to the beauty, existence and journey of the timeless Romantic Spirit in the person, the community, the mystery and love itself.
The Speculative Craft of Time, Heritage and Perception
”I always wonder what hope I will find across the terrain. It changes all the time.
Right now, the wind plays with it, tossing its dirt into the air, challenging the terrain to ground itself.
I remind myself that in fierceness, there is also a delicate beauty. You just have to look in the right place to find it.”
-Susan L. Marshall (2026): Adira and the Dark Horse: Romantic Spirit Collection: Dawn and Dusk Deluxe Edition.
In creating Adira and the Dark Horse, Susan L. Marshall wanted to capture the timeless echoes and mysteries of culture, spirit, and humanity across the historical trade landscapes. Due to a profound respect for the historical non-mention of the ‘Silk Road’, Susan has deliberately bypassed modern terms to focus entirely on the authentic silk trade routes. In doing so, she has created the fictional empires and towns of Mira (Ancient Past) and Redbank (Contemporary Present).
Through these curated spaces, her intention is to demonstrate via perception, ontology, cause and effect and relativity, the essential significance, mysteries and deeply spiritual and emotional resonance of heritage and how it, as an intangible force, lingers through the ages in presence, pattern and form. Crucially, she aims to show how truth and justice must be discovered in order to preserve and care for such heritage, through the investigations of Adira Cazon.
Adira and the Dark Horse is far more than a private detective mystery; it is a deep study of the Romantic Spirit’s fight for existence and its soul, echoing throughout time. Susan layers the text in meticulous, epistolary ways, weaving intimate letter writing and archival journal entries throughout the narrative matrix. These documents act as seamless temporal bridges, allowing the dialogue, warnings, and systemic echoes of the ancient past to physically merge with the contemporary present, demonstrating that history and its profound mysteries actually remain alive within our current presence.
At the core of the Story Playscapes press is a devotion to exploring “the unsaid:” the profound ontological and psychological spaces; the heavy silences of history and the invisible emotional frequencies that linger beneath the surface of traditional narratives. This unsaid is often discovered in the gaps between narrative fragments and therefore add to the mystery. By anchoring these intangible, sacred qualities within a strict, mosaic blueprint, our mission is to ensure that the unique light of the individual person, their spiritual ontology and their mysteries are never lost.
To achieve this, our focus centres on the meticulous casting of fractured light, through Susan’s Fragmentique technique, across the narrative landscape. Rather than employing a static lens, our structural framework acts as a deliberate prism, catching the broken fragments of memory, text and time to steadily unravel their hidden, underlying mysteries. The structure is intended to act simply as a magnificent lens, concentrating the quiet power of human endurance, speculating craftfully and letting this fractured clarity illuminate what was once left in shadow or darkness.
It is within these intricate layers, shaped by a uniquely inward, speculative craft, that Susan pieces fragments together to build these worlds: constantly asking how heritage survives, how the soul remembers and how this adds to the overall mystery. Ultimately, her overarching artistic style is Soulful Formalism, and she masterfully deploys her speculative craft through her signature page architectures to let her vibrant, contemporary metaphysical form resonate with absolute, undiluted clarity. Through this contemplative interior landscape, she captures the wonderful echoes of the human spirit, science and culture across time, preserving the precious, essential impact of the person.
Lyrical Resonance: The Proximity of Memory and Soul
Susan L. Marshall is celebrated for a style that infuses a mystical, uplifting lyricism directly into the fabric of her prose. In Adira and the Dark Horse, this lyrical fluidity creates a profound, comforting connection between the protagonist and the world around her. The narrative bridges Adira with her past, her evolving self, her loved ones and the living environment, weaving stunning visual imagery along the way. This masterful prose serves to emphasise the heightened energy of poignant moments: whether unfolding vividly in the absolute presence of the moment now or surfacing gently within the sacred spaces of memory.
Crucially, this heightened energy finds its ultimate metaphysical channel through the constellation of Orion. Far from a mere navigational device, Orion operates as the literal, pulsing conduit for Susan’s own heightened energetic frequency and protective presence across the landscape. It is the cosmic canopy in Mira, where Adira desperately sought comfort when running through the wilderness and the quiet light she turned to immediately after tragedy. In Redbank, it is also the shared horizon where she and her estranged husband, Mitch, experience their most intense, aching romantic moments. Through Orion, Susan’s inner spirit actively grounds the characters’ survival, guiding their everyday reality beneath a timeless watch of infinite love and memory.
Integrated Poetic Matrix & Parallel Creation
A Mosaic of Dawn’s Eve: The accompanying poem included in the Romantic Spirit: Dawn and Dusk Deluxe Edition. It provides the structural and emotional compass, setting the focus for Adira directly inside the main text.
Evergold Dream: A stand alone, extra poem written in absolute simultaneity with the novel. It mirrors a similar thematic weight and soul to Adira and the Dark Horse, while channeling an entirely independent narrative arc.
Beneath the thrilling surface of the trade route mysteries lies a deeper, more intimate journey: Adira’s slow, beautiful discovery of herself and her true identity. This unfolding landscape of selfhood forms the ultimate underlying mystery of the series: a gradual awakening of identity carefully engineered to expand into its full resolution within the upcoming chapters of Book 2.
The Character Matrix: Allegories of the Soul and Survival
The narrative layout operates within a meticulous, symmetrical human blueprint where each character embodies a distinct ontological layer of presence, history, political resistance and state of being.
· Adira (The Refugee State of Existence & Lineage of Investigation): Adira represents the universal, raw state of displacement and seeking refuge. Born of Arabic-French descent under the original lineage surname of Vivesque, her survival architecture is built directly upon a powerful lineage of protective maternal and paternal guides. Her father served as a significant foundation for her precision, instilling within her the rigorous ability to track across complex terrain and investigate hidden matrices. Adira can speak some French, learnt from her father and this skill is fleshed out in Book One, yet to become a pivotal skill in Book 2.
· The Mother Mirror (The Parallel of Birth, Absence and Professional Intelligence): Standing as a vital structural axis in Adira’s lifecycle is the beautiful mirror constructed between two distinct mother figures, balancing the heavy ache of disappearance with the active, tactical precision of modern espionage:
· Maricelle (The Birth Mother & Vanished Light): Adira’s birth mother, who exists as a refugee within her very own native city of Mira. She once served inside the palace of Emperor Laynton as a master chandler, crafting the vital tallow candle lights for the court. Her deep, dangerous involvement in covert underground resistance networks eventually leads to her sudden, unexplained disappearance, forming the central, haunting mystery that drives Adira’s lifelong search.
· Concetta (The Operative Mentor & Sovereign Anchor): The maternal force who raised Adira within the contemporary sanctuary of Redbank, operating as a highly trained spy for the Emperor of Mira. While her intensive training of Adira in the arts of escape and tracking occurred prior to the novel, Concetta interacts with her in the present day as an equal, working with Adira as an established fellow detective. She assigns her the vital cases to investigate, manages their secure dead drops, brush passes and provides critical covert support.
· Mitch (The Undercover Mirror & Troubled Small-Town Romance): Adira’s husband, her deep love and the anchor to the novel’s intricate small-town romantic landscape. At the beginning of the narrative, they stand completely estranged with Adira carrying the heavy weight of a perceived ultimate betrayal. Mitch is an intensely layered, protective character working in absolute secrecy as an undercover detective. Posing as a humble delivery boy, he utilises complex truck signals, surveillance and transit matrices to tap directly into the illegal trade operations eventuating in Redbank. The narrative masterfully unravels the agonising intricacies of the couple’s fractured relationship, highlighting not only their enduring bond under intense pressure but Adira’s profound internal strength as she steps into the line of fire to actively shield and protect him.
· Girl (The Guardian of Ancient Tradition vs. Imperial Honor): A master silk merchant who is under Adira’s protection. Her family is highly respected by the Emperor of Mira for their exquisite, sacred craft, weaving the imperial silks directly for the court. She faces intense persecution by the dark horse as she approaches her 25th birthday: the critical milestone where she is next in line to become the Chief of Silk. Girl also has a precious item stolen from her and is determined to retrieve it. The dark horse represents a ruthless demand for illegal trade, actively resisting the honor of the old trade ways. She demonstrates a strong conviction to protect her culture and people.
· Aisha (The Ancestral Matrix & Path of the Ancient Chief): Aisha serves as the historical anchor and direct ancestor to the Girl. As a young woman in ancient Mira, her timeline mirrors the present day struggle, operating in a landscape unsafe from dark horse bandits seeking her abduction. Under the guidance of her father, Sefra (the revered but deeply ill Chief of Silk), Aisha is meticulously trained to navigate the complex geography of the silk trade routes, grounded in the deep organic sciences of sericulture and how silk grows. She walks this perilous terrain with immense bravery, accompanied and protected by a wolf with whom she communicates freely.
· Sefra & Aisha’s Systemic Shadow (The Timeless Threat to Heritage): Even in the ancient era, Aisha and her father Sefra live under constant threat from the dark horse. Its forces operate as an eternal disruption, determined to destroy the traditional lineages and ensure the ancient silk trade cannot continue, anchoring the novel’s core thematic loop across generations.
· Sophie (The Heart of Community & Grassroots Devotion): Originally from the empire of Mira, Sophie embodies a deep love for her community. Alongside her late mother in Mira, she ran a vibrant community garden designed entirely to sustain and uplift her people. When systemic tragedy struck, forcing her family to abandon their ancestral home to satisfy imperial land allocations, Sophie left Mira, eventually becoming caught up within the web of the dark horse.
· Hidu (The Shield of Justice & Institutional Duty): Sophie’s brother, also displaced from Mira, navigates his exile through public service, working to investigate and dismantle the very networks of illegal trade that threaten to consume the land.
· The Temporal Romantic Mirror (The Forbidden Bonds Across Centuries): Standing at the emotional heart of this geopolitical landscape is a stunning ancestral romantic echo. In the present day, a deep, protective partnership exists between the Girl and Hidu—an Imperial Officer bound by law to investigate the trade network hunting her. Centuries earlier, this exact pattern was written in the stars: Aisha walks her own dangerous path in a forbidden romantic relationship with Kirano, a dedicated soldier of Empress Mira’s army. Across time, both generations find their hearts intimately bound to the institutional guardians of the city.
The Custodian Triad: Parallel Pathos of the Citizenry
The story demonstrates that true guardianship loops endlessly across time, class and environment. True custodianship exists as a powerful three way mirror: a triad of protective female leaders who stand in fierce resistance against the unyielding shadow of the dark horse:
· The Ancient Sovereign Custodian: In the ancient timeline, Empress Mira of Mira, operates at the peak of historical authority. She acts as the fierce custodian of her late father’s legacy: expertly raising the imperial falcons (the birds of supreme trade and interest across the landscape) while protectively shielding the sovereign silk trade against dark horse bandits who scheme to undermine her rule and disrupt the empire’s infrastructure.
· The Modern Sovereign Custodian: In the current-day timeline, Empress Celine of Mira, operates within a parallel seat of institutional rule. Married to the unyielding Emperor Laynton (who isolates her greatly and displays complete apathy toward her devastating loss at childbirth), Celine chooses a path of quiet, radical defiance. She completely opposes the Emperor’s oppressive restrictions on the citizenry, who are denied electricity and banned from using humble tallow candles solely to favor the highly lucrative, economic trade of premium beeswax. Celine takes covert, underground action to shield her people, working alongside secret guardians like Maricelle.
· The Grassroots Landscape Custodian: Bridging these royal thresholds is Jacquelyn, who operates within the contemporary natural landscape of Redbank. As the dedicated custodian of the forest, she pours her soul into caring for the ancient red gum trees. Her sanctuary is shattered by rapid, aggressive logging, forcing her husband, Zac, into a heart breaking double life. Simultaneously, Jacquelyn is manipulated into accepting a curated local storefront called Botanica, fooled into believing it would serve as an organic fashion space for beautiful, sustainable garments, only to be trapped as an involuntary front for an expanding network of illegal trade.
This profound manipulation weaves an undeniable parallel pathos across the entire community of consequence. The suffering of the ordinary people loops endlessly, binding the historic exiles of Mira with the contemporary families of Redbank. Whether navigating the loss of imperial heritage, the corporate theft of candle light, or the forced exploitation of the local forest, their combined narratives prove that the fight to protect the soul of heritage belongs to a single, interconnected human ecosystem.
The Logistical Timeline: The Mirror of Historic Transport
To further anchor this generational loop, Susan structuralises the novel by paralleling the technological evolution of transport and freight across centuries. Transit serves as an overt, material gauge reflecting the systemic encroachment of the dark horse over time:
· In Ancient Mira: The infrastructure of transit mirrors old-world customs and organic movement. Characters navigate distance via traditional horse riding, maritime cargo shipping, and long-distance travel on foot, wheeling handcarts to deliver precious silks across the trade routes. The abrupt arrival of a heavy mechanical truck introduced by the dark horse operates as a brutal, disruptive clash against ancient heritage.
· In Contemporary Redbank: This precise logistical friction mirrors into the modern era. The dark horse utilises heavy commercial trucks to drive aggressive logging operations, supported by a massive industrial shipping vessel at the port. In opposition to this destructive momentum, the local people navigate their environments through protective, domestic vehicles: Adira and the Girl drive a rugged utility vehicle (ute), while undercover detective Mitch Cazon maps out the network using his delivery van and secure vehicle tracking indicators.
Character Architecture and Multi-Disciplinary Design
This intense internal war between ancient honor, communal devotion and modern greed is masterfully executed through a highly sophisticated, multi-disciplinary textual ecosystem:
· The Lyric Grounding (Poetry & Active Monologue): Original poetry is woven throughout the text, serving as an essential conduit for the characters’ active inner reflections. This poetic presence grounds the transcendent Romantic Spirit of the characters directly into the absolute reality of the moment now, transforming the text into a living study of the every day.
· The Archival Highway (Epistolary Design): The structural incorporation of character letter writing and private journal entries serves as a continuous, unyielding line of continuity. These epistolary components allow historical text and contemporary discovery to mirror each other effortlessly.
· Linguistic Heritage (Multilingualism): French is natively integrated into the text, serving as a deep psychological bridge to Adira’s heritage. Born to a father of French descent, her current day practice of the language inside a local café with a local owner is a silent, profound act of memory dedicated to him. This foundational linguistic frequency establishes a structural trajectory engineered to expand significantly into the narrative layers of Book 2.
With the historical and literary scaffolding of our past breakthroughs laid bare, I invite you to step out of the archival records
and explore our living philosophy below.
A Letter from the Founder: Susan L. Marshall
To our Readers and Seekers of the Romantic Spirit,
Following the formal coining of Soulful Formalism on May 4, 2026, my mission for Story Playscapes has unravelled into a definitive clarity.
At Story Playscapes, we believe that literature should be an intellectual and artistic homecoming. My purpose is to bridge the gap between the worlds of the intellectual and the mystical. By pioneering and championing the High Art of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature and Art, I demonstrate a deep appreciation for classical and modern techniques, fusing them with my original Fragmentique Technique and the formalised discipline of Romantic Academia. I shape words and worlds to reveal the precious beauty of the person, who seeks their Romantic Spirit and its soul within everyday life.
Through the overarching literary architecture and style of Soulful Formalism and my work in the metaphysical reconstruction of fragments into a dignified, whole mosaic narrative of human life and its deep soul, I am dedicated to transforming my written word and illustration into a sanctuary of discovery and integrity – a space where the structural rigour meets the lyrical beauty of the soul. My work is bespoke, providing a “high form” of beauty to precious characters/personas and their perceptions and existences in the worlds of the stories I create. Such beauty also works dually for the reader, who works alongside such characters as they read, in order to discover the metaphysical truth embedded in the story’s mosaic.
Each character in every story is unique, as we all are in life. No two people experience life the same way. Moments in my stories are non-linear, just the way we actually think and remember in real time. I celebrate individual life through the blend of artistic beauty and scientific rigour; premium publication and immersive narrative, dedicated to providing a precious sanctuary for deep intellect, curiosity and questioning.
I warmly invite you to join us in this sanctuary, where every creation is a bespoke piece of art designed to nourish the intellect, alight the spirit and resonate deeply within the soul.
With grace and curiosity,
To understand how this philosophy and Contemporary Metaphysical Literature genre category materialises upon the page, I invite you to explore the
architectural and philosophical mechanics of my visual and literary style below.
Fractured Light is the Beginning of Mystery …
– Our Artistic Statement –
Pioneering Contemporary Metaphysical Literature & Fragmentique
At Story Playscapes, our Australian boutique publishing house, we are proud to produce the exquisite written works of our internationally acclaimed best-selling artisan author, theatre practitioner and illustrator, Susan L. Marshall. As our Founder and Artistic Director, Susan is richly inspired by nature and classical techniques, bringing her unique literary architecture of Soulful Formalism (coined 4 May, 2026), to her refined literary ecosystem of work here at Story Playscapes.
This is evident in her pioneering of Soulful Formalism as an overarching literary style and the creation of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature as a genre, which draws upon her signature Fragmentique technique and elevation of Romantic Academia to a codified literary convention; her Theatre Playscapes theatrical style; her My Story Meadow Project: Soulful Literary Salon and Romantic Spirit Alight Readers’ Garden, which she shares with a dedicated global readership. The aim of Susan’s work is to provide a place where one can: “discover and rest in literary architecture, designed specifically as a sanctuary of integrity for the depths of the Romantic Spirit and its human soul.”
Susan’s signature Fragmentique is a unique Contemporary Metaphysical Literature technique that Susan has developed, refined and used to create more than 40 professional publications, which places both the writer and the reader at the heart of story discovery and journey. She is a multifaceted artist, who has a strong passion and connection with the natural world. She has a special interest in the way that light falls, fractures and shifts, etc. and the way it leads her to rediscover a fragment of nature. Light brings Susan: “beginnings of perception, connection and can catalyse cause and effect. It proudly displays other energies (kinetic, mechanical, etc.) in the way it glows, offering fractured views of the world that mesmerise me and provide deep connection.” In her moments of fragment discovery, Susan finds a thrill in the beginnings of mystery. Using Fragmentique’s original contemporary metaphysical literary conventions: Heightened Energy and Metaphysical Noir et Blanc, Susan seeks to discover and be inspired by information in order to begin to metaphysically reconstruct her fragment discoveries into a narrative.
To learn more about Fragmentique, you can read Susan’s monumental essay: Fragmentique: Susan L. Marshall’s Signature Technique.
Our Unique Metaphysical Reconstruction of Fragments
Susan’s connection with natural fragments, that are revealed in light fractures, evolves uniquely. She has always appreciated the classical history of the fragment. Authors like Sappho, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Homer, from Ancient Greek Antiquity, inspired her with the lyrical beauty of their fragments, which taught her about the deeper meanings behind heroic actions, ontology, perception and journey, along with the importance of pathos and catharsis for cleansing the spirit and providing wellbeing. Aristotle himself, provides Susan with her grounding of metaphysical philosophy and its importance in our contemporary world.
The Renaissance era is a deep source of inspiration for Susan, especially through its art, literature and architecture. Her travels and learning in Florence helped her to unearth her own wild soul and its artistry. She is particularly fond of Petrarch’s sonnets and their use of lyrical fragments to capture persona and story in the most simple-complex arrangement. Susan greatly admires Renaissance visual art techniques and the ways that these can be used as inspiration to nurture and reconstruct her located fragments. Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci (Sfumato) are also of high inspiration for her from this era. Susan also adores the Baroque era, particularly Johannes Vermeer‘s unique work with Chiaroscuro (contrast between light and dark) and Sfumato (blending, blurring edges, and soft transitions of tone) to create the intimacy of his works.
Impressionist art techniques are also a passion for Susan: Claude Monet (whose home and garden she visited, in Giverny, France) and his passion for the instantaneous use of light on landscapes and subjects during different times of day. She admires Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s use of luminous colours and shimmering light, to capture fleeting moments within the day. Susan also appreciates Camille Pissarro’s use of light to reveal the deeper truth in landscapes and moments.
Susan uses her inspirations from her favourite artists to create her original, artful written word. Susan says: “my use of my signature Fragmentique, involves me drawing from my deep connections with the fragments of light and aspects of nature that it illuminates (e.g. leaves, colours, light fall, feathers, raindrops, etc.) and their energies, to create a rich, metaphysical palette that I, for example: sort, spilt, blend, blur, dot, streak, mix, dab, etch and attune myself to.” Susan’s approach to her work is at once observational, immersive and curious … she enjoys seeking the deeper mystery behind the fragment and how it can be reconstructed to reveal the intrigue, wonder and awe of the metaphysical philosophy of the every day moment. She is particularly renown for her unique metaphysical noir et blanc and distinctive heightened energy, which she uses to curate her moments and stories from fragments.
Susan’s reconstructive and active interaction with fragments positions her work between the Romantic and Modernist eras. She shares her passions for the work of Romanticist authors, such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose lyrical poetry and its fragments reflected the sublime beauty of the untamed and divine landscape, that could never be quite completed in its description. Susan also enthralls at the darker tones of Emily Bronte’s work (along with the Bronte sisters’ poetry) and how it captures the spiritual, psychological and emotional connections between spirit, person and environment. The Romantic period itself, provides Susan with a focus on the Romantic Spirit: its individualism, emotion and journey , even its yearning for the sublime, enabling her to bring its focus to fragments in every day life.
Susan also appreciates the modernist take on the fragment and its response to WWI through experimental forms, like stream of consciousness and surrealism, to reflect the fragmented, technological and modern world. She admires the lyrical, emotive and psychological works of Tenessee Williams, who etched his characters in ways that mirror the fierce beauty of humanity in chaos. She also enjoys Samuel Beckett’s existential explorations of life through world and character. Susan admires modern authors like Virginia Woolf, who refuted the significance of the complete novel and implored the literary world and society to consider the role of fragments as the intense and revealing moments / thoughts of the fleeting mind. The discourses of these times, are highly inspirational for Susan’s work, as she works with the mysteries of her fragments to reconcile character external journey with inner landscape, in a continuously changing world.
Our Monumental Theatre Playscapes Style
A monumental achievement for Susan is her original Theatre Playscapes style, which she developed, drawing upon more than two decades of her experiences as a professional author, theatre practitioner and expert educator.
Susan’s first play that she created with the beginnings of her Theatre Playscapes style, was Indigo’s Haven in 2016. The text required nearly a decade of rigorous structural development and historical distillation to fully transition from its original presentation, Indigo’s Haven, into her foundational breakthrough piece for Soulful Formalism as her literary style and to become All the Hope We Carry, the second play in the Theatre Playscapes series. You can read more about this journey in our article: The Genesis of Soulful Formalism: A Decade Long Commitment to the Voices of Gozo.
Susan’s travels through the Luberon Villages of France, particularly visiting locations such as: Lourmarin, Rousillon and L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, continued to provide her with rich interactions with light and sensory fragments, the wildness of nature and a wonderful connection with the people and lifestyle of the villages. This further enabled development for her signature Fragmentique technique and its focus on Heightened Energy and Metaphysical Noir et Blanc.
Further supported by her research into the psychological and educational psychological theories of: Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget and Abraham Maslow; along with the physics of energy and philosophical theories on the foundation and impacts of individualism during contemporary globalisation, Susan officially developed her Theatre Playscapes style.Placing the wellbeing of young adults at its centre, the theatre style works to help them find the balance of their cognitive and energetic explorations of the worlds in which they live. Susan gifted the theatre style with the conventions of: heightened energy, transformation of moment, animated lifeworld, situational pull, spirit of character and immersive language. These conventions help to encourage immersion, self development and to provide focus to theatrical explorations, working to meet the congnitive and energetic growth needs of the young adult at varying life stages.
Susan’s premiere essay on the theatre style: Theatre Playscapes: A New Theatrical Style was formally announced and published in 2023, accompanied by the premiere dramatic literature: Fleur of Yesterday. The latter was inspired by her travels in France and her discoveries of precious fragments of life and nature, which led to her further extensive research into plant breeding; resulting in a play that speaks for the precious life of the wildflower.
Susan’s second dramatic literature using the Theatre Playscapes style: All the Hope We Carry (also published in 2023), involved her drawing upon fragments of her family’s and historical experiences of war survival of World War II in Gozo and Malta. Accompanied by her essay: Theatre Playscapes of Hope, the publication aims to encourage young adults to develop autonomy through their own special presence and resilience.
Soulful Formalism: Unique Contemporary Structures & Influences
Susan’s pioneering of Contemporary Metaphysical Literature takes a Soulful Formalist Approach. She uses a range of contemporary techniques to provide a structural intersection of literary and visual art with maths /science that serves two purposes: to guide the reader towards emotional resonance and an intellectual homecoming.
Genre itself is a fragment in Susan’s work. Using Metaphysical philosophy as her foundation, she will draw conventions from genres that are appropriate to add artistic and structural rigour to her stories. Susan views genre as a way to connect with the intricacies of the world and its structures with a contemporary voice and has used more than 16 genres already in the construction of her works. Susan is renown to radically genre bend, adding a metaphysical ontology to a genre fragment that brings fresh light to its exploration in story.
The theories of post structuralism also inspire Susan, particularly the works of Michel Foucault and his theories of power, knowledge and discourse. Such works on the use of fragmentation and fragments themselves by authors like Roland Barthes and David Mitchell, showed her how fixed meanings can be broken apart through multiplicity, instability, and the fluid nature of language; along with the many truths to be conveyed in the vast world. Post structuralist works confirmed for Susan, the importance of the multiple meanings and representations of the self and its multiple truths in our expansive world. A concept she explores, even through the intimacy of her Fragmentique technique. For Susan, tiny fragments can be found in the vastness of the world, along with the internal states of her characters.
Susan’s works are non-linear in structure as she does not feel that works should be tied to a single through line or one genre. She believes in using her Metaphysical palette that contains natural and sensory fragments: curating works using words that are etched from her fragment finds, metaphysical philosophy, genre choices and literary / artistic inspirations. Her works transition between moments and genres effortlessly, providing a fluid, mosaic story for the reader, who works to discover the ‘click’ of Metaphysical truth. She is also renown to expertly omit information and to control the pacing of her story in ways that evoke the mystery for the reader.
Susan’s works commonly reflect the yearnings and spiritual pursuit of Romanticism, along with the motivation and internal landscapes required to take on the challenges of an ever changing world (as per modernist ideology). The wondrous dual nature of her work, leads to more than the character’s journey. It places the reader at the centre of the experience. They too, investigate as they read, filling in the gaps with their own discoveries. Susan’s written works can present as a metaphysical gallery, which not only allows readers to absorb her suspended, visual and refined moments, yet also creates a space for the reader to inhabit.
Susan also draws from Japanese philosophy, particularly Ma, which compliments her work on her Fragmentique technique. She also draws inspiration from Ki seng in order to discover the life rhythm, pulse and beat of her story characters and worlds. You can learn more specific detail about how Susan’s works with these Metaphysical philosophical theories at our My Story Meadow: Soulful Literary Salon.
The My Story Meadow: Soulful Literary Salon here at Story Playscapes, is where Susan shares short excerpts from her writing etudes on fragments and discusses her techniques used with a global readership. Many of Susan’s works began their breaths of life in this project and went on to become best-selling publications.
Susan also used inspiration from her research into healing gardens around the world to create our Romantic Spirit Alight Readers’ Garden online here at Story Playscapes. Readers can visit the Garden and immerse themselves in spiritual energy and flow discovered in quotes / fragments displayed from Susan’s major professional publications. Such immersion in the space is also designed to provide the reader with a chance to treat their own wellbeing.
Beyond the ‘broken’ view, historically, that fragments took in historical literary eras, Susan’s innovative work challenges such perceptions. She does not view the universe as whole, yet in fragments. She views the fragment as an active entity that can be equipped with ontology (meaning) and can be associated with greater life exploration for humanity. It is Susan’s masterful art, in reconstructing separated fragments, to develop work that is often paradoxical, profound and deeply emotional in nature, that sets her apart. Her writing style echoes a lyrical, mystical and Romantic quality, evoking wonder and awe. As a Soulful Formalist Style, her work seeks a way to unify discovered world and character fragments; in order to set the Romantic Spirit alight for both her characters and her beloved readers. It is a spirit that she believes is eternal in human nature, that is very important in a world so full of change and progression at such a rapid pace.
Susan’s extensive body of work reveals her healing nature and dedication to the wellbeing of her readership in our demanding and busy world. She aims to make Contemporary Metaphysical Literature a source of healing, nourishment and as a unique way to alight the Romantic spirit within the precious, diverse and challenging moments of the every day.
Susan’s major professional publications, published here at Story Playscapes, are categorised as Contemporary Metaphysical Literature and Romantic Academia. They are available at all good book retailers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
To read more about how Soulful Formalism works as a style in more detail, visit our Romantic Spirit Alight Readers’ Garden.