Darcy Marks (she/her) is a lifelong reader who learned to walk quite well with a book in front of her face, thank you very much. She lives in Vermont with her husband, three genre-defying kids and a very needy cat, where she writes rebellious fantasy books for kids.
She has always loved October when the leaves at home are a blaze of oranges, yellows and reds, and the veil thins for Halloween. As a kid she obsessed over monster myths and legends, once decorated her Halloween display in honor of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials, and fell in love with Bela Lugosi the second she saw him as Dracula.
When she’s not reading or writing she explains math and science to lawyers as a forensic toxicologist. Her Halloween middle grade fantasy, GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY, is out now.
About Grounded for All Eternity
A group of kids from hell come to Earth on one of the craziest nights of the year—Halloween—in this snarky, witty middle grade adventure about teamwork, friendship, shattering expectations, and understanding the world (or otherworld) around us.
Mal and his friends are just your regular average kids from hell. The suburbs that is, not the fiery pit part. But when Hell’s Bells ring out—signaling that a soul has escaped from one of the eternal circles, Mal and his friends can’t help but take the opportunity for a little adventure.
Before they know it, they’ve somehow slipped through the veil and found themselves in the middle of Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. And what’s even worse, they’ve managed to bring the escaped soul with them! As the essence of one of history’s greatest manipulators gains power by shifting the balance on Earth, Mal and his squad-mates—along with some new friends that they meet along the way—work desperately to trap the escapee, save the people of Earth from the forces of evil, and find the portal back to their own dimension.
If they can’t manage it before their parents realize they’re gone, they’ll be grounded for an eternity. And an eternity in hell is a very, very long time.
Raves and Reviews
“Marks’s thrilling debut includes edgy, subversive themes and perspectives that blend seamlessly with history and classic tropes. The immortal kids fit the Brat Pack mold but with black wings and destined positions as guardians of Hell. Setting a story in Salem on Halloween risks coming across as trite, but Marks pulls it off in a bold and inventive way that effectively and brilliantly uses the Salem witch trials. The atmospheric and haunting Grounded for All Eternity is a thrill that lasts long past Halloween.” –Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer
Shelf Awareness, 08/05/2022
“Dark fantasy collides with Dante-esque imagery in debut author Marks’s nail-biting occult adventure, in which a fateful act of rebellion strands an adolescent group of literal hell’s angels on Earth.”
Publishers Weekly 7/25/2022
“This is an entertaining, high-octane story that moves with the speed of a bat out of…you know where.”
Kirkus 4/27/2022
“A rollicking adventure of fallen angel kids experiencing a fall greater torment than the hell they call home — being stuck on earth. Humorous and heartful, with queer representation.” — S. Kitty Garza, Bards Alley, Vienna, VA
July/August 2022 Kids Indie Next List, Indiebound
“Grounded for All Eternity is my new favorite. Winner. Champion.
It’s funny. It’s sweet. It’s about the changes teenagers go through but particularly the ones that we, as adults, think we’ve resolved a thousand times over and then hit forty, look back at and think: oh, sh**, here it comes again or, I thought I left that in my college dorm or, I for sure buried that in my parents backyard when I decided I was never speaking to my mother again. It’s about misunderstandings and breaking cycles and going your own way. Falling on your face and seeing who laughs and who offers a hand to help you up. About finding your people and loving them hard and forcing the world to move around you and them because ain’t no one, ain’t nothing, going to take them away.
Also some kids from Hell end up in Salem on Halloween and there are witches and spirits and a Hellmouth that just. Won’t. Stay. Open. When. They. Need. It. Too.”
Shiri Sondheimer Book Reviews 9/12/2022
What’s Next…
Malachi’s story will continue in ALL THAT GLAMOURS, coming from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in 2023.
Follow Darcy for more updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or on her website!
Spooky Middle Grade 