Welcome to our new author interview series, "5 Questions with..." Our first victim—I mean guest—is Spooky Middle Grade author Darcy Marks, whose fantastic novel THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY (the sequel to GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY) comes out in paperback today, July 16.
1. Tell us about THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY.
THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY is the sequel to GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY, which follows a group of regular, everyday kids who just so happen to live in Hell. The suburb part, that is. Also, they can fly. And some of them can do magic.
You know, regular kids.
In GROUNDED, we went on an adventure to Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night. Fun? Yes! Dangerous? Absolutely! Forbidden? You bet! Which brings us to AFTERLIFE.
Malachi and his friends are home and finally ungrounded, although not everyone thinks they should be. Some of his classmates seem to think he should be spending time in the pit, but Malachi couldn't care less because there is a new resident in Hell (from Faerie!) and that is a Big Deal.
It's probably just coincidence that their arrival comes with a once in an eon invitation to an interdimensional mixer with Heaven, right? The adults are just paranoid thinking there's some big plot afoot.
OK, yes, the ground has started shaking, and there's been a few breaches into Hell that should never have happened, and OK, not everyone trusts Morgan's expertise with glamour and the deception it involves. But it's just a party.
What could go wrong?
2. What is your writing process?
Stare into the void and hope the Universe makes the words appear…
OK, but after that doesn't work (and it never does), I start drafting.
My writing process is kind of like an onion, lots of layers! My favorite author of all time, Terry Pratchett, once said that the first draft was just you telling yourself the story. (As a person who does not outline ahead of time, this is important.) The first draft is not supposed to be perfect, it's just getting it all out there so you, as the author, understand what the story is and where it's going.
After I have that framework laid out, I go through it again, and start adding more details. Maybe I add other subplot points or backstory or get deeper into the mythology or character development. Then I go through it again and add more. Once I feel like I have the story fully fleshed out, then it's time to cut, because at that point there might be some repetition or scenes that don't really fit anymore. My last go through is really trying to make sure things are tight and ensure that everything is there for a reason. Sometimes I have to kill my final darlings, alas.
3. How did you tailor the level of creepiness or scariness that you wanted for the book?
So, here's the thing: Kids like horror, and there's not as much tailoring for the audience as you'd think. A lot of adults think you have to really tone down the scariness when you write for kids, but if you read MG horror, you'll start to notice that it's not just scary for kids, it's scary! There are legitimately scary-to-me MG horror books out there that feature all of the same horror tropes and elements that you'll see in adult horror.
I've never felt constrained in my storytelling in that way. In both GROUNDED and AFTERLIFE, the scariness and creepiness flowed with the story. If I were to compare the difference between the two, I would say GROUNDED has more of the traditional in-your-face bad guy scariness, but in AFTERLIFE the fear is more based on the enemies being inevitable, that feeling like there's nothing you can do to stop what's coming. It's more existential.
4. Why do you think kids are drawn to scary stories?
I think partially for the same reason adults are. Scary stories get your heart racing and the adrenaline pumping! They're exciting and fun. Kids love Halloween and it's not just for the candy, there's excitement to being out on the street in the dark going house to house. To strangers' houses! There's a rule-breaking, societal norm defying feel to the holiday and that's not even getting into thoughts of what might be lurking in the dark…
That love translates very easily to scary stories or movies. And there's another side to it. Beyond the excitement, kids are already functioning in the world where there are a lot of unknowns, and they don't really have a lot of control over what happens on a day-to-day basis. MG Horror let's kids experience the creepiness of the unknown and see the kid overcome the bad guy, and typically the kid main character is succeeding where adults have failed.
There's something truly empowering to see that happen and to learn that you're strong and capable and brave, and that just like the main character you can overcome bad things too.
5. What's your favorite Halloween costume you've ever worn?
This is embarrassing. When I was a kid my mom made all of our costumes, but that's not the embarrassing part! My mom made fantastic costumes! The embarrassing part is that I just desperately wanted costumes like my friends had.
Now, I was a kid in the 80s, and the commercial costumes at the time were these terrible plastic masks with plastic aprons with the costume printed on it. Seriously, Google it. It's terrifying. Anyway, I begged for a store-bought costume, and I was Smurfette. I can still feel the condensation under the mask and the sweat from the plastic.
It was terrible.
So that's not my favorite Halloween costume but that one stands out (as well as the robot costume my brother wore that he couldn't bend his legs in. That was hysterical!).
My favorite Halloween costumes were ones I did as adults: Columbia from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon and a horror circus costume of my own design. They were great and I put them together myself which always makes them more rewarding!
THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY and GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY are both on sale now. Check them out at your favorite bookseller today!
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