As with many people my age, Arthur was a major part of my childhood and I watched it every week growing up. I even revisited the series in my first year of college for a psychology project and caught on to a lot more the second time around. The cleverness and creativity of the writers is beyond impressive! No wonder the show continued for so many seasons!
A few years ago, when the first season of Riverdale premiered on the CW, I was inspired to imagine the Arthur characters as teenagers or adults and considered writing a fanfic then. However, I was still a college student and working on a B.A. in creative writing, so I was surrounded by professors and students with less than favorable opinions about fanfiction, and I was striving to produce more "respectable" work. Of course, by the time I got my degree, I felt burnt out and forgot how to write for my own pleasure. That is where fanfiction saved me.
It was only this year that I was able to start writing for pleasure again by experimenting with fanfiction and working on The Reaper's Muse based on Margaret Peterson Haddix's The Missing Series (another throwback to my childhood). And as fate would have it, the Arthur series finale premiered last week with a glimpse into the kids' futures, and I took that as a sign to revisit my idea. Of course, Riverdale's later seasons have turned out to be somewhat disappointing in my opinion (though no shame to anyone who enjoys them), so while the inspiration started there, I'm going for a little less melodrama in my story. That being said, my writing tends to lean toward the mystery/thriller genre, so my fanfic will have a darker tone than the original Arthur series, but I intend to remain true to the characters and write what I believe to be a faithful interpretation of their adulthood.
My primary writing project at the moment is still The Reaper's Muse, but depending on how many people respond to the first chapter of The Long Way Home, I may come back to it on a semi-regular basis.
For now, please enjoy chapter one and let me know what you think!
YOU ARE READING
The Long Way Home
FanfictionThe Read siblings may have lived in Elwood City their whole lives, but when a body turns up in the woods near their home, the town no longer feels safe. Overwhelmed by the success of his first graphic novel, Arthur struggles to navigate the world a...
