Month / March 2021

by sixlakesstudios

Update 3/30/2021

Hello. Did you all enjoy the poem I wrote?

I am currently writing another short story. This time, it is not based on a Reedsy prompt. It is a story about an Autistic man who “stims” (self-stimulates) by tracing patterns with his finger. Every two weeks, he goes to a variety store run by an attractive salesman to trace patterns on the merchandise.

But here’s why you might not see this story for a while: I’m going to try and illustrate it. I’m a fan of webcomics, such as those on Webtoons, Tapas, and Patreon. I thought this story might be more attention grabbing with pictures. Now, I’m not the best artist, but I think this will be good practice for me. 🙂

I am currently in Spring Quarter right now. I will try to be more active, but you’ll definitely see more activity in the summer.

I would like your opinion! What would you like to see more of over the summer? (Winter for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere)

by sixlakesstudios

Carousel, Carousel

Carousel, Carousel

Spinning wooden horses

Watch the colors fly by

You and me, me and you,

Kids riding horses

Chasing euphoric highs

Growing up, going up

We have to go to school

We sign up for sports and clubs

not much, not enough

time we have left

to ride the wooden horses

Teenage years, College days

We have to get jobs

We have to get ready for life

schoolwork, work hours

take over our days

no more time for the merry-go-round

Adulthood, maturity

Cars, posts, and meetings

Where has our playfulness gone?

Dating, networking

wining and dining

We don’t even think about carousels

Parenthood, family

Children in our lives

remind us of simpler times

memories, pastimes

now in the present

being created again

Carousel, carousel

the kids want to ride

mesmerized by twirling colors

tugging arms, pulling sleeves

leading us to the horses

asking to join them today

Carousel, carousel

All worries aside

No more thoughts of adult life

for it’s time to toss it all aside

to be kids again, be free again,

riding those painted wooden horses

Carousel, Carousel.

by sixlakesstudios

Update 3/5/2021

Hi guys. I’m still focusing on finishing the school year, but I promise, things will pick back up soon.

In the meantime, here are some upcoming projects that I am definitely going to take on sometime this year:

  1. The Aviary of Henry Weston full-length book: No, you read that right. I am going to adapt The Aviary of Henry Weston into a full-length book! I’ll delve a little more into some details that couldn’t fit into the 3k-word limit I had while writing the original short story. You’ll learn more about the relationship between Connor and Burt, Conner and Mario’s story, and the family’s dynamics. I’ll also get more into the other characters: Isabel, Samantha, and Timothy. You’ll learn more about Henry and Iris, as well. I feel like I could’ve done more to describe the kind of family the Westons are. Anyway, I will be doing a lot of writing this summer, and I hope to have the first draft done by Thanksgiving (US).
  2. Ghost in the Machine: I want to write mysteries, and I’m a Computer Science major at EWU. So I thought: “Ooh! What if I wrote a tech noir?” It’s in the idea phase right now, but I hope to start writing it sometime this year.
  3. Tales of Human Nature: I mentioned this story in my introduction back in 2020, but I am going to try writing a few short psych-horror/thriller stories over the summer.
  4. Blue City Mysteries: I am going to start writing stories for my planned mystery series set in my hometown, Lakewood, Washington. Why did I change the name from “Lakewood PD?” I just thought that that name sounded too generic. So, I tried finding a nickname for Lakewood I could draw inspiration from, but it turns out there are none. So, I made one up:
    • There are a lot of lakes in Lakewood, hence the name. Lake are generally presented as blue on maps.
    • There is already a neighborhood within Lakewood called “Lake City,” so that can’t be a nickname for the city, too.
    • Blue is a popular color in Lakewood (at least from my observation). Even the City’s logo is half blue.
    • Therefore: Blue City. Even fits perfectly with the mystery theme.
  5. Untitled Halloween Surprise: Uh, uh, uh! I said surprise. 😉
  6. YouTube: I will start posting videos on YouTube this Summer under my original channel, “Matt Slater.” The Cascades Stories channel may see videos a bit later in the year.

There are a ton of other things I want to do this year, but I think I should pace myself.

I really appreciate everyone who comes to my website. I’m sorry I haven’t been very active. I’ll try to post something during EWU’s spring break.

Until then, let’s get through the rest of this winter!

Thank you for reading!

~ Matt