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