Please click this link for some important information! Seriously, you do not want to miss this, this is GROUNDBREAKING NEWS! It could change Six Lakes Studios as you know it! As well as your life!
Category / Regular Blog
Update 1/21/23
Geo will premiere January 28th. I apologize for the delay. I know it was supposed to premiere January 13th, but I am going to get back to drawing when I can.
For the sake of my mental and emotional health, however, I am slowing my pace. Not just with SLS, but in a lot of areas.
I need to take time to get my schoolwork done properly; to clean up my apartment; and make time to take care of mself- better than I usually have in the past.
I love creating comics. I love writing stories. But right now, I need to prioritize all the aspects of my life.
This website will still be active. I’m not leaving it, just slowing down. I even purchased the domain from WordPress. Six Lakes Studios is not going away.
Projects that will continue in 2023/be revived in 2023:
- Six Lakes Comics (TVOV, P&L, Matt, GCT, PP, Geo)
- The Waterfall
- Voldensfjordian Murders
- Short Stories by Matt Slater
Projects that I plan to work on in the future (2023-2026):
- Blue City Mysteries
- Tales of Human Nature
- The Runaways (Full Graphic Novel)
- The Aviary of Henry Weston (Full Book)
- Pink Lemonade
- Max Fields
- Saddles and Smartphones
- Six Lakes Comics (Alaska You Later)
- The Curious Store (audio/cartoon version)
Projects in “development hell:”
(To be honest, I’m not sure about the following projects)
- Blurred Lines
- Mason and Eric
- The Nightman of Bellingham Bay
- Ghost in the Machine
And finally, one last note: I have decided to delete my Twitter accounts. I rarely use them, and there’s only so much you can do on there. The Six Lakes Studios accounts on WordPress, Wattpad, WebToon, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube will stay.
Thank you for reading, and hopefully, you’ll hear more from me this year.
-Matt
Q&A For 21!
TODAY’S MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! WOOOOOO!
What is your favorite comic to draw?
Probably Parker and Luca right now. Parker, Luca, and their friends are into earrings, tattoos, and hair dyes. So it’s just fun to play around with the specifics like that. And it’s nice to create stories for the gay, autistic Parker, who I loosely based on myself (emphasis on loosely).
What program do you use to draw your comics?
Microsoft Paint. It’s what I’m most familiar with, I’ve been using it since I was a toddler, and my parents still had a computer with a bulky monitor. I’ve tried other products, but Paint, despite its quirks, is easy for a novice. Besides, Paint makes good-quality images for a simple platform.
Do you draw your comics on paper before drawing them digitally?
Nope. As a kid, I almost always drew on paper (and my mom saved them so I could show those old drawings off in the future). However, when I started Six Lakes Comics off with the flagship series, The Vikings of Vancouver, in 2021, I decided to draw the strips digitally. I didn’t want to waste paper on drafts that didn’t make the cut.
Are you going to get someone else to draw the graphic novels?
Yes. I am not confident enough in my drawing ability to create an entire GN by myself. I’ll start looking as soon as I can afford to hire a cartoonist. I will continue drawing the comic strips myself for now.
Are you going to resume your non-comic writing?
The Waterfall and Voldensfjordian Murders? Yes.
Blue City Mysteries? Soon.
Blurred Lines? I hate to say it, but I’m scrapping Blurred Lines for the foreseeable future. I procrastinated and tried to write it without drafting, I couldn’t figure out where the story was going, and I needed to try to cut down on the SLS workload. I’d rather have quality over “posting for the sake of posting.”
Aviary?!
I’m working on it! The best estimate for publication? Later this decade (apologies for being vague, but that’s really the best answer I can give you).
How’s school?
Great. I’m a teacher’s assistant in the Geoscience Department now! Woot! Things may get busy, but I will do my best to update the comics.
Will we see any new written stories?
I have this one new idea… but other than that, no. Again, I’m trimming down the SLS workload to keep up with school work and my part-time jobs without sacrificing the quality of my work.
More questions to be answered later!
News/Update on “Blue City Mysteries”
Hi, everyone!
I know I’ve teased Blue City Mysteries more than once, and I’m sorry about that. I have been procrastinating. So, here’s an update.
Reduction: I said I wanted to write fifty volumes, but I have reduced that down to twenty-five. I think five volumes of ten stories were overly ambitious, so I’m cutting the series in half.
Dates: After almost two years of procrastination, I am finally starting to storyboard the first five-story volume. Once I get done drafting and writing, I will get an editor. Once editing’s done, I’ll get an illustrator. Once the illustrations are done, I will find a publisher, and I should have it published before the next U.S. Presidential Election.
More information to come soon!
-Matt
Rewriting “The Waterfall”
I have decided to rewrite what I have so far of The Waterfall. I am reducing Patty’s role in the series and will focus more on Fred and Murray’s teenage/college years. I will try to make more storylines about Justin, Kevin, Bianca, Alex, and James.
The Waterfall as is will still be available for a bit, but then, I have to take it all down and replace the chapters.
Thank you for understanding!
-Matt
Upcoming Q&A!
Comics vs. WordPress
Hey everyone. I know that my first three comic, TVOV, P & L, and Matt, I posted comics for about 3.5 months on WordPress, and then stopped to focus on the other sites they’re posted on. However, from now on, starting with Generic Character Theater, only the first three strips of each series will be posted here, before I focus to just Facebook, Instagram, Webtoon, and Tapas (and Twitter, in the case of Matt and GCT). This is due to WordPress requiring me to upload every panel separately.
I love WordPress, this is just one tiny pet peeve. I am keeping this website.
Thank you for understanding.
-Matt
4th of July (and an update)
Postponed: Tales of Human Nature
I realize this is last minute, as it was supposed to premiere tomorrow, but after a few drafts of panels, that Tales of Human Nature Vol. 1 will have to be reworked a little, as I need to make up for lost time on my other projects.
I have also decided to limit myself to writing the story. When I have the resources to do so, I will solicit the services of a professional illustrator for the graphic novel, as I am going to do with The Runaways.
I apologize that I keep pushing back projects, but I need to refocus myself. I am halfway done with Spring Quarter, and this Summer, I will be dedicating more time to writing and cartooning (As in comic strips. My drawing style may not be the best for graphic novels).
This summer, I am going to start drafting for the first volume of Blue City Mysteries. This means that the first ten stories are going to be released together (or at least that the plan). Mor einfo will come on this soon, but just know that even if TOHN is postpone, you will see a mystery from me soon!
Thanks for reading!
– Matt
Update: May 3rd, 2022
I apologize for not posting anything for the last couple of weeks, but I was out with a cold. I was coughing up a storm.
Probably the worst part about this cold was that this was the first time I got sick as an independent adult. My parents live four hours away, and I found myself on the phone with them three times a day asking them for advice on what to take and when. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
Being sick isn’t fun, especially when you love your classes, you love your job, and the weather is just starting to get nice.
But this sick was also kind of good… in a weird way.
I started feeling “bleah” around the 20th, and a little worse on the 21st. However, on the 21st, I still decided to make the trek into the city, to go to a seminar on screenwriting and filmmaking. I managed to have another conversation with Eric Horsted, who came to my college last fall, as well as get an autograph from Ken Kwapis in a copy of his book. Don’t worry, I wore a mask!
My cold got worse the next week, but I’m feeling almost completely better now. I think going to that seminar was worth it. I got insight on screenwriting, as well as creating shows, and I’m going to take that new knowledge and start writing more. Plus, this summer, I hope to complete at least one video project, so stay tuned.
Also, I read that Kane Tanaka passed away. She lived to be 119 years, 107 days old, making her the second-oldest verified person ever. She had an interesting life, too. I hope she rests in peace.
Thank you for reading.
- Matt
Six Lakes Studios 
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