Tag / Blog

by sixlakesstudios

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

by sixlakesstudios

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
by sixlakesstudios

Absence Apology

Hello, everyone.

I want to apologize for my absence over the last few weeks. The Winter quarter was tough, and I needed to focus on finishing that quarter. Now that Winter Quarter and Spring Break are over, I am currently in Spring Quarter, and so far (trying not to jinx this), the next few months should be smooth.

For readers of Voldensfjordian Murders and The Waterfall, I will make sure you see updates before the end of the month. Also, I apologize to Blurred Lines’ readers; I need to plan the story more, and unfortunately, I decided to place it on indefinite hiatus.

As for the comics, I haven’t updated those in a while and missed some significant events. So:

  • The Vikings of Vancouver: Marcus and Mary were supposed to be featured in a strip about their visit to a monster truck rally. It’s probably too late to post that now, but I assure you, they had a good time.
  • Parker and Luca: I missed a few birthdays, including Luca’s 35th. Luca, don’t worry. Maybe I’ll try to work in a flashback about that.

I will resume work shortly on the projects mentioned above and others.

As for now, thank you for reading, and have a wonderful week!

  • Matt
by sixlakesstudios

April Fools!

If you answered “Yes” to the above poll, I apologize. I just wanted to do something fun for April Fool’s Day (yesterday). I used one of Rick Astley’s OTHER songs to “Rickroll” you, though. “Never Gonna Give You Up” is a great song, but so is “Together Forever,” which is so underrated.

But, I WILL have some (hopefully not spoiler) information coming up soon on the books I AM working on.

Until then, thanks for reading!

-Matt

by sixlakesstudios

Update: February 8th, 2022

Hello everyone!

I would like to start off by apologizing for my absence(s). Winter quarter came off to a rough start, and one of my classes is pretty tough, so bear with me as I finish the quarter. I will try to update the TVOV, Parker and Luca, and Matt the Comic by Matt as much as I can over February and March. However, no books will be updated during this time. So, The Waterfall is back on hiatus, Voldensfjordian Murders and Blurred Lines remain on hiatus, and other books I have planned will be pushed back a little.

However, I don’t want this post to be all negativity so:

  • I got a tattoo on New Year’s Eve (Picture below), and finally started stretching my ears
  • I’m (almost) finished training at work
  • One of my professors offered me a chance to do independent study this fall
  • The weather’s warming up
Rainbow Infinity: Gay and Neurodivergent. Special thanks to Spidermonkey Tattoo in Olympia, Washington!

Anyway, as we all finish out the season, I hope you’re all doing well!

Thank you for reading!

-Matt

by sixlakesstudios

Update: 12/21/2021

Happy Solstice!

Comics: I have been drawing so much, I had to replace the tip on my drawing pad’s pen! Look:

Schedule:

COMICTIME
The Vikings of VancouverSundays (2021-)
The antics of the Norwegian-Canadian Halvorsen family, and those they interact with around the city.
Parker and LucaSaturdays starting 1/1/2022
A dramedy about a married gay couple raising three kids in Spokane, Washington.
Matt the Comic by MattMondays starting 2/14/2022
My semi-autobiographic comic: A gay college student living with Asperger’s, ADD, and the stress of our modern world.
Planning PeriodsThursdays starting 9/1/2022
Middle school teachers at an Olympia school and the ups and downs of being an educator.
GeoFridays starting 1/13/2023
Geo: The work and lives of an independent Geoscience research team based out of Tacoma.
Please note, this doesn’t include special episodes, such as TVOV’s “De tolv juledagene,” or other episodes posted off-schedule for certain reasons.

The Waterfall: Resumes December 26th!

A Voldensfjordian Murder: Resumes January 3rd!

Christmas Special: “De tolv Juledagene” was a spontaneous project, but you know what? I like it.

I might have to touch it up a little (some typos) in the future, but… Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Thanks for reading!

-Matt

by sixlakesstudios

TVOV De tolv juledagene, Dag to

Okay, It’s official: I HATE drawing hands!

by sixlakesstudios

First Anniversary!!!!!

November 17th-18th, 2020: Gay, Autistic college student Matt Slater starts up the Cascades Stories website, with the first post, “Introduction,” Being posted at 9:59 PM on the 17th. HOWEVER, the website is officially registered on the 18th.

December 9th-11th, 2020: The Social Media Pages for Cascades Stories are created on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

December 24th, 2020: Matt submits “The Aviary of Henry Weston,” a short story, to the Reedsy weekly Prompts contest.

January 3rd, 2021: “The Aviary of Henry Weston” is the first original story posted on Cascades Stories.

January 3rd, 2021: “The Aviary of Henry Weston” also marks the beginning of the Wattpad/Tapas collection “Short Stories by Matt Slater,” featuring short stories and poems from SLS too small for their own book. After a few months of being unposted during the judging for the Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition, “The Aviary of Henry Weston” has been re-added to the collection.

February 2nd, 2021: “The Friend Lock,” also a Reedsy story, is posted on CS.

March 28th, 2021: “Carousel, Carousel” is posted. This is the first poem posted on CS, as well as the first writing by Matt Slater to not have come out of a prompt.

July 11th, 2021: “The Curious Store (AKA Tracing Patterns)” is posted on CS. While originally written for a Creative Writing assignment at Matt’s college, there was no prompt for this story, either. Rather, Matt wanted to write a story from the perspective of a gay, autistic man, and better explain what “stimming” is.

July 13th, 2021: Cascades Stories becomes Six Lakes Studios, as a tribute to his hometown, Lakewood, Washington (neither he nor his family live there anymore), and to his grandmother.

July 30th, 2021: Matt mistakenly publishes the first chapter of The Waterfall two days early. He later unpublished the post, and rescheduled it for the planned premiere on August 1st, 2021.

August 1st, 2021: Matt’s first multi-part story, The Waterfall, gets its first chapter published here, on Wattpad, and on Tapas. However, further chapters are only posted on Tapas and Wattpad.

September 20th, 2021: Matt turns 20 years old.

September 20th, 2021: The Vikings of Vancouver, Matt’s first comic, premieres here, on Webtoon, and on Tapas.

September 18th-24th, 2021: @impromptuwriters features Matt’s haikus about the Greek Muses. Matt later posts these on SLS. Thanks, Gage! 🙂

September 10th and 25th, 2021: Turning into darker works, Matt writes “The Runaways” for the Reedsy Weekly Prompts Contest for September 10th, 2021. Posted on SLS on the 25th of the same month, the Runaways did not win that contest, similar to the other stories submitted to past contests. However, “The Runaways,” as of November 18th, 2021, turned out to be Matt‘s most popular story on Reedsy, with 13 likes. “The Aviary of Henry Weston” is in second place, at nine likes, while “The Friend Lock” has five, and the original version of “The Waterfall,” which was disqualified, has one.

October 25th, 2021: The First Chapter of Blurred Lines #1: The Choir is published, and, sticking to his personal rule, Matt only published the first chapter here, while further chapters will arrive on Wattpad and Tapas.

November 18th, 2021: Six Lakes Studios turns one!!!!

November 18th, 2021: Matt Slater posts SLS’s anniversary video, thanking everyone who has supported SLS in its growth. This is the first video from SLS.

December 2021: Mason and Eric, the 2021 Christmas Special, will premiere. [Postponed, but not canceled]

December 31st, 2021: After this day, The Vikings of Vancouver, will only update on Tapas and Webtoon.

January 1st, 2022: Parker and Luca, Matt’s second comic, will premiere.

January 1st, 2022: “Formerly Cascades Stories” will be dropped from the site title.

February 14th, 2022: Matt, Matt’s third comic, will premiere.

February 2022: Max Fields #1 will premire.

April 15th, 2022: After this day, Parker and Luca will only update on Webtoon and Tapas.

May 2022: Tales of human Nature: Serial Killer will premiere.

May 31st, 2022: After this day, Matt will only update on Webtoon and Tapas.

October 2022: The Nightman of Bellingham Bay will premiere.

2022: SLS will be on Patreon!

2022: Matt will begin drafting the full-length version of “The Aviary of Henry Weston.”

2022: Matt will begin drafting the full-length Graphic Novel (yup, Graphic!) adaption of “The Runaways.” He will not illustrate it, however.

2022: Blue City Mysteries will premiere.

by sixlakesstudios

Update 11/12/21

Personal: Eric Horsted, sitcom writer and producer, came to speak at my college about a month ago! I was pretty stoked because it was pretty cool to hear about his work in the industry, how he got started, and the challenges of being a screenwriter. It was also very cool to meet a gay man who had worked his way up in the industry to earn a resume that includes shows like Futurama, the Simpsons, and Reba. After taking this picture, he said “I hope to see your name on the screen someday.” This was amazing. I am now even more inspired to pursue my writing and screenwriting goals. Of course, I will stay in college as a Geoscience major, but I am keeping my Screenwriting minor, and will take his advice of finding time every day to just sit down and write. Thank you for coming, Eric!

The Runaways: Stay tuned for more information regarding an expansion of this story. Hint: It will be a novel, but not the kind of novel you might be thinking of… 😉

The Aviary of Henry Weston: The novelization will be commencing over winter break, and I’m setting a goal to have the first draft ready by next year’s winter break.

Unfortunately, the short story didn’t make it past judging at the Writer’s Digest Contest, but don’t worry, I’ll be reposting it on Tapas and Wattpad. I’ll also be writing something for the upcoming contest. 🙂

Comics: TVOV, Parker and Luca, and Matt are being drawn, but some delays are expected with the rest of fall quarter coming up.

Also, I just got the new Windows 11 upgrade, and Paint got the biggest update it’s gotten in years! It finally doesn’t look like it’s stuck in the mid-aughties! So, I may have a smoother time drawing, but I have yet to try it, so let’s see how it goes.

There is also a fourth comic in the works, but more information on that later.

Oh! And make sure you follow TVOV on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Blurred Lines: Updates will be slow. Forgive me.

Other Projects: More work is underway, but the biggest project right now:

The First Anniversary!

Thank you all so much for viewing my work over the past year. Since SLS’s debut (as “Cascades Stories”) on November 12th, 2020, I have started a comic and a few books, gotten my poems shared by Impromptu Writers, and worked up the nerve to submit to the WD contest.

So, please, keep an eye out for the SLS First Anniversary Video, premiering Thursday, November 18th, 2021 on YouTube!

Thanks for reading!

-Matt

by sixlakesstudios

Coming soon…