1/2/23 --- My first trip to a casino...

 Another day visiting up north with the boys and their parents. We had a great breakfast with everyone and I finally got to meet the whole family before exchanging gifts for the holidays. I was very happy and surprised to feel so welcomed by everyone. Being gay has its challenges, but also being in a throuple can be even more challenging. However, everyone has been super nice to me and it's been a nice surprise.

After the big breakfast, we all took a nap and then headed out to the casino, something I've never done in my life. I was anticipating flashing lights and lots of excitement, but what I ended up with was kind of a headache and boredom. You would think gambling would be so much fun, especially after the way they show it in movies, but it's really not. You push a button, you lose, and that's it. Not really much to report.

On the way home, after we stopped for dinner, I started looking into the 20booksto50k conference since their tickets just went on sale. I've been wanting to go for years. For those of you that don't know, it's a conference for indie authors who want to make a full-time living from their books. They do lots of panels and talks about how to please readers and write better stories, how to market effectively and all that jazz. Well, I decided that I'm not going to go. Unfortunately, I can't justify spending over $3000 for a single week in vegas to go to a conference. However, I'm going to keep the time off from work and buy a digital ticket to watch what I can from there. That will be much easier and cheaper. Not to mention a lot less stressful. The less anxiety in my life the better.

I did do a little more planning today on the paranormal romance novels while we were in the car. I'm pretty sure I've got the entire thing halfway planned out in my head, so I should be able to start writing it tomorrow after we get back from our trip. I've got plenty of words to catch up on for the year already, but I'll be fine. I'm super excited about the mystery portion of this romance anyway, so I think it's gonna be not only an easy write but an exciting read for the people who pick it up :) I've already got people preordering the first romance that's coming out later this month and it definitely won't disappoint!

Here's to a productive day tomorrow!