Hope you’re all safe and doing well during these stay at home times.

First – last clichés:

Chilling Out– Calm down, take it easy. This dates to 1980. It alludes to being “cool,” i.e. laid back or clever.

Chips are Down– Either the situation is desperate or urgent, sometimes both. This term comes from poker, relating to where the chips represent money being wagered. When all bets are in, hand is over, and card must be turned face up to determine who has the winning hand. 2 other clichés come from same source — to cash in one’s chips, meaning to die — when you turn in your chips for money, it means end of the game; in the chips, to be rich i.e. having very many chips. Lots of money. All these expressions date from late 19th century and early 20th century.

How many did you find?

Since being “shut in,” I’ve decided that webinars would be all in a day’s work. So, I signed up for a couple of free webinars.

The first one was 4 Step Formula to Grow Your Ranks on the Amazon Algorithm by Adam Houge. I hesitated to sign up because I was afraid as with most “free” stuff all roads lead to Rome. Did I learn anything? Yes, a few interesting facts.

But, my fear was realized when at the end, I could take another class which would show me the crux of the webinar–to grow your fan base for $597.00. I’m sure the class might be worth it, but I can’t afford that right now.

However, I decided to give another free webinar the benefit of the doubt. This one was Everything You Need to Know About Author Websites by Daniel Berkowitz of AuthorPop, hosted by Dana Kaye, Publicity.

So, I signed up for this one and gave it a fair shake. I learned much more from this webinar, and was impressed. Since I recently updated my own website and have someone who administers to it, I won’t use too much of what I learned, except to ask my designer certain questions. And. I have the information for later.

Yes, Daniel showed his hand at the end of the webinar and for a fee, you could use him for another class or help with your website. Not for a lot of money, but still…

However, I would recommend webinars. They give us a way of learning new things and refreshing our talents.

Just remember– there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Keep Writing and stay healthy and safe.

Julie