"Some days I feel quite confident, but other days..." -Susannah Goodson

I'm borrowing Susannah's quote from our Facebook wall because it rings so true to the writing life. One of the universal truths of writing is that it is a solitary activity. No matter how involved you are with writing groups or online communities, it always comes down to you versus yourself. Stories are created in our brains and can only be shared with others when we find the right words to express them. Writing is a neverending search for the correct words to take abstract concepts--emotion, sensory input, philosophical musings--and make them understandable to a reader. The longer you're left alone with your words, the easier it becomes to lose confidence in your writing. The doubts creep in, the inner editor laughs at your attempts to string words together, and you start to wonder why you even bother to write. Add to that the anxiety of sending your words out into the world to an editor or agent and that second career as a burger flipper starts to look a lot more appealing.

We've all been there.

I just spent a little time at the just-launched http://www.whomovedmybuybutton.com/ and I must say I'm very pleased with the mission of this clever little site that takes on the noble cause of 'Keeping an eye on our friends at Amazon since Friday morning.'

The idea is as simple as it is timely: to help authors whose books are available on amazon.com keep track of whether or not the BUY NOW link is working and the book can actually be purchased.