Steal Thunder, a brand-development company in California, writes a blog about "brand moves that get our attention." Here one of the partners writes about inspiring branding from, well, not exactly the world's sexiest retailer: "So I enter the local Smart&Final and have to walk past the checkout, and as I glance up I see the little tagline on the checker's LCD, right where it pays to be reminded: 'The Smaller, Faster Warehouse Store.' So many of the companies we work with struggle to position themselves simply. They want to get to that nirvana of 'one simple, repeatable idea' that not only sets them apart from everyone else, but helps the right customers love them." Read the entire post here.

In his blog Writing Fiction, author Crawford Killian tackles what he sees as the problem of autobiographical fiction: "If you're true to the events and people of your life, you're probably going to write poor fiction, because real life is messier and less organized than fiction. If you follow the requirements for good fiction, you're going to have to distort those real-life events and people... who were supposedly the inspiration for writing the novel in the first place." Click here to read the full entry.

Billing itself as a "forum for the gray areas of the English language," Pain in the English tackles such conundrums as, "Why is the word 'quarters,' to mean a place of residency, plural? When we say, 'I'll show you to your quarters,' we mean a room. So, why don't we simply say, 'I'll show you to your quarter,' without the 's'?" To find out the answer, click here.

The World Copywriting Blog, a website that promises "cutting-edge copywriting tips, tricks and tested techniques to get you higher response, more sales and increased profits" offers a list of ten copywriting pitfalls, as channeled through a... dog. Woof.

The Phobia List contains over 500 entries of phobias that have "all been found in a reference book or medical paper." It was started by an etymology hobbyist who was fascinated by their elaborate names. To look up Alektorophobia to Ephebiphobia to Zemmiphobia, just click on the above link. To see a reverse index, please click here.

The blog eWriteLife recently launched a series on creative writing called the ABCDE of Writing. "A is for Action, B is for Background..." Read the list as it evolves here. What will "Z" stand for?

The aim of Common Errors in English is "to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak." The way this site meets this lofty goal is to catalogue an exhaustive list of usage errors. So the next time you're trying to figure out whether "people are healthy, vegetables are healthful," just click here.