CwHD Intro

CONVERSATIONS is a weblog about words and language and other inanities. CwHD began May 1, 2017. Besides thematic essays, the site provides a vehicle for sharing my own words and language.

In July, 2019, I opened the Bookstore. This page provides an overview of my published work. Print and e-books are available through my website majikwoids, and a link to that site is provided below and in the sidebar. Free Reads and other samples of my work are available.

My profile 'portrait' is a line drawing of Han Shan, an 8th century Chinese mystic. I use this drawing rather than my own photograph because self-aggrandizement, blowing one's own horn, goes against my grain. Authors I admire a good deal are, for the most part, both reticent and reclusive. J. D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon come to mind. There is something too crass about a writers whose names eclipse the title on the covers of their books. Besides, there are too many faces everywhere.

The dog featured in the site's logo is Zudnik. He was a wolfdog, a hybrid. His mother was a malamute; his father was a wolf. Few people think breeding wolves and dogs is a good idea. I agree. Zudnik came to me as a gift, and I had no heart for just putting him down. Loving, ferocious, gentle, vicious, he spent ten good years sharing my life. He was a beast, but he was my beast.