This is what the ‘M.’ stands for, and here’s why I use it

(Update, Dec. 30, 2015: The CMS issue has been resolved, and the M. is finally gone!) 

This blog was dead for about three months while I tried to work out a DNS conflict with my host. It’s back now only after I decided to throw in the towel and park it at WordPress.

To celebrate this auspicious return, I thought I’d answer the question I’m most often asked: Why the hell is your byline M. Alex Johnson?

Until about four years ago, I thought journalists who tacked an initial in front of their name — an initial initial, so to speak — were pompous. Then two things happened: