"Dear Jay, if you’re still reading, you can probably see where this letter is going. I know I’ll be a disappointment to you. I’m a conciliator by nature, with a permanent address on the mild-mannered end of the spectrum. You’re egotistical and heedless: but as you emerged through the tip of my pen, I understood that you were passionate, too. You’re more vivid than I am. For years before I set you to paper, you must have been hovering just under my skin, a shadow-self, the chief protagonist in my alternate life."