Tao of Pauly

Here is an e-mail I got from Jessica. She responded to the e-mail that Dave Simanoff wrote me, and more specifically this line: "I hope others read it and share their thoughts about what your writing as meant to them."

Here is Jessica's response:

I write this as a writer...

Your writing has meant the world to me, given me strength and
inspiration. You told me... that you felt I was imitating you. That
was no accident. I admire you as a writer because you go forth
without fear, and venture with words into places lesser men would
never dare. I have always felt this way about you. Sometimes I
have become depressed reading your work because I felt as though
I might fall terribly short in its shadow. And I still often feel that way.
But instead of hindering me, that self-doubt of mine has pushed me.
Pushed me to write more, write better. Before you were back in my life,
whenever I would write something of which I was the least bit proud, I
would say to myself, 'Would Pauly like this?' You have set the
bar by which I often measure myself as a writer. Thank you for that."