The Conversation Continues: Why I Wrote a Companion

The book didn’t end when I finished writing it.

Not the first time. Not the seventh. Not even the twentieth.

Because writing, at least for me, isn’t about finishing. It’s about understanding.

That’s the difference between storytelling and literature. One tries to entertain. The other tries to make sense. Of something. Of anything. Of yourself.

So why did I write a companion? Not because I thought my books needed defending. And not because I assumed readers wouldn’t “get it.” I wrote it because I’m still trying to get it.

That’s not a lack of confidence. It’s the opposite. I believe there’s enough in the work to keep thinking about. To keep wrestling with. To deserve a companion.

And not some supplemental bonus content. Not a glossary or a study guide. A real companion. Something that stands beside the novel—not to explain it away, but to stay in dialogue with it.

Because the relationship I have with these books is dynamic. Living. It evolves—not the books themselves, but my relationship to them. Because, as I said in an earlier post, sometimes you're just not ready for what the work is revealing. You change. And then you see.

That’s what the companion is: my side of the conversation.

It’s not authoritative. It’s not final. It’s one interpretation—deeply informed by intent, yes—but still only one path through the maze. If you disagree with my analysis, good. That means you’re thinking. That means the book landed somewhere real.

There are layers. I know not everyone will see them—especially not on a first reading. But if I’m going to ask you to go back and look again, I owe you an assist. That’s what this is.

The goal, for me, is understanding. My goal, for you, is engagement. If the companion gets you to pause, to reread, to reconsider—then it’s done its job. Even if you push back. Especially if you push back.

Because then the story’s alive. Then it means something.

And that’s why I wrote a companion. Because I’m still in conversation with the work—and now, I want you in that conversation, too.