With much pleasure I bring to readers an intimate setting from a man with a message to share and the strength and character to share it. Checkmate: The Games Men Play is Mark Crutcher’s first novel and hopefully it will serve as a stepping stone to an illustrious career as an author.

MsLo: Mark, are there personal reasons which prompted you to write this book?

Mark: Yes!  Something happened in my life and for the first time I understood the pain that I before had only heard women talk about. Pain they had endured after encounters with men who had loved them, then left them.  The woman that I loved walked out of my life without any warning. This time I was left to pick up the pieces without a clue as to what had gone wrong. Since then, I have vowed never to cause a woman the pain that I felt and this book was the first step in my healing process.

MsLo: This is quite interesting, I would venture to say only a small group of women understand that a man suffers in this manner. I hope that this question is not too personal, but I notice you talk of three skill levels for players. So which level were you?

Mark: I have to admit that, as I have grown over the years, I have had some experience on all three levels.

MsLo: In your years of experience, did you get the impression that women really care that they were being played? Or do they really not want to know the truth?

Mark: I think it is a combination of both ideas.  Women often have a feeling about what is going on and do not act accordingly.  But keep in mind that, as I mention in my book, a player’s job is to get the women he deals with emotionally attached to him as fast as he can before their better judgment takes affect and keeps them from taking their place as a “pawn” on the chess board.  He feels confident that a woman’s emotions will initially overrule their better judgment. Therefore the player will get what he wants, but unfortunately at the woman’s emotional expense.

MsLo: As a man and a former player, what do you think is the basic reason men desire multiple partners?

Mark: I hate to stereotype all men by giving reasons for my own selfishness. However, I will say that for me, it was the different personal sexual gratification that each woman brought to the bedroom that I longed for. 

MsLo: In society today, do you see the roles between men and women changing? Are women becoming players?

Mark : Yes, I do see the roles between men and women changing.  Since it is now more acceptable in our society to participate in causal sex outside of marriage, omen are now exhibiting behaviors that were once thought to be only for men.  When we look at the generation of the young women in our society today, one would be very hard pressed to consider most of them “ladies” according to standards of the past.   Meeting a guy and sleeping with him all in the same day is neither unusual nor unacceptable to many girls today. They have adapted to the “I will use him and let him think he used me” syndrome and are allowing themselves to become the new “players” in the game.    

MsLo: Do you honestly feel men are afraid of commitment to the degree of marriage, and if so, why?

Mark: As I explain in my book, all men are capable of being “good men” only when hey decide it is time to be so.  I don’t think men are afraid of commitment.   I believe that, at some point, a man wants to be committed.  The problem is that a man’s “commitment schedule” is not always at the pace or timing as the woman’s. It might take a man 5, 10 years or more for him to decide he wants to get married.  Women have to realize it is a matter of timing and being at the right place at the right time when the light bulb goes off in a man’s head.  How many times have you heard someone talk about a man leaving one women and, within a matter months, he marries someone else?  Again, it is a matter of timing and the second woman was in the right place at the right time to reap her reward.

MsLo: What did you enjoy most about writing this book and were there any reservations?

Mark: My biggest reservation about writing this book came from the thought of what my family’s perception of me might be after they read the book.  My father is a minister and I come from a strict religious up bringing and I thought that they may have seen this as a direct slap in my father’s face.  I knew God had placed it in my sprit to write this book, but I also needed the comfort that he gave me in order to follow through with his command.  I then knew that it would glorify his name.  Once I realized what my purpose was, then I began to enjoy writing this book.

MsLo: What are some of the key reasons you turned in your player’s card, and what do you think it will take to make other men give up theirs?

Mark: I have to admit that I didn’t turn in my player’s card initially.  I merely locked it away in a safe deposit box and hoped I would never have to use it again. After being left standing at the alter, I have since taken it out and have cut it up!

I strongly believe that women are the solution to their own problem.  Like in the game of chess, the Queen is the most dominate piece on the board.  She has more control and fewer restrictions than any other piece. If all women would use their logical control instead of their emotions and start making the man responsible for his words and actions, then there will no longer be a game to play.  The man would know that because he can no longer “play the game” as he may have done before, he will be forced to turn in his card. 

MsLo: Why did you choose to compare the games men play to chess? Is it your perception that players operate with the finesse of a game of chess, or do certain skill levels operate that way?

Mark: Chess is the ultimate thinking game. The winner is always one or two steps ahead of their opponent.  It is like that in the dating game as well.   Women have always conveyed to men that they want them to be creative and different in their dating approach.  So women have already conditioned men to use strategies and techniques in order to win their hearts. It is sad to say that men have strategize far beyond the woman’s intent and come up with far more creative techniques and moves to win them over than the woman ever imagined.  

MsLo:  Mark, what writing projects are you currently working on and when can we expect to share the proof of the pudding?

Mark:  As with any educational process, you are not allowed to enter into an advanced class without first mastering the basic principles taught at the beginner and intermediate levels.  Checkmate: The Games Men Play is the first in a three book series dealing with the psyche of men and how their actions hurt our society as a whole.  This series is written in levels and will help both men and women as they deal with the relationships they face.  I am currently in negotiations with a new publisher and am looking at a summer 2005 release date.