Willie Booker tells Matt Fleming women shouldn’t date men like him – but they should buy his guide to finding the right guy

We’ve all seen books written for women by ‘former jerks’ on how to avoid falling for the traps set by other ‘jerks’. Books which reveal the ‘secrets’ of those sexual predators who want one thing only from the fairer sex – and that ‘aint a night of meaningful conversation. But we haven’t seen many such tomes set in the Hong Kong scene. However, Willie Booker’s guide for girls, Life’s Too Short To Date Men Like Me, is based on the city. The Hong Kong author, who studied in England, confesses to sleeping with more 300 chicks and reckons he now wants to help them separate the meat from the chaff.

Life’s Too Short To Date Men Like Me. Is it really?
I think so! I first came up with the idea for the book after hearing female friends complaining about how hard it was to find a decent guy. So I decided to write a book which teaches women how men think and operate. The book has two parts – how to avoid jerks and how to attract decent guys – and it covers many of the common mistakes women make with men. But, contrary to popular belief, the book would apply to most Western dating scenes and not just Hong Kong. I just happen to live here. As for the title, I figured that instead of judging other guys from a moral high ground and sounding like a hypocrite, I’ll be fair and include myself in the book. Also, the title seemed catchy when I coined it and goes hand-in-hand with the overall tongue-in-cheek humour of the book.

Were you really such a womaniser? (Woah, 300 girls!)
To be honest I wasn’t that bad. I’ve had one night stands but I let the girls know where they stood. I am guilty, however, of dragging on a long-term relationship for seven years when I really should have ended the relationship earlier, so I was guilty of wasting my ex-girlfriend’s time. But I did party with a lot of players and I interviewed more than 250 girls, so I wrote about all sorts of men – including players, men who feared long term commitment, narcissists and abusive men.

What people are you targeting?
The advice in the book suits women in their 20s and 30s the best. But any woman or man can pick up the book and have a good laugh. I wanted it to be funny and not just a boring, preachy guide.

What’s the response to the book been like in Hong Kong?
The response has been great. I had a really big book launch party in Prive and a book signing in Bookazine. Two female friends also approached me and told me they were interested in translating the book into Italian and Chinese. But I’m hoping to find a large publisher in the US. So if anyone wants to work with me, let me know...

Do you think guys who sleep around could learn something?
Guys are not going to learn how to pick up women from this book. They might get a good laugh out of it, though. But I’ve had several guys tell me they’ve seen themselves in the characters mentioned in the book. A couple of guys even thanked me because the book reminded them of what they were doing right and what they were doing wrong.

Any other books in the pipeline?
Yes. I’m working on a new book right now about common problems in relationships. Again, it will be written in a funny and sarcastic style.

Life’s Too Short To Date Men Like Me is published by iUniverse, priced $130. The ebook is available from www.amazon.com for US$7.69.

The book is also available online at http://bookstore.iuniverse.com, priced US$12.95 for the perfect bound softcover (B/W), $US22.95 for the dust jacket hardcover (B/W) and US$9.99 for the ebook (available as pdf, e Pub and Mobi files).