Sex Game started out like every story for Marcus Blake, asking a few questions about how people really act in certain situations. Every story that Marcus Blake tells is an exploration into the human condition; a careful examination of human behavior. For this book the topic was the search for love and what people do to try and find it.  It’s a universal topic and everybody has their own story of love and heartache so in typical Marcus Blake fashion quite a few questions were asked. 

The main questions Marcus Blake was asking when it came to people trying to find love were, what are we willing to do in order to find it. What things will we endure while dating? How tenacious are we when on the dating scene before we finally give up? The most important question was, can we be alone or do we have to be with someone in order to feel loved.  The questions were first posed among friends just to see what their answers would be, but there really wasn’t any surprise to their answers and Marcus wasn’t satisfied with any conclusions. So what came next was an idea for research. In 2005 an idea was presented to Marcus – go on the dating scene and watch people in real life. He was finishing his third novel Returning Home at the time, but without realizing it he had already figured out what his next book would be and the research for it had begun. 

With the help of a friend Marcus started his experiment.  Now the rules were simple – he could not lie about who he was, his profession, or things about his life, and that as a writer he will use anything he thinks is a good story in one of his books for an author will write what he sees.Now Marcus Blake did not let anyone know that he was writing a new a book and that the story would be on ten characters trying to find love. Marcus Blake started this experiment with the most popular way of meeting people, online personals. Now of course he would meet people randomly in different places like a bar or in a park somewhere while walking the dog. However the main point to all of this was to start dating and date different kinds of women while being himself.  He was not out to fall in love or settle down, but to see what the dating scene was like.

Marcus Blake put a profile on Match.com, Eharmony, True.comand Yahoo personals.  Over the course of a year he met about 20 different women and dated them for a period of time – sometimes he was dating some at the same time.  Out of the 20 women that Marcus dated 2 of them were somebody that Marcus could have a normal relationship with. The rest were crazy as he put it, filled with emotional problems, in love with a guy that treated them bad, or did not have the courage to fight for a relationship therefore sabotaging anything good they might have. They were all perfect examples of the character archetypes for this story. 

While Marcus Blake dated he also interviewed other couples and random people that he would meet, getting their feedback about the dating scene today and trying to find love.  He received lots of stories, and advice about the dating scene today. He got lots of feedback about the journey people take to try and find their true love.  Theirs stories are a part of this book.

Marcus even tried to interview the employees of a dating agency called Great Expectations, the Dallas Texas location, and get their feedback. They claimed to be the experts and they were the premier matchmaking service in the country. Unfortunately they were not very keen to the idea of someone asking questions when they had not paid their fees or made an appointment. Marcus Blake was arrested for Trespassing; later the charges were dropped. Apparently one of the police officers never had luck with the agency and thought the questions Marcus Blake was asking were valid so he let Marcus go as long as he never went there again. After all one of the questions asked was why people had to pay so much money for someone to find their true love – does it really cost a few hundred dollars to find true love?  Marcus Blake has never gone back and if you ask him, he will tell you that he doesn’t see the point.

Dating and also the research for the book continued into the spring of 2007. Over all Marcus Blake went on over 40 dates with 38 different women. He had met them on online personals, in random places, dating organizations, and church. Marcus dated a few of them for a period of time just to see what a relationship would be like with them. Marcus Blake even met a couple of unsavory characters on adult online personals like adultfriendfinder.com.  It may sound crazy, but there are men and women who try to find love on these kinds of sites.  Let’s just say that they were interesting and their story is apart if this book as well.

Now the journey Marcus Blake took in order to write this book was twisted and full of adventure- it’s the only way to really describe everything that Marcus went through in the creation of this book. He met all sorts of interesting women who had their fair share of emotional problems that led to their own stories of heartache or falling for the wrong kind of person. Marcus Blake met the call girl trying to change her life for the better. Some women that he met were bitter and untrusting, but with good reason because of the men that had screwed them over. He even met a schizophrenic woman that would go off her medication and go on the dating scene while still being married with a child at home. Now this part really sounds crazy, but Marcus Blake could not even make it up if he tried.  Yes her story is a part of this book as well.

All in all, this book turned out pretty well. Marcus Blake got a lot of information and research done-  it was also fun at times, The most important thing found was a satisfying conclusion to the questions that Marcus Blake was asking. The main point to this book is that we are all tragic and broken in our way, but what really matters is what we do to be happy and what we are willing to fight for when it comes to that. There is a reason that this story is good.  It’s a story that’s universal because each one of us has tried to find love and the characters in the book, simply put, are each one of us. As Marcus Blake has always said, “the best kind of stories are the ones that are true and the only way I know how to write the truth is simply observe human behavior in everyday life then I sit at my computer and tell that story.”