Take a Scientific Approach to Love with The Four Man Plan

LATP: What inspired you to write The Four Man Plan?

Cindy Lu: I created The Four Man Plan because my love life had sucked for as long as I could remember and I need to really wrap my brain around love in a totally different way. 

CL: I wrote The Four Man Plan, the book, because it was requested of me by women that had come to see the workshop version of my show by the same name. I wrote The Four Man Plan, the one woman show, because as an actress, doing a few lines here and there, even on the biggest shows on television, had started to become creatively crippling. I needed to create an opportunity to express myself.

 

LATP: Did you write this book from experience?

CL: I used every experience I ever had! If I could get the Tax Man to give me back the money I spent on Manhattans and condoms and therapy doing "research" I’d be able to retire!

LATP: What one tip would you say is the most important for women to follow to find "Mr. Right?"

CL: Stop looking. Make yourself Mrs. Right by unsucking at love and you’ll find yourself in the center of a gaggle of Mr. Rights, that is, men that are HONEST, LOVING and WILLING. Then all you have to do is look for a match.

LATP: How do your friends feel about your book and are they singing your praises?

CL: Most my friends are married. Most of us helped each other get there. They are very supportive of the material.

LATP: Could this book potentially be a manual for men to follow to keep from being "Mr. Wrong"

CL: Absolutely. Men can learn a lot be reading a book written by a woman for other women and vice versa. It’s like being a fly on the wall in the girl’s locker room.

LATP: Are there any more books in your future?

CL: I have something like 22 book ideas at last count. I want to be able to keep up with my girls and write about the early stages of a monogamous relationship. Kind of a "The Four Man Plan Worked Like a Charm, NOW WHAT?!". I want to tackle the subject of marriage. I also really want to do something for much younger girls for when they are first wondering about boys and what to do about them. I think its needed right now. When you’ve got 10 year olds thinking that Samantha on Sex and the City is a role model, someone should point them in another direction. Why not me?

Of course, as a writer I also want to write fiction someday. And as an actress, someday I want to direct.

LATP: How would you compare your book to other dating books?

CL: The Four Man Plan is compatible with so many other dating books. All those books on how to meet guys, how to dress, the Mars/Venus stuff, how to flirt, how to stop being so damn co-dependent etc. can all go hand in hand while doing The 4MP. You can use those WITH The Plan. It’s all love, baby.

LATP: After the release of the book and all the feedback you’ve received, is there anything you would have liked to add or wish you could remove?

CL: I think one of the hardest things about writing is that your thoughts grow and change but your book stays the same. Luckily, I have a website with a very comprehensive Forum. New 4MPlanner’s ask all kinds of great questions and come up with dilemmas I hadn’t even considered, so new material is being created everyday. The one thing I wish was in the book is Principle #7, SAY THANK YOU OR I’LL SPANK YOU. But you can find it at www.TheFourManPlan.com.

LATP: How did it feel seeing it on bookshelves? Did you purchase a copy?

CL: It’s funny, I didn’t go out and look for it, but some of my friends did. One of them found it sitting in the Math and Science section of one store, which I thought was hilarious. The first time I saw it was at my first book signing at Book Passage in Corte Madera. They had a bunch of them lined up on the wall behind the cash registers. It was weird. It really does look like the composition books. But if you look closely, you’ll see that the pattern is made out of little men.

I didn’t buy one! I got a bunch from the publisher and I still have a few left.

LATP: How do you respond to your skeptics?

CL: My corporation, Do The Math, Inc.  has a slogan, "Something for most, nothing for some." I recently got a pretty snarky review in the NY Times. Honestly, I was just so excited that I was in the TIMES!! I didn’t create it for everyone to like or understand, I wrote as honestly from my point of view. That is what I felt like I owed myself and the people who it could possibly be of use to. For everyone else, might I suggest they dine elsewhere? I’m not interested in converting anyone. I’m just happy every time it finds its intended audience, the COOL chicks. No, just kidding. NOT. No really, kidding.

LATP: Were you always the person that people went to for advice?

CL: ALWAYS. It seems that I must be a good listener and be able to dole out decent advice even though I was having trouble executing it sometimes myself. I detest small talk, you know all that b.s. about how this is fine and that is fine, so I think that has made me encounter people on a deeper level, something where both people can walk away with something new and cool.

LATP: How would you sum up your book in one sentence?

CL: Hmmm. You know, I should probably have this all worked out. It depends on who I’m talking to…so for you guys I’d have to say, "Do The Four Man Plan and plan for the man."

LATP: What is the best success story to date regarding your 4MP?

CL: The BEST ONE IS ME! Even if I only end up selling 6 books, I will always be grateful for The Four Man Plan for helping me get to my husband Earl. Honestly, I’m so damn gaga over that guy. No one has ever made me feel so wonderful and safe and so much like ME.

LATP: Why do you think women need dating help?

CL: Because the current media culture is shoveling us a lot of poop. Sometimes culture flows with nature, and sometimes it doesn’t. Right now, girls are in an inner conflict about how to approach love and dating. Feminism and the idea of wanting to be like men was about THE WORKPLACE not the bedroom. Women are searching for something that rings true and brings them out of their confusion into being the full blown goddesses they know they are inside. I hope The Four Man Plan helps them get there.

LATP: If you could only give one piece of advice, what would it be?

CL: HAVE FUN, DAMMIT!