As you may or may not have noticed, I don't often write about really personal things on my blog. That was a conscious decision on my part, considering I have a private blog for just that purpose.

However, sometimes things happen in the personal life that are somehow incredibly...connected to what you write.

My therapist has been slowly pushing me towards dating. Yes, I know--a romance writer who doesn't date? Gasp! I've had my reasons, and the hiatus was good for me. Now, though, is the time to start putting myself out there, meet new people and maybe go out on a date or two. Really, the meeting new people part shouldn't be difficult for me, since I'm one of those weird extroverted writers (I'm firmly an ENFP on the Myers' Briggs scale). I love meeting new people. And for whatever reason, those new people always seem to spill their life stories--or at least a significant chunk of them--to me within five minutes. It's a little perplexing, but at the same time I enjoy it. What better way could there be to get character inspiration?

Dating, however, is like this whole other beast. It takes a lot to get me interested in someone (hey, I'm picky and have standards *g*), and I can count on one hand the number of men who have really and truly sparked my interest in the past two years. See? Picky. That, and the pickin's seem to be slim around here most of the time.

So how does this tie into writing?

Well, see, that's the funny thing...

The other day, I found myself saying to a couple of my friends at church, "I need some help. Anyone know any single guys?" And my brain flashed to Molly, the heroine of BGNLT, who in a flash of desperation decides to go out on a bunch of blind dates in order to get over her best friend. However, the best friend is the one setting her up on these dates.

Luckily, I don't have the latter problem. A) my best friend lives in Tennessee, my best friend's a chick and therefore I don't exactly need to get over her and C) if my best friend were to set me up on blind dates I fully trust her judgement seeing as how we're brain twins and all.

It just struck me as funny that I was literally taking a page from my own book. I'd never thought I would ask my friends to help me out, but there I was, straight-faced (which is almost uncommon for me) and completely serious. Who would've guessed it?

...

My therapist. That's who would've guessed it. She's been telling me for months that I should do that, and I'm not sure why the idea just now clicked in my head.

So, yeah. Dating. I'm trying to wade in without letting nerves get to me. I'm trying to keep an open mind. And I'm trying not to hold my breath waiting for someone interesting and good to come along who captures my attention. Well, err, there's kind of one of those already. But like I said, I'm wading in. Slowly. Very, very slowly.

So what things have you done to enhance your dating life? What worked? What didn't? Got any funny/sweet/horrific stories to share? I do love a good dating story.