Life has a way of throwing you for a loop when you least expect it. This frequently happens to characters in my books, however sometimes the line between real life and fiction becomes a little blurry.
Recently I went through a divorce, and afterwards I was having a conversation with my adult daughters and they jokingly offered to set me up on Tinder. Because that wouldn’t be weird, and what could possibly go wrong, being on a dating app in a small country town? After declining their generous offer [insert much eyerolling], I found myself thinking about the whole cringeworthy idea . . . for a book.
Of course, after deciding to go ahead with the idea, I then realised I had no idea how dating apps actually worked—the only previous experience I’d had was back in the days of the old MSN chat rooms, which *cough* wasn’t that long ago . . . Anyway, like any author worth their grain of salt, I decided I would need to put myself out there (and give up my dignity) in the name of research.
I can only really speak for my experience as a woman in her early fifties living in a small town, which—as you can imagine—limits the eligible men considerably. Add in the very real risk of being matched with a possible relative and that pretty much wipes out any possibilities.
My thoughts on dating apps? Let’s face it, we’re all busy and too tired after a long day at work to go out anywhere, so sitting in the comfort of your home and selecting a person from an app seems like a brilliant idea—only it’s not. I find it quite sad that we can only say yes or no based on a photo. And most men have no idea how to post a decent photo of themselves online—seriously, get a haircut, trim your beard . . . PUT CLOTHES ON!
I genuinely get so depressed about judging and dismissing people that I end up closing the app and eating ice cream. There has to be a better way. However, every now and again when I’m feeling miserable about being single, I occasionally go on the app . . . just to remind myself why being single is actually not so bad!
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