There are also dozens and dozens of success stories many couples have emailed me with their original posts. I love reading these stories, but confess I am not as interested in drawing them as the unfinished, elusive ones.

I did have a couple of people asking me to illustrate their MC in a hope to widen the exposure, unfortunately the messages weren't a good fit, so I couldn't oblige. And I didn't really want to become a matchmaking service. Someone posted a missed connection I like your blog which was directed at me... that was kind of fun to stumble across.

But mostly I think two people do share a moment, and we all know that feeling, and it can put a spring in your step for the rest of the day.

I toyed with making portraits based on people's discarded shopping lists found on the street, or old diaries bought on eBay, or other forms of borrowed stories. When I stumbled across the Missed Connections listings, I knew immediately I'd found it.

Nothing is known for sure, even the person who was there isn't entirely sure he or she had the same response as the other in that moment. One person might have fallen head over heels, the other might have been thinking about what to have for dinner and inadvertently making eye contact.

On the other hand, I'm drawn to top hats, and spats, and mustaches. I haven't read a Missed Connection yet with someone wearing a monocle, but rest assured I'll snap it up if I do.

I have had people come to the site from all over the world. The US and Canada predominantly, but also Brazil and South Africa and Greece and Indonesia and Hong Kong and Ireland and Argentina and Spain and Israel and Australia.

I look for ambiguous messages to illustrate...I like some detail but not too much detail.

I've illustrated many children's books and I feel awfully lucky to be able to do something I love so much, and yes, to be able to pay the rent, but there was a yearning to do something more grown up, and something where I didn't have to cater to anyone I was just waiting for the material.