Sounds rough.
I always found the borderline between dating/friendship a bit hazy. I had a couple of relationships where I wasn't even sure after the fact. Even with my current partner, there was a bit of a fuzzy period. I asked her to dinner and a movie (thinking it was obviously a date) and she tells me that she wasn't sure up until the point where I held her hand during the movie (I spent most of the movie planning how to go about holding her hand.)
Buggered if I know how to get one started, though! Shared interests; sure. Sounds like a good plan. I like the advice my mother gave me: be nice, smell nice and brush your teeth 