I can empathize, Connie. Of course, there's bored, and then there's burnout.
Not long after completing
Dreams of the Dark, when the whole creative joy of writing
DS was overwhelmed by the business headaches (and these were Excedrin #10 headaches), I came depressingly close to burning out. Since that time, I've yet to be able to get back into
DS with the same zeal I had prior to doing the book. I haven't completely separated myself from
DS by any means, but I knew some time back that, if I didn't want to get
hopelessly burned out, I needed to separate myself from regular viewing, in-depth discussion, etc. To be honest, little depresses me more than the idea of losing enthusiasm for a program that was, quite literally, for almost all my life, a bit of pure magic. So I've taken something of a sabbatical from
DS fandom over the last few years -- but this has allowed me to retain a spark -- perhaps more than a spark -- of fannish love for the show. I still enjoy this forum as much as any; even though I don't post much, I read most of the topics.
Some of my old love came rushing back in 2002, when I wrote
The Labyrinth of Souls -- which many of you were kind enough to read and remark upon. This was something that a professional writer really should not do: spend considerable time and creative energy writing a novel that results in zero financial remuneration or mass-market exposure. Yet I was
compelled to do it, and while I did, every bit of my old enthusiasm returned with a vengeance -- and this time, I was able to write
DS as I truly wanted to, without compromise and without the reins of the powers that be holding me back.
I suspect, Connie -- and the rest of you who have felt "bored" -- you are simply hitting one of those cyclicle ebb points that come with being a fan of anything. Sometimes the old joy will come back, and catch you up in it; sometimes it won't; and at this point, so many years after the show, I sometimes think that the real peaks we used to feel have passed on permanently... or at least been downgraded. But you know what... in the last few weeks, when I've been on some of my long walks in the woods or through the old neighborhood where I grew up... for the first time in at least a couple of years, the
DS theme is again running through my mind, and my imagination is dominated by the characters and stories that originally drew me to the show way back when. It's a great feeling, and I expect it'll come back to you too.
Wait for it happily.
--M
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey
