New dreams

Just a couple of snatches that I think might be useful. Last night I dreamt of a girl I used to work with many years ago, completely out of the blue. It's peculiar how people from long ago, who weren't even necessarily that important to your life, suddenly pop up in dreams. Perhaps that says something about how important they really were.

The same dream involved me driving a Mini Cooper, trying to follow someone else in another car. I made a number of ludicrously stupid moves and almost crashed the car. It reminded me that I often used to dream of driving before I could drive. I'd usually get into trouble somehow, and would at least be anxious and panicky about trying this task when I had no idea how to do it. It's like the classic 'exam you haven't studied for' dream.

Also, I recently dreamt about a pub in a dark, gloomy, almost Dickensian backwater of London. It's not a real pub, but I'm certain I've dreamt of it before. In fact, it also reminds me of a whole dream town that I occasionally find myself in, where there are three pubs including one that's so tiny it's little more than a flight of stairs with a wider base.

Anyway, the former pub is in a street so dingy and dark that it feels like there's a roof over the whole city. It's almost more of a tunnel than a street. Anyone who's been to Edinburgh's underground city will have a feel for what I mean. The dream itself wasn't gloomy – I seem to remember having a good time with friends in this pub. It was just a very grotty location. (Now I think of it, it also reminds me of the feel of David Lynch's Eraserhead.

In the book, I think it makes sense to reflect the recurring element of dreams - there will be locations Danny comes to more than once - but they won't always be in the same place.