It was after I wrote the introduction below destined for a book on my dream life (still in the works) that I decided to incorporate  dreams into Il Molo.

“I have had a dream almost every night since I can remember – even when I was a child. I recall a few dreams from childhood, and one in particular that repeated itself at least twice. But given the frequency of my dream episodes now, I imagine my subconscious was just as active then as it is now.

My dream subconsciousness is fueled by what I have read, what I have seen on television and the movies, and on the myriad of events that I have experienced. You would think that I was a dull, straight forward person since my chosen career path has been treasury, accounting and finance. I am straight forward but by no means dull. My imagination is quite active and working all the time. I remember my first husband used to say that it was not wise to leave me alone for too long because I thought too much.

Unfortunately, there are many dreams I do not remember. I have vague ideas about the subject matter but cannot hold on to the details, which of course make a dream more interesting to the reader. I have tried recalling details the first thing in the morning when I wake up. This does not always yield good results. The concerns and occupations of the day seem to erase the little bit I was trying to hold on to. I have tried writing down my dreams – just notes that will refresh my memory. But the mere act of writing seems incongruous with the idea of sleeping.

I try to sleep eight hours a night; I am an early sleeper and riser. Even when I was a teenager and even in college, during the winter months, when night started at five in the afternoon, I was often in bed by eight pm. That is, if there was nothing else happening and nothing good on television. And I, even now, usually am awake between six-thirty and seven in the morning, regardless of the time I went to sleep. So I consider I have plenty of time to concoct a magical world and to reinvent my reality.”

And that magical world fit nicely into making Il Molo come alive and gives it a special twist. #ilmolo