My subconscious is not as brilliant as it thinks it is

Last night I had a dream in which I was inspired to rework my My Big Fat Epic Fantasy Novel with a steampunk-style setting, and I thought it was the most brilliant idea ever.  Then I woke up.  I spent the next foggy, pre-coffee hour wondering, "Well, is it a good idea?  Could my subconscious be more brilliant than I suspect?"

The answer was no.

However, my brain didn't totally pull that dream out of its ass. (And yes, I know that statement is all manner of anatomically messed up.)  A while back I realized that a short story I was planning to expand into a novel would be ten times cooler with a steampunk twist instead of its standard issue medieval-esque fantasy setting.  I don't recall having thought about that particular novel idea much recently, but steampunk was on the brain after proofing my steampunk animal fable story for Shimmer, so I think my subconscious decided that steampunk was the cure for all my writerly ills. 

If only it were that simple . . .