Interview with Tim Pratt – Author of DOORS OF SLEEP

I recently read and loved Doors of Sleep, and I’m very excited to have author Tim Pratt visiting the blog today! Welcome, Tim!

Your latest book, Doors of Sleep, has just been released, congrats! Can you give us a quick story recap?

A few years ago, Zaxony Delatree went to sleep, and woke up in an unfamiliar world. Now every time he wakes up, he finds himself in another random branch of the multiverse, so almost every day he has to cope with a new reality. Sometimes he finds himself in nice places (pastoral paradises, technological utopias), and other times in hostile environments (ruined desert cities, alien landscapes with unfriendly natives). When he reaches a place he likes, he tries to stay awake as long as he can, but everyone has to sleep sometime. He can take people with him, if they fall asleep in his arms… but his companions almost always leave him, either because they’re separated and he transitions to a new world without him, or because they find a place where they’d like to stay.

As if he doesn’t have enough problems, now it seems, impossibly, like an old adversary is somehow pursuing him through the multiverse.

One of the highlights of reading Doors of Sleep is getting to see all the cool worlds that Zax visits on his travels. Reviewers have noted similarities to Doctor Who, and I personally thought it reminded me a lot of Quantum Leap. Did you draw inspiration from these TV shows?

I watched Quantum Leap with my mom a lot as a kid, and that notion of someone being transported against their will, and trying to do good wherever they end up, is certainly part of the core sensibility of this book. Doctor Who is there too: when I first came up with this idea, I thought, “It’s like Zax is a multidimensional malfunctioning TARDIS.” Certainly the idea of companions who bring their own strengths and weaknesses to the team was on my mind. There’s also a bit of Sliders, with the random other universes, though my worlds are a lot weirder than most of theirs were; of course, I have an unlimited budget for new locations, which helps.

If you had to pick a favorite world, which one would you pick?

The world I think is coolest is the one with the skeletons who have hydraulic muscles and worship at founts of blood. The one I’d most like to live in is… maybe the Lector’s, even though it’s a culture that produced him, since it seems like the kind of place where I could be left alone to write books without having to worry about paying for health care.

Creating so many inventive worlds has given you some excellent opportunities to develop characters who are just as interesting. Personally, Minna and Vicki were my favorite characters in the book. Do you have a favorite, and if so who is it?

I love the whole central triumvirate of Zax, Minna, and Vicki, honestly, and their interpersonal dynamics… but Minna was probably my favorite to write, especially the scenes late in the book where she has to make a whole lot of big moves on her own. For the antagonistic characters, I really loved Polly and Gladius, and the Lector of course; writing over-the-top, monologuing megalomaniacs is always fun.

I’m hoping Doors of Sleep is the first book in a series, because I personally NEED to know what happens next. Can we expect more from this world?

I have just signed on to write a second book about Zax, probably to be titled Prison of Sleep, which has more multiverse adventures and delves into some of the mysteries from the first book, like… why is this happening to Zax, anyway?

That’s fantastic news! For readers who enjoyed Doors of Sleep, which of your other books or series would you recommend reading next?

My Marla Mason series (starting with Blood Engines) has some multiverse shenanigans, and one of the books, Broken Mirrors, is all about an invasion from a grim parallel universe. If you like the science fictional and interpersonal bits, try my Axiom space opera series, starting with The Wrong Stars.

 

I guess we should address the elephant in the room: How has the past year of Covid-19 shut downs and other restrictions affected your writing and promotion efforts, especially while trying to release a new book?

I had to cancel a lot of trips, including a literary festival in Spain, which was disappointing (I’ve never been there), and of course all the fun bookstore events and reading series and conventions are off. It was pretty hard to write anything for a while, too, honestly, just because of the constant background anxiety. But eventually I got my mind right and started to look at fiction as a refuge, and was able to get into reading and writing again as a form of escape. I hope the book provides a little respite from this reality for other people too.

Besides a sequel to Doors of Sleep, are you working on any other new projects that you can share with us?

Oh, yes, always. Since 2015 I’ve been publishing a new story every month on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/timpratt. I also have another book coming out from Angry Robot in May: The Alien Stars and Other Novellas, collecting three new long stories set in the world of my Axiom space opera trilogy. I’m pretty excited about that: it allowed me to take a deeper look at some of the characters who didn’t get enough time on center stage in the original series.

Thank you for joining me today, Tim!

About the author:

TIM PRATT is a Hugo Award-winning SF and fantasy author, who has also been a finalist for World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards, among others. Since 2001 he has worked for Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field, where he currently serves as senior editor. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and son.

Find Tim: Patreon | Twitter | Goodreads

Read my review of Doors of Sleep

Posted January 25, 2021 by Tammy in Author Interviews / 23 Comments

Divider

23 responses to “Interview with Tim Pratt – Author of DOORS OF SLEEP”

  4. sjhigbee

    Ooo… what a treat, Tammy! Fabulous interview and as I’ve also read the book and LOVED it, I’m thrilled to hear that another one set in the same world is in the works – and that he has other books:))). Thank you for this!

    Reply
  6. todd

    I’d completely forgotten about Quantum Leap and Sliders, but they both make sense, too. Sounds like a fun read, and I enjoyed the interview.

    Reply
  7. Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

    I’m loving the Quantum Leap, Dr. Who comparisons here. This definitely sounds like it would make for a fun escape from reality. The author sounds like a really nice guy too. I’m also intrigued by the multiverse shenanigans in some of his other books. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Lynn Williams

    I was desperately trying to think of the name of the tv series so I’m so glad you put it in here as it would just have niggled me all day.
    This sounds like such a great concept with so much possibility. I guess at the same time it comes with it’s very own set of problems but I think it would be interesting to see how the author changes things in the second book.
    Lynn 😀

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.