George RR Martin no longer needs an introduction. Martin has been writing and publishing for the last 50 years. But he rose to fame of epic proportions when the television network HBO decided to adapt his book series A Song Of Ice And Fire into the much loved TV series Game Of Thrones.
Happy Birthday to me… pic.twitter.com/3oq54DoWXF
— George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) September 20, 2020
Even though GoT has ended, the novel series is still underway. The sixth instalment, The Winds of Winter, is now finishing at last. The fifth book came out about 11 years ago. The fans have waited far too long for it by now.
George RR Martin has been procrastinating
The 72-year-old author has expressed his frustrations time and again, over his failure to stick to deadlines. He admitted he could have finished The Winds of Winter a long time ago but did not. He admitted to Entertainment Weekly—
“I know there are a lot of people out there who are very angry with me that Winds of Winter isn’t finished, and I’m mad about that myself. I wished I finished it four years ago. I wished it was finished now.”
Of late, a lot of his time as gone in many other projects besides writing novels. Fans can only hope that he will not miss any more deadlines. For the most part, the main cause of TWOW delay was his involvement in the GoT series. The show ran for eight seasons and that went on from 2011 through the 10’s up to 2019. GoT ended with a different angle as Martin was unable to finish the sixth and seventh book in time.
Working Hard In The Mountains
Martin travelled to the woods with only one assistant to help him. He revealed that the pandemic situation played a part in his decision to stay in a cabin. GRRM wrote on his personal page last month–
I am back in my fortress of solitude again, my isolated mountain cabin. I am back on the mountain again which means I am back in Westeros again, once more moving ahead with WINDS OF WINTER.
While life gets boring in solitude, he was at least able to prioritize and spend more time writing The Winds of Winter. Sounds like he’s made big progress when he said he was able to finish a few chapters in a week.
At this rate, it has been predicted that he may publish the sixth book earlier than expected. As per Inverse, the release window could be in May 2021.