George R. R. Martin has been in the news a lot lately, as his work on “Winds of Winter” has been coming along rather slowly. Recently, it’s being speculated whether we’re going to see the book in 2015 at all, with various rumors claiming that it won’t be ready for a release this year. On the other hand, Martin himself stated that he doesn’t like to stick to any strict deadlines and schedules, which is why he has been avoiding making any promises for the book’s release date.
He further added that his publisher should not say anything about possible release dates for this reason precisely, as the working pace of the author is apparently quite variable, and he himself is rarely ever sure when he’s going to be finished with a project. And when we add to that the importance of his current work, and the huge amount of attention “Winds of Winter” has been receiving, it’s obvious that he would want to give this book his best and really make it perfect.
And now the author has announced that he will be skipping some of his upcoming public appearances so he can focus more on his current work. He was previously planning to attend the World Fantasy Con, but he recently said that he will be skipping the event as he is pressed hard with his schedule, and he’s been trying to find time to work on the book.
It’s not just “Winds of Winter” that’s troubling him though, as the author also revealed that he has a lot on his plate right now, and he has been juggling his attention between different tasks, in some cases not entirely successfully. Additionally, he won’t make it to the San Diego Comicon either, but since that event wasn’t actually planned officially, he doesn’t consider it that big of a deal that he’s skipping his appearance there.
He went on to say that his current progress on “Winds of Winter” has been quite good, and there is a very realistic prospect that the book will be finished by the end of the year. This contradicts previous reports we got, which claimed that we won’t see “Winds of Winter” until at least 2016, but if George R. R. Martin himself says that he’s feeling confident on his current progress, then we can’t do anything but trust him.
In the end, the huge amount of pressure on him to complete the book – and also make it good – is likely adding to the slow pace at which he’s working on it, as the author most definitely realizes that he has to make every detail of “Winds of Winter” as perfect as possible to match the expectations fans have for it right now.