George RR Martin has shared a fresh update on how things are coming along with writing The Winds of Winter, the sixth instalment of his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, from which the hit HBO drama Game of Thrones spawned.
The legendary author posted a new blog entry, titled “Writing, Reading, Writing,” on Tuesday, assuring fans that he has been staying healthy amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but has been consumed with writing ever since his last update.
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/18/george-rr-martin-says-hes-healthy-isolated-and-getting-plenty-of-writing-done”]
“I have to confess, after half a year of pandemic, quarantine, and social distancing, I am showing signs of cabin fever… half of which is quite literal in my case. Yes, I am in an actual cabin in the mountains. No, I have no fever. Yay! For the present at least, I am healthy… for an out-of-shape guy of 71, at least… and doing all I can to stay that way,” Martin wrote in his candid post.
He added: “If nothing else, the enforced isolation has helped me write. I am spending long hours every day on The Winds of Winter, and making steady progress. I finished a new chapter yesterday, another one three days ago, another one the previous week. But no, this does not mean that the book will be finished tomorrow or published next week. It’s going to be a huge book, and I still have a long way to go.”
Martin addressed his cancelled trip to Wellington for CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, saying he was “heartbroken” that the event had been forced to go virtual this year. However, he also noted that “a long interruption” might have cost him “all the momentum” that he has built up, so he will visit next year when he hopes “both COVID-19 and The Winds of Winter will be done.”
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=game-of-thrones-every-major-characters-first-and-last-appearance&captions=true”]
As a further teaser, Martin said that he has been “visiting with Cersei, Asha, Tyrion, Ser Barristan, and Areo Hotah” while writing, and will be “dropping back into Braavos” next week, “with occasional side trips to other places in the pages of a great book.”
Despite admitting to having good days and bad days on the novel, Martin appears to be sticking to his prior promise that he will not develop scripts for the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, until he finishes writing The Winds of Winter.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com George R.R. Martin Now Hopes to Have The Winds of Winter Completed By Next Year