Winter may be coming, but the newest Game of Thrones book isn’t, at least not right now.
George R.R. Martin, author of the fantasy novels that inspired HBO’s Game Of Thrones television series, missed his Dec. 31 book deadline because he was too distracted to write.
That means season 6 of the hit show will begin airing new episodes in April, while Martin is still finishing his latest book, Winds of Winter , the sixth novel in the fantasy saga A Song Of Ice And Fire .
With the words, “you won’t like it,” Martin announced his missed deadline on his blog Saturday afternoon. He said he’s working with HBO to make sure the television show reflects the events in his as yet unfinished book.
Here it is, the first of January. The book is not done, not delivered. No words can change that. I tried, I promise you. I failed.
‘Game of Thrones’ creator George R.R. Martin is just too busy to finish latest book https://t.co/QvHv9bjuVd pic.twitter.com/0dJT9ie6cd
— Mashable (@mashable) January 2, 2016
Martin wrote that although he has finished hundreds of pages and dozens of chapters the book isn’t finished.
“My editor and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed…but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me.”
This is the second Winds of Winter deadline Martin missed this year; the first was Halloween. In order for the book to hit retail stores before the television series airs in April, it would need to be published by late March, which means Martin would have needed to finish writing his latest book by the end of October.
Martin blogged that he can only write at home, not in a hotel room, on a plane or anywhere else, and his busy year kept him too preoccupied to write as much as he would have liked.
George Martin admitted his travel, blog posts, and other projects may have slowed down his writing.
“The truth is sometimes the writing goes well and sometimes it doesn’t, and that was true for me even when I was in my 20s.”
To anyone who accuses George RR Martin of being a slacker, don’t forget he already wrote ALL OF THIS: pic.twitter.com/J5IfenC3xr
— Adam Sternbergh (@sternbergh) January 2, 2016
The pressure of the deadlines caused the 67-year-old writer increased stress, which in turn slowed down his writing process, he wrote.
“Look, I have always had problems with deadlines. For whatever reasons, I don’t respond well to them.”
The award-winning author said he didn’t know when the book would be completed and he wouldn’t be setting any new deadlines.
“I can’t tell you when it will be done, or when it will be published. It will be done when it’s done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it.”
George RR Martin says the new Game of Thrones book will be delayed because it “isn’t done yet”. pic.twitter.com/EhpOKZtk9z
— michael rodriguez (@mikeRodz) January 2, 2016
The lack of a new George R.R. Martin book means the HBO series will be travelling into unexplored territory as it begins its sixth season when it airs in April.
Much of the filming for that season has already been completed and fans have been worried the television show will spoil the plot of the book. Martin addressed these fears on his blog post.
“Maybe. Yes and no.”
The plot of the television show has already diverged from the novels and Martin blogged that fans can expect more differences in the future. Some of the plot twists in the book will be revealed in the television series and some will be new.
“I’ll keep writing. Chapter at a time. Page at a time. Word at a time. That’s all I know how to do.”
[Photo by Kevin Winter /Getty Images]
