Next ‘Game Of Thrones’ Novel ‘The Winds Of Winter’ May Arrive In 2021, Author George R.R. Martin Claims

George R. R. Martin, notorious for the slow pace of his output since his book Game Of Thrones became a worldwide sensation and an HBO series, is apparently stepping up his writing pace.

Martin said on his blog that he is writing the next installment, The Winds of Winter, at “a steady pace.” But, he conceded, “I still have a long way to go.” Still, the 71-year-old Martin said he hoped to finish sometime before a 2021 convention.

The pandemic has helped Martin focus. He had been consulting on the HBO plans for sequels to Game of Thrones and enjoying his new found celebrity. The led to accusations from some fans that the final books in the series would never be finished. His last published work was A Dance With Dragons, which came out in 2011.

Some fans, too, were hoping that Martin might craft a more satisfying ending to the saga than the HBO series, which left some underwhelmed at its abrupt resolutions.

“Yes, I am in an actual cabin in the mountains,’ Martin joked on his blog, adding he didn’t have a fever.

“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,” he wrote. Martin claimed he finished three chapters within the last two weeks.