Earlier this month, bestselling author George R.R. Martin confirmed that "The Winds of Winter" will not be out before "Game of Thrones" season 6 releases.

Now, fans are back to square one as to determining when the sixth volume of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series will be out. The widespread speculation is that it will hit the shelves next year.

Martin has earned the reputation of being a slow writer, which isn't a bad thing. The 67-year-old writer is known to be scrupulous when it comes to stitching his stories. He often rewrites, revises and looks for ways to improve the story and the writing.

He pointed that out in his blog post, where he announced another "The Winds of Winter" delay. Reiterating his disappointment for once again being unable to beat the deadline, Martin said that "there's also a lot still left to write."

"I am months away still... and that's if the writing goes well. (Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't.) Chapters still to write, of course... but also rewriting. I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures," he explained.

Martin is also known for putting out long hefty books. "The Winds of Winter" sounds like a particularly lengthy installment, which should take him more months to put together.

As the author said, there's still so much to do. He did not mention how far along he was in the book or if the number of pages he managed to finish are more than the ones that are waiting to be filled, but he did say that the book will still take a long while to arrive.

That being said, it looks like fans of the author and the HBO hit series will have to wait one more year before getting their hands on "The Winds of Winter."

In the same blog post, Martin emphasized that he will craft the tome "as good as I can make it."

While fans idle away the months for the book's arrival, Martin vows to "keep writing. Chapter at a time. Page at a time. Word at a time. That's all I know how to do."