Because of the cliffhanger featured in the season 5 finale of HBO's widely-popular "Game of Thrones" series, the author of the novels on which the series is based is now reportedly being rushed to release the next book, "The Winds of Winter," so fans can find out the fate of one of its most beloved characters. 

In both the book and the TV series versions, Jon Snow was stabbed and left for dead. But in both versions, it was unclear whether Jon really died. Fans of both versions are eagerly asking the best-selling author to speed up his writing process so that the highly-anticipated novel will finally be published. 

However, the 66-year-old author/ scriptwriter already made a lot of adjustments so that he can publish the book before HBO airs the sixth season of "Game of Thrones." In his previous interview with the Entertainment Weekly, Martin said that he already cancelled his supposed convention appearances at the San Diego Comic-Con and World Convention this year, and declined invitations for several interviews so that he can allot more time to writing "The Winds of Winter." He also requested his fans to avoid asking him questions and comments so that he will not be obliged to answer so that he can focus on the book writing process. 

"The Winds of Winter" will follow "A Dance with Dragons," which was published in 2011. In 2012, Martin said that he is planning to give the answers to all the cliffhangers in the previous novel in the first few chapters of the upcoming book.

He said, "I'm going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen — the battle of Slaver's Bay. And then take it from there." 

Martin also earlier said that "The Winds of Winter" will feature the points of view of Sansa and Arya Stark, Arianne Martell, Theon and Aeron Greyjoy, Tyrion Lannister, and Barristan Selmy.