Up until now, George R.R. Martin is yet to designate a release date for his much-awaited book "The Winds of Winter." Fans and media outlets only resort to what rumor mills are able to chew, leading them to believe that the sixth volume in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series will be out early next year.

Martin recently untied himself from his desk to pay his alma matter Northwestern University a visit. During the chat, he made it a point to show that he is not deterred by the growing expectation that the book will be out before the season 6 of the saga's adaptation "Game of Thrones" does.

"I've been hearing them come up behind me for years, and the question is, 'How can I make myself write faster?' I think, by now, the answer is, I can't," the author said (via Vulture). "I write at the pace I write, and what the show is doing is not going to change what the books are," he added.

Martin didn't think that HBO will catch up to the books but he still believes that his "17-year head start" puts him way to the front. There's a lot of pressure though knowing that majority of fans, whether of the saga or the TV series, expect to see "The Winds of Winter" in the flesh by February or March.

In fact, it was rumored that Martin asked HBO to delay the premiere of "Game of Thrones" season 6 so that it won't spoil the book. The network's early 2016 lineup showed that the usual timeslot of the hit fantasy was taken by Mick Jagger's "Vinyl."

According to reports, this pushes the return of "Game of Thrones" back to May at the earliest, which should give readers an ample time to devour "The Winds of Winter" should it release months before the show's supposed May premiere.