George R.R. Martin is one of the most loved authors in recent times. The 67-year old wrote the acclaimed "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, which were made into one of television's biggest hits, "Game of Thrones."
Right now, fans are waiting for Martin's sixth novel, "The Winds of Winter," and while many have speculated that the author might be experiencing writer's block, Martin recently said that this wasn't the case at all.
According to Indiewire, Martin sat down with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pen Densham at the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival for a conversation about books, films, and the like, and the author said that it was "distraction" that was causing the delay of his sixth book.
"Writer's block isn't to blame here, it's distraction," the author explained. "Because the books and the show are so popular, I have interviews to do constantly… It's like suddenly I get invited to travel to South Africa or Dubai, and who's passing up a free trip to Dubai?"
The author has been known to make appearances at "Game of Thrones" events and has become a familiar face at the annual San Diego Comic-Con. But this year, Martin chose to be absent from the popular convention, as well as in other scheduled appearances in order to have more time to the novel. Martin said that he hoped that the book would be released before the sixth season of the HBO series premieres next year.
Martin also talked about his writing habits at the film festival, telling Densham that he doesn't write when he travels or when he's on a plane.
"I really have to be in my own house undisturbed to write," he said, adding that for most of his life, nobody would bother him but now, "everyone bothers me every day." The author said that he has assistants whose main job is to ensure that people don't bother him so that he can continue writing.
Martin started writing the first book in his series, "A Game of Thrones," in 1991 and it was published in 1996. After two years, "A Clash of Kings" was released. Two years after that came "A Storm of Swords." The fourth book, "A Feast of Crows," was released five years after the one it followed, and the fifth book "A Dance of Dragons" was released in 2011. The author has yet to announce a release date for "The Winds of Winter."
