'The Winds of Winter' Release Date: Novel Delayed Further; George R.R. Martin Blames Himself As 'Game Of Thrones' Overtake Books

"A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R.R. Martin has been under much pressure to finish writing the sixth book in the installment, "The Winds of Winter." Given that it has been over five years since he released "A Dance of Dragons," fans of "Game of Thrones" are left at the edge of their seats waiting for more.

Martin, on his Live Journal blog, confirmed that "The Winds of Winter" will not be ready before the "Game of Thrones" season 6 premiere. The author shared that no one is more disappointed of this announcement than him. He thought that the new book will be ready by Halloween or by the end of the December the latest.

Martin added that they all wanted to release "The Winds of Winter" before the end of March, in time for the "GOT" season 6 premiere on April. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the sixth book is far from done. He said that the fans can blame it on his age, or the distractions of other projects but that would not change the fact that it is still not ready for publishing.

"No words can change that. I tried, I promise you. I failed. I blew the Halloween deadline, and I've now blown the end of the year deadline," he wrote.

Martin explained that he always had a problem meeting deadlines, adding that it was one of the reasons why he decided to write fictions instead of getting into journalism. He shared that he wrote his past novels "Dying of the Light," "Fevre Dream" and "The Aramageddon Rag" without the threat of deadline looming in his head. He shared that he always wanted to write at his own pace and deliver the output when its done.

According to Sentinel & Enterprise, although many fans were disheartened with the news, many still understood where Martin was coming from. Alyssa Rosenberg pointed out that "GOT" fans would rather wait a bit longer and read a masterpiece than just read something that was just merely done.