George R.R. Martin Skipping Comic-Con for The Winds of Winter

For the many, many fans who have long said George R.R. Martin should be spending less time at public events, and more time working on “A Song of Ice and Fire,” it appears that the author agrees with you this year. Mr. Martin has announced via his blog that he will not be attending this year’s Comic-Con in favor of working on The Winds of Winter.

Martin has been a staple of San Diego Comic-Con since 2010 where he has either hosted panels for HBO’s Game of Thrones or simply been a panelist himself. However, he is stepping down from MC duties and otherwise to work on the sixth novel of “A Song of Ice and Fire” while the sixth season of Game of Thrones creeps dangerously close at passing his book series’ narrative.

While describing initially why he was not attending November’s World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga later this year, Martin wrote, “I have too much to do. Too many things on my plate [The Winds of Winter] foremost amongst them.”

Martin then added, “Also, I have decided against attending this year’s San Diego Comicon. Same reason. But since Comicon was never listed on my Apperaances page, scratching it is not as big a deal.”

While some San Diego revelers may be heartbroken to hear that the real Red God of Death that watches over Westeros and its hapless characters will not be breaking bread with them in Hall H, it is probably a good sign since Harper Collins has already confirmed that the sixth novel in “A Song of Ice and Fire,” The Winds of Winter, will not be published this year.

With any luck, this 2015 crunch might mean we could still get the next book before the sixth season likely premieres sometime in April 2016. But I wouldn’t gamble the Iron Throne on it. Then again, Martin rather humorously added this implausibility in his post:

“Should I complete and deliver Winds of Winter before these cons roll around, I reserve the right to change my mind.”

We hope that you do, George.