George R.R. Martin returned to his infamous Not a Blog site with his first personal update in six months, saying he’s been battling with “sadness and depression” after a full-on year. The author of the iconic A Song of Ice and Fire novels has had a lot on his plate, between HBO’s House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms series to the ongoing demands for him to finish The Winds of Winter. Martin has expressed stress over these demands, even describing the next Ice and Fire novel as the “curse of my life”. He’s also been busy with other projects, including the new stage production of Game of Thrones: The Mad King. But rather than naming specific titles that have been causing him stress, the author discussed an overall sense of “falling further and further behind.” “It’s been a while, I know. My last blog post went up here on February 19. The posts that came after were made by my mighty minions,” he wrote. “I am lucky enough to have a great staff of assistants… though even with their help, I kept falling further and further behind. This year has been… stressful, to say the least.” Martin noted how “so much has been happening, it’s been overwhelming,” and that while there have been many “exciting things” and “dreams coming true”, there have been “nightmares too”. “I have lost friends. Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come. I turned seventy-seven last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun,” Martin continued. He did celebrate the fact that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms received nine nominations for the 2026 Emmys. “I hope to attend… but that depends on… well, on a lot of things… I am proud of our team, and hope we take home a few of the statues, but I will confess that I was hoping we’d get a few of the acting nominations as well. But there’s always next year,” he finished. Credit: HBO Martin also clarified that there’s even more to catch fans up on, which he’ll try to do even if they’re short posts. “I suppose that’s just life. Of course, I knew that. If you’ve read my stories, you know that,” he said. Although GRRM often gets a hard time for not finishing Winds of Winter, many fans are expressing support for him since his candid post. “I’m sorry to hear he’s having a rough year. I wish him all the best,” one wrote on Reddit. Another said, “Same here. As much as people complain about him, I can’t help but to feel empathetic as I too hate my job sometimes and would take any side quest available to avoid it. I hope nothing but the best for him.” “He’s also 77 and most retire at 65,” added a third. “Trying to finish a story you started 30 years ago must be wild.” For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore/HBO Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
