With HBO's "Game of Thrones' completely catching up with George R.R. Martin "A Song of Ice and Fire' book series on which it is based, the award-winning author recently opened up about writing and finishing the highly-anticipated sixth installment, "Winds Of Winter.'
As the last book titled "A Dance with Dragons' was released in 2011, fans of both the books and the show are looking forward to some new material that will drop clues on what is to happen next to the series' well-loved and not-so-liked characters.
Martin recently shared that he is set to complete the sixth book in early 2016 to make sure it is released before the critically acclaimed TV program begins airing again in April.
"I wish it was out now. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish," the 66-year-old told Entertainment Weekly. "But I cancelled two convention appearances, I'm turning down a lot more interviews - anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done."
Speaking to the publication, Martin admitted that he has only recently came up with a "great twist" that will surely "drive readers crazy", but he does not want to simply put it anywhere in the books, especially with the fact that it will involve more than one character.
"It's easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations," he explained. "Otherwise, it's just being shocking for being shocking. But this is something that seems very organic and natural, and I could see how it would happen."
The author also shared that, while the said twist will be featured in the sixth book, it will not be a storyline that HBO could incorporate into the TV series due to the fact that the network has already unknowingly made some changes to the small-screen adaptation with the characters involved.
"The show has already - on this particular character - made a couple decisions that will preclude it, where in my case I have not made those decisions," Martin said.
In a entry on his online journal dated July 30, Martin graced the headlines by sharing a cryptic post, saying that "Winds Of Winter' could already be entering its publishing phases.
"And while I will be travelling, my army of minions will be here at the old homestead, toiling in the paper mines," the author stated.
