George R.R. Martin published something new this week — his first blog post in over six months. The author is infamously behind on his next novel, The Winds of Winter, but this year he has been even quieter than usual, with hardly any posts on his “Not A Blog.” Martin returned on Monday with some updates on his life and his work, including some of the newsworthy elements. Sadly, it’s been a rough couple of months for Martin, and the factors that have been slowing down his writing don’t seem to have gotten any better. The author didn’t mention A Song of Ice and Fire or The Winds of Winter by name, but it doesn’t sound like he has made any progress.
It’s worth noting that posts have been made on Not A Blog in the last six months, but each one specifies that it was made by one of Martin’s “minions” — members of his staff who help handle is business and press obligations to leave him more time for writing. Martin himself does not use any social media, so blog posts and interviews are the only places to get updates directly from him. It’s dangerous to read too much into these blog posts, but this one is definitely an ill omen.
Grief and Depression Are Not Conducive to Writing ‘The Winds of Winter’
Martin has lost several close friends and loved ones in recent years, including other authors like Howard Waldrop and Gardner Dozois. Martin has been candid about how much these losses affected him — he and Waldrop had been friends since childhood, and Dozois had been a friend and collaborator for decades. He wrote about both of those relationships in his 2003 memoir Dreamsongs, describing his social network of authors, editors, and friends as a family to him.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Martin has suffered more earth-shattering losses this year. “I have lost friends. Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come,” he wrote on Monday. “I turned seventy-seven last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun.” Martin did note that there have been some high points in 2026 as well, including “dreams come true.” He added: “I suppose that’s just life. Of course, I knew that. If you’ve read my stories, you know that.”
Processing grief is a highly personal journey that can hit people differently at various times. It wouldn’t be fair to expect any productive writing from Martin while he’s in this state, and in the past he has described how personal strife has slowed his writing. It’s not a criticism of Martin to say that these losses will slow his work on The Winds of Winter. It’s natural and understandable — just as it’s understandable for fans to wonder when the book will come out.
Grieving aside, Martin’s blog post focused primarily on the Emmy nominations for HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The author has heaped praise on the newest Game of Thrones spinoff, and he was clearly excited to see it succeed. Martin wrote that he hopes to attend the Emmys ceremony next month, but he’s not sure if he will be able to.
How Relevant is ‘Not A Blog’ to ‘The Winds of Winter’ Progress?
A closeup of the eye of the dragon Viserion in Game of Thrones Season 7.Image via HBO
The Winds of Winter is now at least 12 years late, depending on which missed deadline you judge by. For years now, commenters and critics have written essays and posts declaring that “it’s time to give up” on the series, believing Martin will never finish it. On the other hand, those keeping faith with Martin have set a lot of store by his blog posts, looking for clues and updates there. Not A Blog may not be a useful source for hints about The Winds of Winter, however, and in hindsight, that may have been the case since 2011.
Fans expect hints from Martin’s blog because we’ve seen hints there before — in the early-2000s he posted incredibly detailed updates about his progress on A Song of Ice and Fire, including which perspectives he was writing from and what kinds of plot points were giving him trouble. In 2011, Game of Thrones premiered on HBO just as the latest book, A Dance with Dragons, hit shelves. Since then, all the extra attention on Martin has made it impossible for his blogging style to stay the same. He is just as direct and funny as ever, but he can’t exactly share details the way he did before.
Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell
Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.
🐺Stark
🦁Lannister
🐉Targaryen
🦌Baratheon
🌹Tyrell
01
Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.
02
What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?
03
Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.
04
How do you deal with your enemies? A house’s method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.
05
What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.
06
You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.
07
Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.
08
The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.
The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…
Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don’t. That’s very much up to you.
Winterfell · The North
🐺 House Stark
Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.
You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn’t bend when things get difficult.
The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.
Casterly Rock · The Westerlands
🦁 House Lannister
You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.
You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
The lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.
Dragonstone · The Iron Throne
🐉 House Targaryen
You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.
You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.
Storm’s End · The Stormlands
🦌 House Baratheon
You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.
Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what’s behind it.
You value strength and straight dealing. You’d rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.
Highgarden · The Reach
🌹 House Tyrell
You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn’t quite reach the eyes.
Growing strong is your house’s motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
The Tyrells fed King’s Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.
Fans may want to read between the lines on Not A Blog, but at this point it feels like an exercise in futility. The author clearly isn’t holding himself to any promises he makes on the blog, as with his self-imposed deadline to finish The Winds of Winter by 2020. At this point, fans may be missing the point of the blog by looking for clues about The Winds of Winter. To Martin, it’s a place for him to share his personal thoughts and feelings with fans who are interested, not a running press release.
Martin has continually reiterated his intention to finish The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, and he has said that he will share updates on the books when he as something to share. Fans must take him at his word there, and enjoy the books we already have on their own merits. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series is available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. House of the Dragon Season 3 concludes on Sunday, August 9 on HBO and HBO Max.
