When Game of Thrones first aired on HBO in 2011, George RR Martin published A Dance with Dragons, his latest book in A Song of Ice and Fire. With two books to go in the series, he knew he had to get writing or the show would overtake his narrative. However, it wasn’t meant to be and the author ended up having to share his planned plot points for the final few seasons.

Three years on since the end of Game of Thrones and Martin is still writing The Winds of Winter. The prequel series House of the Dragon, based on the fictional history book Fire and Blood, is about to begin airing in a month’s time and the 73-year-old author took part in the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con yesterday.

During a Q&A, the Game of Thrones creator was asked if he’d be making a cameo in one of the episodes before he made a big promise regarding The Winds of Winter.

Martin said: “I don’t know. For the last couple years since COVID hit I’ve barely left my house.”

Martin gave a big update on his progress with The Winds of Winter earlier this month. Although, the author doesn’t like to give public deadlines anymore since he keeps missing them.

He wrote on his blog: “Most of you know by now that I do not like to give detailed updates on WINDS. I am working on it, I have been working on it, I will continue to work on it.   (Yes, I work on other things as well). I love nothing more than to surprise my readers with twists and turns they did not see coming, and I risk losing those moments if I go into too much detail. Spoilers, you know. Even saying that I am working on a Tyrion chapter, as I did last week, gives away the fact that Tyrion is not dead. Reading sample chapters at cons, or posting them online, which I did for years, gives away even more. I actually quite enjoyed doing that, until the day came that I realized I had read and/or posted the first couple of hundred pages of WINDS, or thereabouts. If I had kept on with the readings, half the book might be out by now. So I am not going to give you all any kind of detailed report on the book, but… I will say this.”

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Martin, who intends his A Song of Ice and Fire ending to be different in some ways to Game of Thrones, added: “I have been at work in my winter garden. Things are growing… and changing, as does happen with us gardeners. Things twist, things change, new ideas come to me (thank you, muse), old ideas prove unworkable, I write, I rewrite, I restructure, I rip everything apart and rewrite again, I go through doors that lead nowhere, and doors that open on marvels. Sounds mad, I know. But it’s how I write. Always has been. Always will be. For good or ill.”