George R.R. Martin returned to his “Not a Blog” on August 3, 2026, with a post titled “Better Late Than Never,” his first personal entry since February 19.
He wrote about a punishing year, praised A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for its nine Emmy nominations, and said nothing about The Winds of Winter or A Dream of Spring. That omission is the story ScreenRant and much of the readership took from the update.
A difficult year, in his own words
Martin explained that later posts on the site had been written by his staff. Even with that help, he said, he had fallen further behind.
“This year has been… stressful, to say the least. So much has been happening, it’s been overwhelming. Some great things, exciting things. Dreams coming true. But 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.”
Nine Emmy nominations — and one win
The professional bright spot he chose to highlight was A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which he noted had received nine Emmy nominations, including “Outstanding Drama Series.”
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He had hoped to attend the September 14 ceremony at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, “but that depends on… well, on a lot of things.”
He added that he wished the show had won acting nominations as well. The series later won “Outstanding Stunt Performance” for the Trial of Seven in episode 5 and lost the drama-series race.
No Winds, no Dream, no House of the Dragon
The post contained no report on the novels. A Dance with Dragons was published in 2011. Martin has previously referred to an 1,100-page Winds manuscript that, by his own public comments, has shown no clear net growth since 2022, and he has said he will not begin A Dream of Spring until Winds is finished.
He also made no reference to House of the Dragon, consistent with his rift with showrunner Ryan Condal.
The adaptation he still claims in public is Dunk and Egg. Season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adapted his work, The Hedge Knight. Season 2, drawn from The Sworn Sword, has wrapped filming and is scheduled for the first half of 2027.
George R.R. Martin is now 78. The August post is a life note, not a publication schedule. For A Song of Ice and Fire, the silence remains the substance.
