He explained, “An architect would be able to give a short, concise, simple answer to that, but I am much more of a gardener. My stories grow and evolve and change as I write them. I generally know where I am going, sure… the final destinations, the big set pieces, they have been my head for years…for decades, in the case of A Song of Ice and Fire. There are lots of devils in the details, though, and sometimes the ground changes under my feet as the words pour forth.”
Five books in the series have already been released, with Martin currently writing the sixth—The Winds of Winter—and a seventh, reportedly titled A Dream of Spring, also planned.
However, when it comes to The Winds of Winter, Martin knows that it will ultimately stray from the television series. “Most of you know by now that I do not like to give detailed updates on Winds,” he wrote. “I am working on it, I have been working on it, I will continue to work on it.”
Still, he noted, “What I have noticed more and more of late…is my gardening is taking me further and further away from the television series. Yes, some of the things you saw on HBO in Game of Thrones you will also see in The Winds of Winter (though maybe not in quite the same ways)…but much of the rest will be quite different.”
