George R.R. Martin Defends Himself Over ‘Winds Of Winter’ Release Date Delay

George R.R. Martin defended himself after admitting that he could not meet his self-imposed deadline for the "Winds of Winter." The author initially said that he hopes to announce the release date prior to the airing of "Game of Thrones" season 6.

Fans expected to grab a copy the upcoming sixth book of the epic fantasy series, "A Song of Ice and Fire" before the HBO hit resumes in April.

Their disappointed was palpable when George R.R. Martin said that he has still have a lot of chapters and pages to write.

"I am months away still... and that's if the writing goes well. (Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't.) Chapters still to write, of course... but also rewriting," he said.

"I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures."

Furthermore, according to International Design Times, George R.R. Martin is known for being meticulous when it comes to his works.

"I am aware of the TV series moving along behind me like a giant locomotive," the 67-year-old said. "And I know I need to lay the track more quickly, perhaps, because the locomotive is soon going to be bearing down on me."

The Washington Post shared a chart on George R.R. Martin's writing duration, as a way of explaining the "Winds of Winter" release date delay.

"A Game of Thrones' clocks in 864 pages in the paperback edition, longer than the first four books of C.S. Lewis' 'The Chronicles of Narnia' combined," it said.

The article added, "J.K. Rowling finished the 'Harry Potter' series in about nine years. Martin only got through four books in the same period, but his overall page count is roughly the same - 4,380 paperback pages for Potter, 4,224 for 'Ice and Fire' through that point."

Nevertheless, George R.R. Martin promised that although the release date for "Winds of Winter" is delayed, it would be worth the wait. "This is going to drive the readers crazy," the author teased.