George R.R. Martin confirms he’s still working on The Winds of Winter

(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

George R.R. Martin is heading down to the Guadalajara International Book Fair today, where he’ll sign books, give interviews, and meet members of the Mexican publishing industry. (“I expect I will be doing some tequila tasting as well,” he wrote. “I am informed that Guadalajara is the tequila capital of Mexico.”) He took to his Not a Blog to talk about the event, and gave us a tidbit about his progress on The Winds of Winter in the process.

"This is my last scheduled event for 2016. My appearance schedule for 2017 is very limited, and will remain so until WINDS is completed. So if you want to meet me or get a book signed, this will be the last chance for a good few months…"

So it sounds like Martin will continue to write The Winds of Winter into 2017 at least. Those hoping he’s been keeping the already-completed manuscript in his desk drawer for the past several months can adjust their expectations.

Martinology, or guessing when George R.R. Martin will finish the latest volume in the Song of Ice and Fire series, is a popular topic among fans. Many of them, including ASOIAF luminary BryndenBFish, have pegged early 2017 as a good candidate. That’s roughly consistent with this graph that The Washington Post mocked up a couple years back, which extrapolates George R.R. Martin’s writing speed into the future, and compares his pace to that of other notable authors, like J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Do Martin’s new comments make that prediction more or less likely? That’s the question.

In any case, Martin will be signing books at the Guadalajara International Book Fair this Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. He will not be reading a new chapter from The Winds of Winter.