Game of Thrones author George RR Martin is working on The Winds of Winter, the sixth and penultimate book in his Ice and Fire series, while the seventh, A Dream of Spring has yet to be written.
There are also a number of Dunk and Egg stories to be completed so the mega-selling author must be confined to his desk these days, but clearly happy to be so.
Speaking to The Observer, he said, "I fell behind with everything, so now I’m just trying to think about the next thing immediately in front of me."
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Fresh from his appearance at Worldcon World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Dublin this weekend, Martin will be Guest of Honour in Belfast for the Titancon/EuroCon events which run between August 22 and 28.
He will be doing a signing on Friday, and taking part in a panel discussion on Saturday.
During his Observer interview, Martin let it be known that he was loath to discuss the controversial ending of the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones or his health, although the interview features part answers to related queries.
The writer is is 70 and there is much speculation among fans as to whether he will get to finish his epic tale. Asked if he had watched the show's final episode, he said: "We shouldn’t talk about that."
Three year ago, Martin said that there were "8 million spin-off Game of Thrones stories to be dreamt up". He also claimed that'a world of stories', new or existing, could be adapted for TV beyond the books HBO had transformed into a hit TV fantasy series.
A number of television projects have certainly seen development on the back of the exceptional global success which Game of Thrones has enjoyed.
According to the author, there are a number of prequels set in Westeros, including one written by Jane Goldman, "set 5,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones."
A TV version of the Wild Cards anthology series, which Martin edits, is in post-production, while he is also producing an adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death for HBO.
"I need more hours in the day and more days in the week and more months in the year because the time does seem to go very fast," the author admits.
Yet the end of the iconic TV series has been liberating for the author. "Game of Thrones finishing is freeing, I'm at my own pace."
Meanwhile, Clash of Kings, the Illustrated Edition, from the World of Ice and Fire series will be published on November 5.
