George R.R. Martin says 'The Winds of Winter' is “the curse of my life” — fans joke it's a shared trauma

George R.R. Martin thinks that writing The Winds of Winter has turned into the "curse" of his life. The novel is the sixth of his A Song of Ice and Fire series and is now 13 years late.

The first three books came out steadily between 1996 and 2000. Then the pace slowed—A Feast for Crows in 2005, and A Dance with Dragons in 2011. Martin started working on The Winds of Winter in about 2010, but delays have persisted ever since.

Speaking with TIME, Martin said:

"That's the curse of my life here. There's no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I'm still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention."

"I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows. I have something else to do. But the two things are not connected."

Since Game of Thrones was a huge success on HBO, George R.R. Martin has contributed to spin-offs such as House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Fans assume that these side projects are the reason for the delay in The Winds of Winter.

But Martin has refuted that. He stated these programs don't steal from the time he must write.

He earlier confessed that he's terrible with deadlines, and that's part of the reason why he's an author and not a journalist.

It's kind of a mix of good and bad that fans adore George R.R. Martin's books so much. That's where the actual battle is. It's been 13 years now since fans have been waiting for The Winds of Winter, and there's still no definite indication that it's going to be released soon.

Due to this, Martin gets a lot of criticism on the internet.

Each time he provides an update, it ends with the same routine: fans lashing out with anger, jokes, and memes over the delay. No explanation, at this point, seems to placate anyone.

Some fans have crossed over into full-on comedy mode, saying they'll most likely get GTA 6 before this book. And that's huge, given that GTA 6 has been endlessly delayed as well.

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George R.R. Martin admits The Winds of Winter haunts him — fans roast anyway

Following his latest statements, fans cut to the chase, stating unequivocally that they would never get the book. Some users, however, believe that he will finally discontinue it.

Others may still be optimistic that they may receive it in the years to come, which is why they are recommending that George R.R. Martin write about it rather than only commenting on it every now and then.

A user @thatchthoughts commented:

"Translated: We are never getting that book."

Another user @brienightwood added:

"Plot twist he’s going to drop The Winds of Winter & A Dream Of Spring at the same time."

A user @brandominoefect mentioned:

"Bros literally sitting here giving excuses instead of just f**** writing the book."

This must be the longest wait in history, since fans say they will most likely receive GTA 6 before Martin's book.

One commenter pointed out the amusing thing of it all, stating that they planned to read the series a decade ago but had to wait for Martin to finish it, but they will most likely never get to read it now.

One user, @Ian_Fisch, pointed out:

"Meanwhile Stephen King wrote 3 books in the time it took me to tweet this."

A user @ogKOBEWAN quipped:

"We’re really gonna get GTA 6 before Winds of Winter 💀"

A user @Jamil_Pretty went on to say:

"I never read the books because I thought I'll just wait an other year or two for him to complete it them read the entire series in one sitting......that was over a decade ago."

Some people make the amusing observation that the book is now being written by Martin, while others believe he is incapable of finishing it.

One user @Angelica_Reed1 mentioned:

"bro just say you don't know how to finish your book😭"

A user @debayo_xx humorously commented:

"at this point the book writing george."

Yet another user, @RandyHorka, highlighted:

"If he wrote a page a day, he’d have finished 4 years ago."

Although George R.R. Martin states that he would not compromise on dates and will instead put integrity and the book's narrative first, we are unable to predict how long fans will ultimately have to wait.

Also, read: The Odyssey filming in Scotland and Ireland sparks fan jokes: “Damn, if only actual Greece existed”