George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 166

It's NEXT Sunday

You Win or You Die

The latest treat from my friends at HBO is "You Win or You Die."



Anyone ready for the new season yet?

April 1 is coming up fast.

Do you like free stuff?

Sure, we all do.

Here are some copies of the Game of Thrones graphic novel that you can win for free.

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.ca/2012/03/win-copy-of-a-game-of-thrones-graphic.html

No, No, No

I was drinking my morning coffee when the headline flashed across the bottom of the screen. That sound you heard was me choking and sputtering.

My Jets have given up two perfectly good draft picks for Tim Tebow, the worst quarterback in the National Football League.

Gak.

What the hell are they thinking over there at Gang Green central?

Mark Sanchez is not, as yet, Eli Manning, but he is a talented quarterback with a good arm and he completes more than fifty per cent of his passes, none of which can be said for Tebow. The last thing he needs is a stadium full of Timomaniacs screaming for Tebow every time a pass falls incomplete. The divisions in the Jets locker room last season were well documented. THis is just going to make those problems a thousand times worse.

Nor do I think that Tebow's conspicuous piety will play well in the Big Apple. This is the city that once embraced Broadway Joe. Tebow would fit better in... well, if Branson, Missouri had an NFL team, that would be a perfect fit.

A Dragon for Knoxville

Knoxvillians, you have a dragon in town.

http://www.wate.com/story/17194321/knoxville-zoo-gets-its-first-komodo-dragon

Really cool, I think.

The Price of Our Sins

And here's yet another trailer, this one called "The Price of Our Sins."

(I told you I'd fallen way behind).



For more, do visit the HBO website. You'll find all these trailers there, along with all sorts of other cool behind-the-scenes videos, and character profile pieces on Robb, Joffrey, Renly, and other characters.

The More You Love

All this gallivanting around Canada (well, Toronto) is well and good, but it's kept me away from my computer, and I'm falling behind in showing you all the cool new trailers that HBO has been rolling out for the second season of GAME OF THRONES.

So here's a new one, called "The More You Love."



April 1 is right around the corner. No foolin'!

Talking to Canadians

And for those of you for whom that long interview on Strombo's show was not enough, here's even more footage of me talking (and talking, and talking, an even reading a bit) on my recent visit to Toronto.

These are from my appearance at the TIFF Lightbox, where I was interviewed by the delightful Terry Hart. I yakked so much we had to break this down into three parts.

Part, the First


Part, the Second


The final third also contains a taste of what's to come in the form of a short (very short) reading from THE WINDS OF WINTER. However, if you have not read up through A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, you may want to skip this. Spoilers lurk ahead.

Part, the Third


Enjoy.

Home Again

Got back from my latest trip to Toronto yesterday afternoon.

(The avatar pic here is from my FIRST visit to Toronto, in 1973, for Torcon 2. My second worldcon, and first trip ever outside the United States. Yes, I was that young once. Yes, there was a time before the beard.)

A fun four days, albeit frantic. The signing at Indigo Books drew a huge crowd, with a line that snaked out the store and way, way, down the block. They told me afterwards that it was the biggest signing the store has ever hosted, breaking the record previously established by Bill Clinton. Hey, cool! That 1996 encounter with Clifford the Big Red Dog still rankles, but I outdrew the Big Dog Bill, so...

It really was great to meet so many of my Canadian readers, and I am sorry that our meetings were of necessity so very short. That would not be my choice, by any means, but when the line is so long you need to keep it moving. As it is, some people got there that morning before the shop opened, and were waiting all day... my hat's off to them, and also to those brave fen who drove all the way in from Montreal just to get my illegible scrawl.

I hope everyone also managed to drop in on the GAME OF THRONES exhibit at TIFF Lightbox, and get your photo taken on the Iron Throne. The exhibition was a hoot and a half, with one piece that... well, let us say, it startled even me.

Besides the signing, and a couple of presentations at TIFF (one open to the general public, one for film and television students from the TIFF 'master class' program), HBO Canada and Random House Canada also set me up for lots and lots of interviews, so I've been popping up all over Canadian television and radio these past few days.

Here's one, for those who missed it: my guest shot on Canada's late night talk show TONIGHT, with George Stroumboulopolous.



I will embed and/or link to some of the other interviews when and if they go up on the net. Meanwhile, it's back to work for me. As usual when I travel, I have lots of catching up to do.

Oh, Canada

Off to Toronto tomorrow morning.

See you all at TIFF.