George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 175

Arya's New Look

Arya... erh, I mean Arry... has a new wardrobe and hair style for season two of GAME OF THRONES.

HBO tells all in their latest promotional video:



And by the way, if you're not following HBO's "Making Game of Thrones" site, you should be. They'll be posting lots more goodies there in the weeks and months to come.

Urk

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

Eli played a great game. Victor Cruz continues to impress.

But the running game was a no-show, and the Giants D appears not to have turned up in New Orleans at all.

sigh

Whew!

Well, the Jets eeked one out, defeating the Buffalo Bills to snap a two-game losing streak and keep alive some hope of making the playoffs.

It was a near thing, though, in a home game that I had expected they would win convincingly. Mark Sanchez threw four TD passes, a personal record, but despite that he looked anything but impressive, He also threw an INT, and at least two other balls that could and should have been intercepted. And the vaunted Jets D stopped the Bills on their last drive with less than a minute left in the game.,.. but that was deceptive two. Two different Bills receivers dropped game-winning TD passes on that drive, elsewise I would be gnashing my teeth and tearing out my hair right now.

Gang Green got lucky,

Luck never lasts in the NFL, however. The Jets really need to start playing much much better if they're to have any hope to sneaking into the dance, let alone winning a playoff game.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

It's been quite the year. I have an awful lot to be thankful for.

My friends, my family, Parris...

... and my readers.

Help Shave the Kat

Kat Abraham, the redoubtable spouse of my friend and sometime collaborator Daniel Abraham, is putting her hair on the line for a good cause.



More information on Rachel Phillips and her plight can be found at:

http://www.helprachelbreathe.com

So let's all chip in and give Daniel a bald wife for Christmas. I understand there are some fabulous fantasy wigs out there.

A Taste of Season Two

HBO gave us all a little taste of season two of GAME OF THRONES tonight, with an "In Production" feature before the latest kickass episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE.

In case you missed it...



Lots of our new second season characters can be glimpsed therein... Melisandre, Stannis, Davos, Brienne, Margaery, and so many more...

You'll meet them all in April.

Democracy in Action

Everybody and his mother-in-law are running polls these days, as year's end edges near.

So for those who enjoy casting ballots and voicing your opinion, here's a few places to make your voice heard.

GOODREADS is now on to the semifinals in its balloting for the best books of 2011. (A DANCE WITH DRAGONS is still contending, both in the fantasy category, and for book of the year).

http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice/2011

Meanwhile, the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS has opened balloting for their 2012 awards. HBO's series GAME OF THRONES is contending in Best Cable Drama.

http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/votenow.jsp

People's Choice has a zillion categories, so you can also vote for your favorite network shows, movies, music, etc.

And over at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, they're picking the Entertainers of the Year, and it seems I am one of the candidates. (No one is more suprised at this than I am).

http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/11/17/entertainers-of-the-year-2011-vote/3/

Vote early and often.

Ten Best List

What good taste the folks at LIBRARY JOURNAL have.

They've included A DANCE WITH DRAGONS on their list of the Ten Best SF and fantasy books for 2011:

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/11/best-of/best-genre/best-books-2011-sf-fantasy/

Jimmy Corey's LEVIATHAN WAKES also made the list. Congrats to that scoundrel Jimmy,

I love librarians.

Spanish Editions On Sale

My clear-the-shelves sale continues... at least through December 1, when I'm going to be closing down all book sales for the year. The special deal on INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, and SUICIDE KINGS will be good through Thanksgiving. However, I am down to six copies of INSIDE STRAIGHT with multiple autographs, and have run out of signed copies entirely on SUICIDE KINGS (still have a large stock of BUSTED FLUSH with signatures from a bunch o' writers).

Yes, I will be getting more copies autographed in future, but it's a chancy process, and I never know who will be around to sign, and when. Of course, you always get my own signature on these books. It's only the autographs of the other WIld Cards writers at issue here.

Meanwhile... I have a dozen or so extra copies of the Spanish language trade paperback editions of A GAME OF THRONES and A CLASH OF KINGS, from Gigamesh, so I'm now making those available to my Spanish-speaking readers... whether in Spain, in the US, in Latin America, or wherever.





These are big heavy trade paperback editions. I'll offer them at $23 apiece, or $40 for the two. That price includes book rate/ media mail shipping within the US. If you're ordering for shipment to Europe, add $22 for one book, or $42 for both. For Asia, Australia, Canada, or wherever, inquire of my assistant Ty at grrmbooks@gmail.com

As always, I'd be glad to sign and inscribe the book. As always, it's first come, first served. Order via PayPal to direwolf@georgerrmartin.com.

Wild Cards eBooks

Tor has just announced a special holiday sale on the electronic editions of four Wild Cards ebooks. From now until December 14, ebooks of the three Committee books and the reissue of WILD CARDS volume one (with! extra! added! content!) will be only $2.99.



Details can be found here:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/11/wild-cards-ebooks-now-299

If you're an ebook reader who has yet to sample the Wild Cards series, here's your chance to get a taste. I'd recommend that you start with either WILD CARDS (where it all began) or with INSIDE STRAIGHT (first of the "next generation" books, and a great intro to the world). But hell, at that price, you can buy all four for less than the price of a pizza.