George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 176

Casting Nugget

Sorry, Froggy. You want to plunk your magic twanger and pop in here in a cloud of smoke muttering about jumping on a zebra with a firearm, no doubt, but I just don't have the time right now. Too much to do, too little time.

So instead of hinting around, I'll just flat out announce that the part of the Lord o' Bones, the wildling raider mocked as Rattleshirt, will be played by EDWARD DOGLIANI.

Welcome to Westeros, Edward. I'm looking forward to seeing you in your bone armor.

Westeros in Italy

Just wanted to share this great picture from this year's Lucca Games and Comics Show in Italy.



Wonderful costumes... you guys are great... I'm sorry I wasn't there to party with you.

The Lucca Show is the San Diego Comicon of Europe, held in a walled medieval city midway between Florence and Pisa. A great event. I attended once, back in 2005, and I mean to get back there one of these days. It just wasn't possible this year.

But it's nice to see that Westeros was so well represented.

Books for Xmas

Every year, come the holiday season, we get a lot of orders for the signed books offered on my website: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/books.html

The biggest rush is in early and mid-December, from readers planning to use the books as Christmas gifts. Often the buyers send extra money for priority mail, to make sure the books arrived by Christmas.

And that's all great. Usually.



But this year, it's not going to work. I am heading east the first couple of weeks of December, for reasons I cannot disclose yet, so I won't be here to sign books or ship them. And when I return, mid-month, I'm going to be too busy digging out from under and doing my own holiday shopping to deal with orders.



Accordingly, we'll be closing the "bookstore" on December 1. It will not reopen until the new year, after the holidays.

So if anyone out there is thinking of giving an autographed title of one of my old books as a Christmas present, please place your order in the next two weeks.



Thanks. (And happy reading and happy holidays to all).

Hammer Time

The good folks at Valyrian Steel have announced that they are now taking preorders for their massive, gorgeous replica of King Robert's warhammer.

http://www.valyriansteel.com/shop/swords/king-roberts-warhammer/prod_14.html



Do note: these are preorders only. The hammer has not yet gone into production, and will not be shipping until Spring 2012.

Questions and comments should go Valyrian Steel.

Thanks.

Lose, Lose

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

sigh

Why do I watch football?

Wild Cards Special - Three Days Left

Only three days left for my special on signed Wild Cards books.

Originally published in 2008, INSIDE STRAIGHT was the eighteenth volume in the Wild Cards series... but also a new beginnning. It was NOT necessary to have read the preceding seventeen volumes (most now out of print) to understand this one. Michael Komarck did the cover, featuring my character Lohengrin in Egypt.



The table of contents:

* "Who the Fuck was Jetboy?" Daniel Abraham
* "Dark of the Moon" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Jonathan Hive Sells Out" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part One" Carrie Vaughn
* "First Among Losers" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part Two" Carrie Vaughn
* "Better Than Television" Daniel Abraham
* "Looking for Jetboy" Michael Cassutt
* "Metagames" Caroline Spector
* "All the Best Stories Start, 'This One Time, We Were Really Drunk... " Daniel Abraham
* "Star Power" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Wakes the Lion" John Jos. Miller
* "A Bad Day in Cairo" Daniel Abraham
* "Crusader" George R.R. Martin
* "Real People, Really Dying" Daniel Abraham
* "The Tin Man's Lament" Ian Tregillis
* "Hey, Guys. My Dad's Got a Warehouse! Let's Put on a War!" Daniel Abraham
* "Masquerade of Heroes" S.L. Farrell
* "Blood on the Sun" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Looking for Jetboy: Epilogue" Michael Cassutt
* "Give the Wookie a Medal" Daniel Abraham

I have a large stock of INSIDE STRAIGHT hardcovers. Some of them I have managed to get signed by various of the other writers at cons... so you'll be getting more autographs than my own. I've been selling INSIDE STRAIGHT on my website for $27. From now until Thanksgiving, the special sale price will be $18,

And if you want the next two books in the series -- BUSTED FLUSH and SUICIDE KINGS -- I will offer a special on those as well: all three hardcovers for $60.





There are some extra autographs on these books as well... again, for as long as the supply lasts. As always, I'd be glad to sign and inscribe the book(s). As always, it's first come, first served.

The sale prices quoted above includes book rate/ media mail shipping within the US. Order via PayPal to direwolf@georgerrmartin.com.

Priority mail and overseas shipping will be extra; inquire of my assistant Ty at grrmbooks@gmail.com for a quote on that. (Depends on where you live).

Wild Cards Special

Next up in my clear-the-shelves garage sale (actually, I don't have a garage, so it's more of an office sale) is the first edition trade hardcover of INSIDE STRAIGHT, the first volume of the "next generation" Wild Cards series from Tor.

Originally published in 2008, INSIDE STRAIGHT was the eighteenth volume in the Wild Cards series... but also a new beginnning. It was NOT necessary to have read the preceding seventeen volumes (most now out of print) to understand this one. Michael Komarck did the cover, featuring my character Lohengrin in Egypt.



The table of contents:

* "Who the Fuck was Jetboy?" Daniel Abraham
* "Dark of the Moon" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Jonathan Hive Sells Out" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part One" Carrie Vaughn
* "First Among Losers" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part Two" Carrie Vaughn
* "Better Than Television" Daniel Abraham
* "Looking for Jetboy" Michael Cassutt
* "Metagames" Caroline Spector
* "All the Best Stories Start, 'This One Time, We Were Really Drunk... " Daniel Abraham
* "Star Power" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Wakes the Lion" John Jos. Miller
* "A Bad Day in Cairo" Daniel Abraham
* "Crusader" George R.R. Martin
* "Real People, Really Dying" Daniel Abraham
* "The Tin Man's Lament" Ian Tregillis
* "Hey, Guys. My Dad's Got a Warehouse! Let's Put on a War!" Daniel Abraham
* "Masquerade of Heroes" S.L. Farrell
* "Blood on the Sun" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Looking for Jetboy: Epilogue" Michael Cassutt
* "Give the Wookie a Medal" Daniel Abraham

I have a large stock of INSIDE STRAIGHT hardcovers. Some of them I have managed to get signed by various of the other writers at cons... so you'll be getting more autographs than my own with this one. I believe I have two or three copies on hand with six signatures. Add my own, and that makes seven. [[THESE COPIES WENT WITHIN MINUTES OF MY ORIGINAL POST, AND ARE ALL SOLD OUT]] I have maybe twenty copies with five autographs; mine would make six. [THESE COPIES ARE GONE AS WELL]] Then I have another twenty or so with four sigs; mine would make five. [[STILL HAVE SOME OF THESE, BUT THE SUPPLY IS DWINDLING FAST]]

Once all the multi-signature books are gone, well... I'm still have INSIDE STRAIGHT available, but the only autograph will be my own.

I've been selling INSIDE STRAIGHT on my website for $27. From now until Thanksgiving, the special sale price will be $18,

And if you want the next two books in the series -- BUSTED FLUSH and SUICIDE KINGS -- I will offer a special on those as well: all three hardcovers for $60.





There are some extra autographs on BUSTED FLUSH as well... again, for as long as the supply lasts. With SUICIDE KINGS, it's just my own signature at the point.
As always, I'd be glad to sign and inscribe the book(s). As always, it's first come, first served.

The sale prices quoted above includes book rate/ media mail shipping within the US. Order via PayPal to direwolf@georgerrmartin.com.

Priority mail and overseas shipping will be extra; inquire of my assistant Ty at grrmbooks@gmail.com for a quote on that. (Depends on where you live).

Six Signature Special

Next up in my clear-the-shelves garage sale (actually, I don't have a garage, so it's more of an office sale) is the first edition trade hardcover of INSIDE STRAIGHT, the first volume of the "next generation" Wild Cards series from Tor.

Originally published in 2008, INSIDE STRAIGHT was the eighteenth volume in the Wild Cards series... but also a new beginnning. It was NOT necessary to have read the preceding seventeen volumes (most now out of print) to understand this one. Michael Komarck did the cover, featuring my character Lohengrin in Egypt.



The table of contents:

* "Who the Fuck was Jetboy?" Daniel Abraham
* "Dark of the Moon" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Jonathan Hive Sells Out" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part One" Carrie Vaughn
* "First Among Losers" Daniel Abraham
* "Chosen Ones: Part Two" Carrie Vaughn
* "Better Than Television" Daniel Abraham
* "Looking for Jetboy" Michael Cassutt
* "Metagames" Caroline Spector
* "All the Best Stories Start, 'This One Time, We Were Really Drunk... " Daniel Abraham
* "Star Power" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Wakes the Lion" John Jos. Miller
* "A Bad Day in Cairo" Daniel Abraham
* "Crusader" George R.R. Martin
* "Real People, Really Dying" Daniel Abraham
* "The Tin Man's Lament" Ian Tregillis
* "Hey, Guys. My Dad's Got a Warehouse! Let's Put on a War!" Daniel Abraham
* "Masquerade of Heroes" S.L. Farrell
* "Blood on the Sun" Melinda M. Snodgrass
* "Looking for Jetboy: Epilogue" Michael Cassutt
* "Give the Wookie a Medal" Daniel Abraham

I have a large stock of INSIDE STRAIGHT hardcovers. Some of them I have managed to get signed by various of the other writers at cons... so you'll be getting more autographs than my own with this one. I believe I have two or three copies on hand with six signatures. Add my own, and that makes seven. I have maybe twenty copies with five autographs; mine would make six. Then I have another twenty or so with four sigs; mine would make five.

I'll ship these first come, first served, so long as the supply lasts. So the first to order get the books with the most autographs, and we'll work down from there.

I've been selling INSIDE STRAIGHT on my website for $27. From now until Thanksgiving, the special sale price for these multi-autograph copies will be $18,

And if you want the next two books in the series -- BUSTED FLUSH and SUICIDE KINGS -- I will offer a special on those as well: all three hardcovers for $60.





There are some extra autographs on those copies too, but not as many.

As always, I'd be glad to sign and inscribe the book(s). As always, it's first come, first served.

The sale prices quoted above includes book rate/ media mail shipping within the US. Order via PayPal to direwolf@georgerrmartin.com.

Priority mail and overseas shipping will be extra; inquire of my assistant Ty at grrmbooks@gmail.com for a quote on that. (Depends on where you live).

Thrice as Tuf

My clear-the-shelves sale on signed copies of the Meisha Merlin edition of TUF VOYAGING has one more day to run. See below. Today and tomorrow, copies go for $24. Come Saturday, they're back up to the normal price.

Meantime, let me throw a couple of other editions of TUF VOYAGING into the mix.

((Supplies on these are VERY limited, so if you want one, more fast))

I have half a dozen extra copies of the Hebrew edition of TUF VOYAGING, a trade paperback from Opus.



And I'll also offer the 2000 Czech paperback edition of TUF VOYAGING, by Albatross:



My price for either of these translated TUFs will be $15.

As always, I'd be glad to sign and inscribe the books. As always, it's first come, first served.

The special price includes book rate/ media mail shipping within the US. Order via PayPal to direwolf@georgerrmartin.com.

Priority mail and overseas shipping will be extra; inquire of my assistant Ty at grrmbooks@gmail.com for a quote on that. (Depends on where you live).

Win, Win

Life is magical and full of joy!

Two sweet victories today for my NFL stalwarts.

New York Jets 27
Buffalo Bills 11

New York Giants 24
New England Patriots 20

In the morning game, Gang Green thoroughly whupped the Buffalo Bills. They've been doing that for a few years now, but this year's Buffalo squad was supposedly to be different, and had the home field advantage besides, so I was anxious about this one. And the first half made me nervous, I must admit. The Jets were shutting down the Bills, driving up and down the field, and dominating the time of possession... but none of that was translating to points on the board. That situation ALWAYS makes me nervous. Ten minute, eighty yard drives are well and good, but unless they end in a TD or at least a FG, they count for nothing, and in the NFL the worm can turn at any moment. The Jets enjoyed a 3-0 lead at halftime, not nearly enough considering how they'd owned the half.

Thankfully, the second half was a different story. The D stayed tough, and Mark Sanchez and the offense finally started finishing some drives with scores. Buffalo's last hope expired when Gang Green's defense stopped them on fourth and inches late in the fourth quarter. This victory belonged to Rex's defense, I thought... but Plaxico Burress deserves some kudos as well. Plax has really been coming on these past two games.

The Giants/ Pats game, in contrast, was a real nail-biter. Not the crispest game ever played, no. Both teams committed way too many ghastly turnovers and way too many costly penalties. But you can't say it wasn't exciting, especially the second half.

The first half featured even less scoring than the Jets game, and halftime ended in a 0-0 tie when the Patriots blew a chance to tack on a late field. The G-Men looking like they were taking control in the third quarter, and seemed on the point of pulling away to a two score lead when they had second and goal from the 2 yard line... until an inexcusable delay of game penalty pushed them back five yards. The Eli threw a horrible interception in the end zone, and that worm I mentioned up above turned with a vengeance. Tom Brady drove the length of the field, and instead of being up 17-3, Big Blue found itself in a 10-10 tie.

Then things really got exciting. As the clock wound down, the game took on an eerie similarity to the Giants/ Patriots Superbowl. The Pats took their first lead with a FG, but Eli and the Giants answered, and Eli tossed a TD to Mario Manningham in the corner of the endzone... the same corner where Plaxico Burress caught the winning TD in Superbowl 42. That made the score 17-13; the final score in the Superbowl was 17-14. Echoes, indeed.

Only... when Plaxico caught that TD, there were only 39 seconds left on the clock. Not enough time for Tom Brady to work a miracle (though, damn, he came close on that one long pass). This time, Manningham caught the go-ahead TD with 3 minutes left on the clock. When I saw that, I broke off my cheering long enough to turn to Parris with a frown. "Too much time," I said. "They left Brady with too much time." And then Manningham compounded the situation by getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting the Pats defender, a truly bone-headed move, since it gave the Pats great field position after the kickoff.

And sure enough, Brady wasted no time in taking the Patriots right down into the red zone. But maybe he should have wasted some time... when he threw a fourth-down TD to his tight end, to put the Patriots up 20-17, there was still a minute and a half left. "Too much time," I said said. "They left Eli too much time. We have a chance."

And we did. The closing seconds stopped my heart a couple of time, and REALLY brought back that old SuperBowl deja vu. An incredible catch by the new Giants tight end Jake Ballard (who has made me forget all about Kevin Boss) reminded me of the Tyree miracle catch, and when Ballard caught the winning TD with seconds left, it was once again in the same corner of the endzone where Plax made his catch.

And this time they only left Tom Brady fifteen seconds.

Whew!

This was a big, big victory for the Giants. The Patriots had not lost at Foxboro since Calvin Coolidge was in the White Hosue, I think. And the G-Men did it without Ahmad Bradshaw, their best running back, or Hakeem Nicks, their best wideout. But Brandon Jacobs ran like the old Brandon Jacobs, and Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard stepped up big time. I love these guys. Both of them came out of noweher, but they come up big in crunch time.

So the Giants maintain their two-game lead in the NFC East. Now all they have to do is do it again next week... and the week after... and the week after that... and the week after THAT... and... well, the schedule is a meatgrinder, no doubt, but I'll worry about that later. Right now I'll just enjoy this win.

As for the Jets... they're now in a three-way tie for the lead in the AFC East, and next week they get the Patriots at home. Should be intensev.