George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 185
July 8, 2011
The Maid of Tarth
I see you guys are just as sharp as ever. The long layoff between first and second season casting hasn't made you rusty. Once again, you nailed my obscure hints within minutes.
Well, okay, I did fool a few of you. For a couple minutes, anyway. But others correctly puzzled out the casting. The part of Brienne, Maid of Tarth, will be played by British actress GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE.
This was another one of those cases where there was hardly any debate. The day the first batch of auditions went up for the role, we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne and one actress who WAS Brienne. Gwendoline gave a great reading, and her look was just perfect. No, when she auditioned, she did not look she does in the photo above. She came in looking... well, like Brienne.
As for my clues... Christie played in a music video called DAMARIS, which includes a song about Isabelle, the She-Wolf of France (wife of King Edward II, for the history nerds out there), and played in Shakespeare's CYMBELINE at the Barbican theatre. She also posed for Australian photographed Polly Borland for a show called "Bunny."
She also appears in the recent IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSAS, though I did not use that one in my clues.
Gwendoline will be a great Brienne. It's a thrill to have her join the cast.
Congratulations to everyone who figured it out... and for those who guessed wrong, well, better luck next time.
Well, okay, I did fool a few of you. For a couple minutes, anyway. But others correctly puzzled out the casting. The part of Brienne, Maid of Tarth, will be played by British actress GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE.
This was another one of those cases where there was hardly any debate. The day the first batch of auditions went up for the role, we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne and one actress who WAS Brienne. Gwendoline gave a great reading, and her look was just perfect. No, when she auditioned, she did not look she does in the photo above. She came in looking... well, like Brienne.
As for my clues... Christie played in a music video called DAMARIS, which includes a song about Isabelle, the She-Wolf of France (wife of King Edward II, for the history nerds out there), and played in Shakespeare's CYMBELINE at the Barbican theatre. She also posed for Australian photographed Polly Borland for a show called "Bunny."
She also appears in the recent IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSAS, though I did not use that one in my clues.
Gwendoline will be a great Brienne. It's a thrill to have her join the cast.
Congratulations to everyone who figured it out... and for those who guessed wrong, well, better luck next time.
July 7, 2011
I'm Blue
The she-wolf of France has stormed the barbican. The Aussie turned her into a bunny.
Five Days...
... till Kong is loosed upon the world.
Feels strange, after so many years. I know that some of you thought I would never finish. Believe me, there were dark nights of the soul where I had my doubts as well. But now the day is almost at hand, and the dragons will fly.
In fact, they are already taking wing. Bantam informs me that DANCE has just gone back for its 6th hardcover printing, and it isn't even on sale yet. The first reviews are breaking today, and so far (knock wood) they have all been great. And in the UK, Waterstone's in Glasgow has put up a brilliant window display:
Exciting times.
Feels strange, after so many years. I know that some of you thought I would never finish. Believe me, there were dark nights of the soul where I had my doubts as well. But now the day is almost at hand, and the dragons will fly.
In fact, they are already taking wing. Bantam informs me that DANCE has just gone back for its 6th hardcover printing, and it isn't even on sale yet. The first reviews are breaking today, and so far (knock wood) they have all been great. And in the UK, Waterstone's in Glasgow has put up a brilliant window display:
Exciting times.
July 6, 2011
Working Away
One more monkey down.
Today I delivered the first draft of "Blackwater" to Dan and David. (Finally) A bit overdue, as always. And probably too long and long expensive, as my scripts always are. (I got to write the Battle of the Blackwater. I tried to be good and restrain myself, but you know how things go. Oh, well. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it).
This is television... (no, it's not TV, it's HBO)... so there will undoubtedly be many further drafts and revisions. But the first draft is the hard one.
And it's a good thing it's done. On Sunday I leave for the first leg of my US book tour.
Today I delivered the first draft of "Blackwater" to Dan and David. (Finally) A bit overdue, as always. And probably too long and long expensive, as my scripts always are. (I got to write the Battle of the Blackwater. I tried to be good and restrain myself, but you know how things go. Oh, well. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it).
This is television... (no, it's not TV, it's HBO)... so there will undoubtedly be many further drafts and revisions. But the first draft is the hard one.
And it's a good thing it's done. On Sunday I leave for the first leg of my US book tour.
July 5, 2011
Should Math Be Taught in Schools?
((Sad to say, this parody is hardly exaggerated at all. A few of the answers are almost verbatim to the actual answers of the Miss USA contestants to "Should Evolution Be Taught in Schools." Go watch that video on YouTube and see for yourself)).
(((There are days I think I am living in the world of Kornbluth's "Marching Morons." Just look at reality TV, and remember the hit show in his story)))
(((I am vastly pleased that the eventual Miss USA winner, and GAME OF THRONES fan, does "believe in evolution." And presuambly in math as well))).
July 4, 2011
I'm Number One...
... and also number four, number six, and number eight.
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-07-10/mass-market-paperback/list.html
When GAME OF THRONES was first published in 1996, it failed to make any bestseller lists (well, maybe it made the LOCUS list, don't recall), and certainly never got within shouting distance of the Top Ten in the TIMES. While I still recall the highlights (Joe Beth in Lexington, Kentucky and Kepler's in Menlo Park, California) of that first signing tour, I recall the lowlight even better -- the St. Louis signing where the only four people in the cafe/ bookstore actually LEFT when I got up to speak, and the Dallas signing where I drew a dozen people while Clifford the Big Red Dog drew hundreds. And here we are, fifteen years later, with GAME at number one on the list. Where's that dog now, I want a rematch!
Thanks to David and Dan and HBO, they had a lot to do with this.
And thanks to you, my readers, as well. No promotion, no advertising, no marketing campaign can ever hope to match word of mouth. Without the loyalty and enthusiasm of my fans, none of this would ever have happened.
I hope you all have a great Fourth. It's certainly going to be a good one for me.
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-07-10/mass-market-paperback/list.html
When GAME OF THRONES was first published in 1996, it failed to make any bestseller lists (well, maybe it made the LOCUS list, don't recall), and certainly never got within shouting distance of the Top Ten in the TIMES. While I still recall the highlights (Joe Beth in Lexington, Kentucky and Kepler's in Menlo Park, California) of that first signing tour, I recall the lowlight even better -- the St. Louis signing where the only four people in the cafe/ bookstore actually LEFT when I got up to speak, and the Dallas signing where I drew a dozen people while Clifford the Big Red Dog drew hundreds. And here we are, fifteen years later, with GAME at number one on the list. Where's that dog now, I want a rematch!
Thanks to David and Dan and HBO, they had a lot to do with this.
And thanks to you, my readers, as well. No promotion, no advertising, no marketing campaign can ever hope to match word of mouth. Without the loyalty and enthusiasm of my fans, none of this would ever have happened.
I hope you all have a great Fourth. It's certainly going to be a good one for me.
July 2, 2011
A Day in Slovenia
Some highlights from my recent visit to Slovenia. From Aljaž Potočnik, who followed us around for most of the day.
http://www.dnevnik.si/novice/kultura/1042454378
The news article is in Slovenian, but the video features me speaking English. (What else? That's all I speak). Bits from my introductory Slovenian press conference and my signing in Koper (the small one, not the monstrous one in Ljubljana) are included... along with highlights of my visit to the amazing Predjama Castle, which appears to double as the Slovenian version of Graumann's Chinese Theatre as well as being an astonishing fortress-in-a-cave.
http://www.dnevnik.si/novice/kultura/1042454378
The news article is in Slovenian, but the video features me speaking English. (What else? That's all I speak). Bits from my introductory Slovenian press conference and my signing in Koper (the small one, not the monstrous one in Ljubljana) are included... along with highlights of my visit to the amazing Predjama Castle, which appears to double as the Slovenian version of Graumann's Chinese Theatre as well as being an astonishing fortress-in-a-cave.
Stuff and Nonsense
Just flipped over the page on my World Wildlife Fund calendar (a day late, sue me), and was amused to see that the featured animals for July are gorillas. Nothing could be more fitting for the month in which Kong is finally loosed upon the reading public. heh
On other fronts... I mentioned below that WARRIORS won the Locus Award as the best anthology of 2010, which pleased me no end... but I forgot to mention that Gardner Dozois and I have just signed with Tor for a sequel of sorts. A mammoth crossgenre book featuring contributions from an all-star lineup of award-winning writers and bestsellers from half a dozen different genres and subgenres. This one has the working title DANGEROUS WOMEN. Whether that will be the final title or not, I am less sure. Must admit, I do not love it; too generic for my taste. I wanted to call the book FEMMES FATALE, but our editor suggested that no one younger than forty would have any idea what that phrase meant. Which boggles the hell out of me, but what do I know? Could be we'll settle on WOMEN WARRIORS. Though that's limiting in a different sort of way. But whatever title it goes by in the end, it should be a helluva anthology. We have some great writers lined up, as we did with WARRIORS.
And yes, DANGEROUS WOMEN will include the fourth Dunk & Egg novella, the long-promised tale of their visit to the North, where they encounter the She-Wolves of Winterfell. I could tell you more than that, but then I'd need to kill you.
Meanwhile, Ice & Fire continues its slow conquest of the world, nation by nation and language by language. I've just signed a deal for Turkish editions, and we're negotiating with a Vietnamese publisher as well.
And my US book tour is coming up fast, so these days have been busy ones. At the moment I am finishing up the first draft of my script for the second season of the HBO series, hammering out the overplot of the new Wild Cards book LOWBALL, and of course doing what seems like ten interviews a day. Would that there were four of me.
These are exciting days.
On other fronts... I mentioned below that WARRIORS won the Locus Award as the best anthology of 2010, which pleased me no end... but I forgot to mention that Gardner Dozois and I have just signed with Tor for a sequel of sorts. A mammoth crossgenre book featuring contributions from an all-star lineup of award-winning writers and bestsellers from half a dozen different genres and subgenres. This one has the working title DANGEROUS WOMEN. Whether that will be the final title or not, I am less sure. Must admit, I do not love it; too generic for my taste. I wanted to call the book FEMMES FATALE, but our editor suggested that no one younger than forty would have any idea what that phrase meant. Which boggles the hell out of me, but what do I know? Could be we'll settle on WOMEN WARRIORS. Though that's limiting in a different sort of way. But whatever title it goes by in the end, it should be a helluva anthology. We have some great writers lined up, as we did with WARRIORS.
And yes, DANGEROUS WOMEN will include the fourth Dunk & Egg novella, the long-promised tale of their visit to the North, where they encounter the She-Wolves of Winterfell. I could tell you more than that, but then I'd need to kill you.
Meanwhile, Ice & Fire continues its slow conquest of the world, nation by nation and language by language. I've just signed a deal for Turkish editions, and we're negotiating with a Vietnamese publisher as well.
And my US book tour is coming up fast, so these days have been busy ones. At the moment I am finishing up the first draft of my script for the second season of the HBO series, hammering out the overplot of the new Wild Cards book LOWBALL, and of course doing what seems like ten interviews a day. Would that there were four of me.
These are exciting days.
June 29, 2011
Picacio Does Melisandre
John Picacio has posted another sneak peek from his 2012 Ice & Fire calendar. This time it's a detail of the red woman, Melisandre of Asshai.
http://picacio.blogspot.com/2011/06/2012-asoiaf-calendar-melisandre-preview.html
The calendar will debut at the San Diego Comicon. John and I will both be on hand, signing copies. See you there!!!
http://picacio.blogspot.com/2011/06/2012-asoiaf-calendar-melisandre-preview.html
The calendar will debut at the San Diego Comicon. John and I will both be on hand, signing copies. See you there!!!
WARRIORS Wins Locus Poll
I'm delighted to announce that WARRIORS, the gigantic cross-genre anthology that I co-edited with my old friend Gardner Dozois, has won the Locus Award as the Best Anthology of 2010.
The award is given by LOCUS magazine, the PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY of science fiction and fantasy, and is decided by an annual poll of of the magazine's readers. You can check out the full results on Tor.com here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/06/announcing-the-2011-locus-award-winners
Gardner and I are very proud of WARRIORS, our tilting-at-windmills attempt to smash down some genre barriers, and we're thrilled to see it cop this prize over some terrific competition, all of them pure SF and fantasy. My thanks to all our contributors, who helped make the book what it is. Without them, WARRIORS would be... well, a big book of blank pages. And thanks as well to Tom Doherty, Patrick Nielsen-Hayden, and all the other folks at Tor.
In other categories, Neil Gaiman took home the prize for Best Short Story for "The Thing About Cassandra," originally published in another of the anthologies that Gardner and I have edited, SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. Congratulations to Neil. A well deserved award for a great story.
In novella, my own contender "The Mystery Knight" was among the finalists, but lost out to Ted Chiang's "The Lifecycle of Software Objects." Tough competition, that. Congratulations to the winner... and don't worry, Dunk & Egg will have other chances in the years to come.
The award is given by LOCUS magazine, the PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY of science fiction and fantasy, and is decided by an annual poll of of the magazine's readers. You can check out the full results on Tor.com here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/06/announcing-the-2011-locus-award-winners
Gardner and I are very proud of WARRIORS, our tilting-at-windmills attempt to smash down some genre barriers, and we're thrilled to see it cop this prize over some terrific competition, all of them pure SF and fantasy. My thanks to all our contributors, who helped make the book what it is. Without them, WARRIORS would be... well, a big book of blank pages. And thanks as well to Tom Doherty, Patrick Nielsen-Hayden, and all the other folks at Tor.
In other categories, Neil Gaiman took home the prize for Best Short Story for "The Thing About Cassandra," originally published in another of the anthologies that Gardner and I have edited, SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. Congratulations to Neil. A well deserved award for a great story.
In novella, my own contender "The Mystery Knight" was among the finalists, but lost out to Ted Chiang's "The Lifecycle of Software Objects." Tough competition, that. Congratulations to the winner... and don't worry, Dunk & Egg will have other chances in the years to come.
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