George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 231

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday. Yes. Today I am eleventy-one years old.

(Well, no, not actually, though some days it feels like that).

I got some wonderful gifts to mark the day... from the New York Jets, the New York Giants, and Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys.

In the morning game, the Jets defeated the New England Patriots, long the bullies of the AFC East, who had been pushing Gang Green around on their own field for more games than I care to remember. But not today. A win is always swell, but a wi...

Coming in March

WARRIORS, the huge new all-original crossgenre anthology I edited with Gardner Dozois, will be published by Tor in hardcover next March.

We've got an all-star lineup of bestsellers and award winners from half a dozen different genres for this one. And here's a first look at the cover:



The table of contents looks like this:

Stories from the Spinner Rack," by George R.R. Martin
"The King of Norway," by Cecilia Holland
"Forever Bound," by Joe Haldeman
"The Triumph," by Robin Hobb
"Clean Slate," by...

HBO Casting Continues

Casting on the HBO pilot of A GAME OF THRONES continues, but there's not much I can say about it, except in generalities. Another of the supporting roles has been filled, I am told, and offers have been made on several more. Now we're waiting to see if those deals will close, which of course depends on things like schedule, terms, money, and such. If all the pieces fall into place, we'll have some exciting and talented additions to the cast.

No, I have no idea when HBO will make their next ...

Four More Miniatures

For the miniature collectors out there, Dark Sword has four more figures in the pipeline for our Ice & Fire range -- gorgeous greens of Aeron Damphair and his brother Victarion from Jeff Grace, and spectacular sculpts of the Mountain That Rides and the Red Viper of Dorne in their famous duel, from Tom Meier. Watch this space for pictures, coming soon.

Meanwhile, to hold you for a while, here's the latest wonder painted for me by Jen Haley: a crossbowman's pavise in 54mm scale.

The NFL Returns

Life is magical and full of joy!!!

Haloo, halay, the Jets and Giants won today.

Solid, convincing victories for both teams. Not quite total domination, no, but the scores would have been even more lopsided if not for a couple bad turnovers.

The Jets were the morning game. Mark Sanchez made his debut with Joe Willie Namath on hand to root him on. Can't ask for a better omen than that. Based on what I saw today, we have a quarterback, we have a coach, and boy, do we have a defense. Harris and...

A Smidge of Progress

I decided to take a break from tearing and fumbling at the Meereenese knot, and completed a chapter about another character today. A character who is very far from Meereen.

Finishing the chapter felt good. Especially since it also completed that character's arc for the book. Admittedly, she has only two chapters in DANCE, so I am not sending up any flares. But hey, I'm done with one of them for the present, that's something.

Only thirty-eight more POVs to wrap up...

Jots and Niggles

Lots of stuff going on that warrants a brief mention, though there's not enough on any of it to warrant a lengthy post.

NFL: The season begins Thursday. My season begins Sunday, when the Jets and Giants take the field. I'm excited. Will life be magical and full of joy, or meaningless and full of pain? Tune in here to find out.

HBO Pilot: D&D have cast one more role and have an offer out to a wonderful actor on another. Sorry, no clues, I'm clued out for the present. One of the roles that...

Goodbye and Good Luck, David

David Tyree has been released by the Giants.

It was no surprise. He had a bad camp, and the Giants are heavily stocked with young receivers... but even so, it is sad to see him go. Tyree was always a lion on special teams, and whenever he did get into a game as a wide receiver, he exceeded expectations. He was never as gifted as Plaxico or Randy Moss or TO or the like, but he had more heart than any of them.

And of course he will live forever in the hearts of every Giants fan.




Some other team...

Calendar Update

Sorry, there will be no 2010 Ice & Fire calendar. After our deal with DBPro was terminated, there was simply not enough time to find a new publisher, negotiate a contract, hire an artist, and get twelve paintings done so the calendar could be released on schedule. A calendar really needs to be released by Halloween at the latest... some 2010 calendars are already in the stores now, in early September... so....

However, I do expect to have some exciting news about the 2011 calendar Real Soon ...

Dancing

Taking another whack at the Meereenese knot today. I'm going to try breaking two largish chapters into four smallish ones, changing the order of events somewhat, and weaving them all together. Maybe that will work a little better.



Can it really be September?? Ack. I can feel the heat of those flames...