George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 31

The Amazing Ellen

Ellen Datlow won another Hugo at the Virtual Worldcon that was supposed to be in New Zealand, but wasn’t.   For Best Editor, Short Form.    I have lost track of how many rockets Ellen has racked up at this point, but it’s a hell of a lot, and all very well deserved.  She’s an amazing editor and anthologist.

If you want to see her editing prowess at work, check out our selections at Beastly Books.   We’ve had the honor of hosting Ms. Datlow on several occasions, and we still have a few AUTOGRAPHE...

IAIA Scholarships

IAIA — the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe — recently had its annual fundraising event.

Virtually, of course.

It seemed to be a great success.

There’s a video of the event.   You can even catch a glimpse of yours truly at 1:58 minute mark, talking about the annual scholarships I sponsor there, through my foundation.   There are brief statements from this year’s scholarship winners as well.

 

2020 IAIA Virtual Scholarship Event—Scholarships Shape Futures

Though the annual fund-rais...

FIRE & BLOOD Comes to Paperback

FIRE & BLOOD, the first volume of Archmaester Gyldayn’s history of the Targaryen kings of Westeros, has just been released in trade paperback by my friends at Random House.   If you missed the hardcover (shame on you), here’s your chance to catch up.

But let me say, as I have a hundred times before, this is not a novel.   It is an imaginary history.   If you like reading history, real or fantastic, you will probably enjoy it.   If you go in expecting a conventional novel, you won’t.

We have aut...

Back in Westeros

I am back in my fortress of solitude again, my isolated mountain cabin.   I’d returned to Santa Fe for a short visit, to spend some time with Parris, deal with some local business that had piled up during my months away, and of course fulfill my duties to CoNZealand, the virtual worldcon.   But all that is behind me now, and I am back on the mountain again… which means I am back in Westeros again, once more moving ahead with WINDS OF WINTER.

It is curious how my life has evolved.  I mean, once u...

A Railroad Reborn

So, about our new train set…

The pandemic has slowed things down, needless to say, but my partners and I are moving ahead with our plans to restore the historic Santa Fe Southern Railway.   There’s a lot of work ahead, and no sure way of knowing whether how long it will all take before we are ready to roll… but at the end, we hope to have something truly unique, a railroad different for the city different.

I thought you guys might enjoy a little peak into the history of the line, and some of our...

Dates and Days and Dragons, Oh My

They keep telling me that calendars are on their way out, that nobody uses them any more, that hip folks just check the day and date on their smart phones.   Maybe so, maybe so… but I am old school, and I love them, can’t help myself.  And I love great fantasy art as well, so our annual SONG OF ICE & FIRE illustrated calendar is one of my favorite things.

Every year we feature the work of a different artist, each one bringing their own unique vision to the Seven Kingdoms and my characters.   Thi...

WILD CARDS Soars On

Some cool new content for Wild Cards fans on the official Wild Cards website.

On the blog, Kevin Andrew Murphy takes a detailed look at the history of the Church of Jesus Christ, Joker:

The Church of Jesus Christ, Joker

Meanwhile, our ace interviewer Ti Mikkel has had a sit-down with Daniel Abraham, creator of Jonathan Hive, Spasm, Father Henry Obst, and other fun characters.   That one is worth a look as well:

Daniel Abraham

Meanwhile, congratulations are in order to Daniel and his fellow Wil...

Keep Your Masks On

The pandemic is not over.   We are deep in the midst of the predicted second wave.   And who knows how many more surges will follow this one?   Too many, unless more of us do a better job of staying in quarantine and wearing our masks.

New Mexico has done a much better job with Covid-19 than most of the surrounding states, thanks in large part to our amazing governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.  But numbers are rising here too.

I don’t know how long this will last.   We just had our first virtual wo...

Cosmic Horror Goes Virtual

There’s a wonderful writer’s workshop held every year in New Hampshire — the Odyssey Writers’ Workshop, headed up by Jeanne Cavelos, for aspiring authors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.   I taught one summer at Odyssey a decade or two back, and more recently, I sponsor an annual scholarship there, the MISKATONIC SCHOLARSHIP, for a promising new writer of Lovecraftian cosmic horror (for more details on Odyssey and the Miskatonic Scholarship, look back through my older posts here, until y...

Rest in Peace, Susan

These are sad sad times, and it seems as if every day they get a little sadder.

I was shocked and horrified to hear of the sudden death of Susan Ellison out in Sherman Oaks.   She died in the house she had shared with Harlan for so many years, sometimes known as Ellison Wonderland or the Lost Aztec Temple of Mars.  At this writing, no one seems quite certain of the cause of death.

No one saw this coming, not even her closest friends… and certainly not me.   Susan was only 60.   Which I suppose i...