'Winds Of Winter' Release Date April 2016; Will George R.R. Martin Publish Book Before 'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 Premiere?

While season five of "Game of Thrones" ended just a week ago it seems to be all anyone is talking about. With a gripping season five finale and a certain favorite characters fate in the air fans are dying to know what will happen next. Though we won't physically see anything until next year, we will be able to read it when George R.R. Martin releases his next novel "The Winds of Winter."

However, it is unknown when the author will bring about the new novel as Martin has been incredibly busy. Aside from working on the new novel he is also developing new series concepts for HBO and Cinemax, hiring for three short low-budget films, hosting author special events and much more. Check out all the details in full in Martin's latest LiveJournal entry:

"Life is impossibly busy right now. I am wrestling with the Son of Kong (that is, working on THE WINDS OF WINTER), trying to wrap up a final round of edits and revisions on the twenty-third Wild Cards book (HIGH STAKES), developing three new series concepts for HBO and Cinemax, hiring writers and directors for three short low-budget films I am hoping to produce based on some classic SF short stories (more on that in the months to come), making my way through the Hugo Packet to prepare to vote, looking forward to opening JURASSIC WORLD at the Cocteay and to hosting a ten-author special event for the release of Steve Stirling's new "Emberverse" anthology, THE CHANGE. In a week's time, we'll be flying off to Europe for long-planned appearances in Germany (Hamburg) and Sweden (Stockholm), en route to Archipelacon on the island of Aland, where I am to be the Guest of Honor…"

Martin's plate is definitely full and it worries us that he may not have enough time to finish up "The Winds of Winter." We do know the author is ditching San Diego Comic-Con to further work on the novel but will that be enough time to finish and publish the novel before the sixth season of "Game of Throne?"

In April 2015 Martin commented on his blog that "The Winds of Winter" will not be eligible for the 2016 Hugo Award which is awarded for science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. Thus indicating that it will be published in 2015. That same month Martin interviewed with Entertainment Weekly and said he would like to have Winds published before the sixth season of the HBO series airs in 2016 (which will contain info from the novel).

Since the success of "Game of Thrones" on HBO Martin's popularity has grown and he is now a hot commodity. Being in demand as he is Martin's time will definitely be split and it brings up a larger issue. If he continues to tackle large projects the way he's doing will he be able to keep up with the "Game of Thrones" story to stay ahead of the TV series? We don't have the answers, but we sure hope so.