George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 212

I'm glad that you many of you enjoyed last night's teaser on HBO. I did too.

Glancing over some of the comments, however, has made me realize that I need to make a change as to what's allowed and what's not allowed on this Not A Blog.

Up to now, I've pretty much shrugged off spoilers. Even the most recent book came out years ago, after all -- as some of you delight in reminding me -- and the vast majority of the folks who come here have read all four of the published series to date. So I fig...

Don't worry about it.

Here you go, for everyone in Europe and Asia and Saturn's moons, and those who don't have HBO (yet, I hope), and those who just want to watch it thirty times (hey, I'm way ahead of you):




Enjoy.



And for lagniappe, check out HBO's brand new GAME OF THRONES web page:

http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones

... be sure and watch the third season premiere of TRUE BLOOD tonight, for a little taste of what's coming on HBO, including (yes) A GAME OF THRONES.

In fact, you might want to tune in fifteen minutes early, to catch the pre-premiere feature. I'm not exactly sure when the GOT teaser will run. Before the pre-show, as part of the pre-show, between the pre-show and premiere... I'll be TIVOing the whole shebang myself.

(And for those of you who DON'T get HBO... sorry. You snooze, you lose).

SPOILERS abound in what follows. Read at your own risk.

So I saw IRON MAN 2 last night. Well after the rest of the world, yes. What can I say? I've been kind of busy.

I enjoyed the film well enough. The first one was better, but this one kept me entertained from start to finish. Lots of iron action and stuff blowing up. I certainly didn't feel any need to demand my money back or anything.

Which is not to say I don't have some gripes, cavils, and observations. I mean, I know this iron guy...

Auditions continue in Dublin, Belfast, and London for a whole bunch of parts, both major and minor, on HBO's GAME OF THRONES.

Sometimes it is a very hard job.

I've just reviewed the tapes of twelve young women reading for the part of Shae.

Excuse me. I need to go take a cold shower now.

Dark Sword has posted some great painted versions of their latest trio of Ice & Fire pewter miniatures, and I thought I'd share them.

Here's Lord Eddard Stark. (No, he doesn't look like Sean Bean. We're not allowed to make him look like Sean Bean. These are based on the books, not the TV show). Sculpt by Tom Meier, painting by Matt Verzani.



And here's young Samwell Tarly, Sam the Slayer his own self, with obsidian dagger in hand. Paint by Matt Verzani, sculpt by Tom Meier. (We're casting ...

As much as I hate flying... or rather, what flying has become, thanks to the airlines and the TSA... I love long drives. Seeing the country as you pass through it, rather than just flying over it. Road trips are especially great if you can get off the Interstates. Stopping to eat at little mom & pop eateries, taking in the small towns, visiting the roadside attractions (the weirder, the better).

Our plan was to travel to ConQuest by road in a two-car caravan, with our Aussie friends Stephen...

One more monkey off my back.

I just sent the manuscript of FORT FREAK, volume twenty-one in the ongoing Wild Cards series, off to our editors at Tor. Six hundred and eight pages of Jokertown goodness.

After the wide-ranging global storylines of the Committee triad, this volume returns to New York City, the epicenter of the Wild Cards universe, to tell the stories of the cops and crooks of the historic 5th precinct of the NYPD -- the Jokertown precinct, Fort Freak. The lineup features work by ...

... though not recently (thank the gods).

A hilarious video that brings back memories of the day I signed next to Douglas Adams at a Chicago Worldcon ("No waiting for George R.R. Martin"), or that time in Dallas when I went up against Clifford, the Big Red Dog.



All I can say to Mr. Hall is -- keep at it. Twenty or thirty years from now, I'm sure you'll be an overnight success like me.

If you'd like to pick up some of Tom's originals for the FEAST FOR CROWS limited from Subterranean, and help out in a worthy cause, check out:

http://community.livejournal.com/debsliverlovers/profile

The bidding closes tonight, so move fast!