George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 34

I had a few nice days watching the NFL Draft.   Both the Giants and Jets did quite well, I think.   Not many exciting skill players drafted for either team, admittedly, but they both picked up building blocks to fortify their offensive lines, which I think is key.  Games are won and lost in the trenches.  Of course, even though the talking heads have all been busy grading each teams picks, no one will really know anything for a year or two.   The history of the draft is littered with sexy can...

in the National Football League.   Even for beleaguered Giants and Jets fans, like yours truly.

The annual NFL Draft starts tomorrow, and Ill be watching, as I do every year.   This will be a strangest draft since well, forever.   In the past decade or so, ESPN and the NFL network have made the draft a huge televised event, with thousands of fans in attendance and top college players being flown in from all over the country to enjoy their moment of glory when their names are called.    Not...

Did you miss TEXAS HOLD EM when it first came out in hardcover?

No problem.   Come APRIL 28, Tor will be releasing the book in trade paperback.   All the fun, for fewer dollars.

TEXAS HOLD EM is the twenty-seventh volume of the Wild Cards series, and the third in our America Triad but it stands alone just fine, and you do not have to have read any of the preceding volumes to enjoy it.   Its the story of a group of kids from Xavier Desmond High in Jokertown travelling to San Antonio for a...

No big news here, but it has been a week or so since my last blog post, so I thought I would say hi.   I am still up in the mountains, doing the social distancing rag, and writing WINDS OF WINTER.   I have good days and bad days, but I am making progress.

Most of the world remains closed, including my theatre and bookshop, the Jean Cocteau Cinema and Beastly Books.   I had originally announced that we would re-examine the situation come April 15.   That date is now upon us, and it is obvious...

Just heard on the news that John Prine has died from the coronavirus.

Damn.  Damn.  Damn.   I loved his music.   He was discovered by Kris Kristofferson, another of my long time favorites.   Great songwriters, the both of them.

What a miserable day.  What a miserable month.  What a miserable year.

Take care of yourselves, friends.  This virus is no joke.

Meanwhile, enjoy one of my favorites from Prine.

The final ballot for this years Hugo Awards was announced today, via Facebook and YouTube, by my friends at CoNZealand.

Congratulations to all the finalists and condolences to all those who did not make the ballot.   Take some consolation in the knowledge that much fine work gets overlooked every year.

The Hugo Award is the oldest and most prestigious award in science fiction and fantasy not only for writers, but also for artists, editors, and fans.  First given in 1953, it was the original...

April is here, though up where I am there is still a lot more snow than flowers.

The weirdness continues, all around the world.  Sometimes it is hard to recall how much has changed in just one month.

Regular readers of my Not A Blog and the Wild Cards website know that I usually do an April Fools post.   We have had some great ones over the years, even fooled a few people.   Not this year, though.  None of the ideas we were playing with seemed quite appropriate, with everything that is going...

I got a message from my friend Jonah Nolan last week.  Jonah is one of the creators and showrunners of HBOs WESTWORLD, along with his wife Lisa Joy, and he told me to be sure to catch Sundays episode, there might be something that would amuse me.

Truth be told, I would have been watching in any case.   WESTWORLD is a terrific show, and Ive been watching it since the beginning.   In any case, I was indeed watching, and I was indeed amused when we came on the cameo of The Three Ds: David...

A lot of people are going to need a lot of help in the wake of the coronavirus.

Among them will be many artists and writers, whose incomes are uncertain at the best of times.  No unemployment benefits for them.

My friends Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman have pointed me toward a website to assist creatives most in need: the Artist Relief Tree.

https://artistrelieftree.com/

Check it out and if your own circumstances allow, donate.   Its for a grand cause.

Good news, Wild Carders.

Mark Lawrence is back with a brand new Visitor story, a sequel to his story in KNAVES OVER QUEENS.

Its on Tor.com and its FREE.

The Visitor: Kill or Cure

Check it out.   I think youll really enjoy this one.   The Visitor is an amazing character, and Marks a wonderful writer.

And what better way to spend a day in self-quarantine than reading a great new story.