George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 5

Stuff I thought I’d mention:

Week one of the new NFL season was played yesterday.   The Giants had the Vikings at home, and looked just as bad as last year.   They made some good draft picks, I thought, adding a top receiver and bolstering the O-line, but it did not seem to make a whit of difference.   Daniel Jones did not impress at all.   Maybe we need to go back to Tommy DeVito. I fear I am not going to get much joy from Big Blue this year.   Maybe the Jets will be better.  They play tonight....

I am way behind in my Not-a-Blogging, I know.

Along with a thousand other things.

I was traveling in Europe from July 15 to August 15.    I do not travel with a computer (never have), so I had hoped to catch up before I left… but it was hard, hard.   The first half of my year was pretty miserable, dominated as it was by the death of Howard Waldrop on January 14.  Howard was my oldest friend in science fiction community; we had been corresponding since 1963, when we were both in high school.  His...

My calendar is telling me it is now September.   Really?  Damn, the days are going by fast.

We got back from our month abroad on August 15,  which seems like yesterday on the odd numbered days and last year on the evens..    I returned to find more than a thousand emails waiting for me, which proved even more daunting than usual since I brought covid home with me as well, acquired at the worldcon in Glasgow.  Two of my assistants tested positive as well;  Parris and the other two were spared.   ...

It is Fiesta here in Santa Fe, one of the oldest festivals in the City Different, and once again the highlight of the festivities will be the Burning of Zozobra (the original Burning Man, for those of you who have never heard of him).

Zozobra will be 100 this year, so the celebrations should be even more spectacular than before.    For the first time, Sky Railway will be joining the madness with the FLAME TRAIN, set to carry the fire that will consume Old Z from Lamy through the heart of Santa F...

THE THICKET is one of Joe Lansdale’s best books — and believe me, that’s saying something, since the Sage of Nacodoches has written a lot of them.  Science fiction, mystery, horror, fantasy, humor, westerns, Joe can do it all.

And now THE THICKET is a major motion picture as well, starring the one and only Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis.

We’ll be premiering THE THICKET this Saturday at the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe.

And Joe Lansdale, His Own Self, will be on hand in person to join us,...

On June 29th, while I was off in Europe stumbling from country to country with Parris and our mighty minions, Howard Waldrop’s friends and fans and loved ones held a memorial for him in Austin Texas.

I was not able to be there in person (we were in London at the time) but there was no way I could not be a part of a remembrance for H’ard, so I taped some remarks and sent them to Robert Taylor, who was organizing the event.   I went on rather a long time, as it happens, but Howard and I had a lon...

I trust you all caught “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” the fourth episode of season 2 of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON.   A lot of you have been wanting for action, I know; this episode delivered it in spades with the Battle of Rook’s Rest, when dragon met dragon in the skies.

Has there ever been a dragon battle to match it?   I seem to recall that REIGN OF FIRE had a few scenes where a dozen dragons were wheeling through the skies.   So, okay, maybe that was a bigger scene, with more dragons on screen… bu...

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER:

Behold, the stunning new covers for the first five books! These covers will be available in a boxed set, available online and in stores this October.

The new design tries to capture the vastness of Westeros and the dangerous journey readers will encounter. There is a raw and gritty quality to linocut and woodcut art. A certain starkness that seemed to fit the stories, and a long history to the art form that felt right for ...

We will be headed across the Atlantic in a week or so for the longest trip we’ve taken in a while, part business and part pleasure.

First stop will be Belfast, where I am planning to visit Ashford Meadow, catch a little jousting and maybe a puppet show, meet a certain hedge knight and his squire, and the rest of the cast of the Dunk & Egg show.   And of course we’ll be having a meal or three with Ira Parker, Owen Harris, and their team.   Really looking forward to that.

We have a few more stops ...

So… a friend of a friend was in Spain recently, and visited Barcelona.

One of my favorite cities.   In Spain, in Europe, or, well… anywhere.  It has been way too long since I was there.  Many cool things to see in Barcelona.  Including, it would seem, a Chocolate Museum.   I’ve never been there myself, but… well… my friend’s friend DID go to the Chocolate Museum, where they found..

…A chocolate me.

I find myself at a loss for words, but full of questions.

Am I made of dark chocolate or milk cho...