George R.R. Martin ‘Battled Sadness and Depression’ Over the Past ‘Stressful’ Year

George R.R. Martin’s first piece of published writing in some time will not please fans hungry for a new volume in the author’s A Song of Ice and Fire series — but it will somewhat explain the latest stumbling block in the 15 years since A Dance With Dragons came out. In a new blog, the author, 77, acknowledged that he had not published himself since February and went on to describe a year beset by challenges.

“This year has been… stressful, to say the least,” he wrote. While he experienced great and even “exciting” things, including “dreams coming true,” he wrote that proverbial nightmares had also haunted him. “I have lost friends,” he wrote. “Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come. I turned 77 last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun. But there have been amazing times as well.

“I suppose that’s just life,” he continued. “Of course, I knew that. If you’ve read my stories, you know that.”

There’s a lot he’d love to catch fans up on, he wrote, but added that he’d leave the updating to his “minions.” His own posts, he wrote, would be “short and rushed” (unlike the process of finishing up the planned septology that began with A Game of Thrones in 1996, with two books to go.)

Martin did allow one ray of sunshine to pierce the stormy forecast. He mentioned how proud he was of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms earning nine Emmy nominations, “yes, 9, not damn — including the big 0ne [sic], Best Drama.” (Note, he griped that the show’s actors didn’t get any nods.) He was so excited he even pasted in the URL to an image of an Emmy. He even hopes to attend the trophy toss, though he added the caveat, “but that depends on… well, on a lot of things.”

Comments were disabled on the post, likely to get ahead of any thirsty GoT fans who want to prod him for delays on writing the novels, a phenomenon perhaps best captured by The Onion, which published a satirical article in July titled, “George R.R. Martin Hands Agent Unsolicited, 4,000-Page Manuscript Titled ‘Tuba Man, Scuba Man.'” The outlet published another in January titled, “Publishers Break Down Door As George R.R. Martin Escapes Through Bathroom Window.”

HBO’s Game of Thrones ended in 2019 with a finale that prognosticated the end of the series and left fans bemused. A couple of years later, he signed a deal with HBO to produce more shows, including A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In 2022, he confirmed that that show was in development, as well as another that would feature Game of Thrones’ beloved Jon Snow character.