George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin is an American author and screenwriter. He is most famous for his Fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.

His short story With Morning Comes Mistfall was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1973. He also wrote numerous Science Fiction short stories known collectively as "The Thousand Worlds." He has also written political fiction and Horror.

In the 1980s, he wrote screenplays for television series, including The Twilight Zone and Beauty and The Beast. He is also an editor on the Wild Cards cycle. His short story Nightfliers was adapted into a feature film.

In 1996, he published A Game of Thrones, the first installment in the Doorstopper Fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. The series has been acclaimed by critics, readers, and fellow authors alike. He is currently working on The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the series. The rights to a live-action TV series was acquired by HBO and the first two seasons have aired. Martin himself is credited as the co-executive producer for the series and has been quoted as saying going on set was like walking into a dream and has said in an interview that "my God, they got it right."

Martin is well-known for his cordial relationships with his fans. Some say it detracts from his working pace. He keeps a regular Blog, titled Not A Blog, where he keeps readers up to date on his projects, life, and favorite football teams. He also is a frequent guest at conventions, where he will happily hand out Shrugs Of God and occasionally invite some fans to private dinners. However, he is firmly opposed to Fan Fiction of his works, as he feels it weakens his copyrights. Fan Art, however, is acceptable.

There is a great deal of controversy over his writing schedule (or lack thereof), particularly the long gap between A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, leading to a Broken Base of those that felt he should finish the damn books already and those that felt the quality is well worth the wait. Neil Gaiman himself has chimed in on the issue, summing it up as "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." Whether or not the completion of Dance will heal the breach in the base probably depends on the quality of the book and how long the next one takes. Some other fans worry about possible Author Existence Failure causing an Orphaned Series, as Martin has said in the past that in the event he dies before finishing the story, he has left instructions that all his notes and any unpublished manuscripts be destroyed.

Very definitely One of Us. You can see the fan-mail he wrote to Stan Lee when he was sixteen here.