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Winter is coming… and it’s bringing souvenirs. With this month’s return of HBO’s Game of Thrones, it’s time to plan all the viewing parties or whatever your celebration ritual might be. Revels! Comics Beat was invited to get hands on with the sheer tidal wave of merchandise, both current and upcoming, for one of cable’s most rabid […]

The Staten Island Yankees will be hosting “George R.R. Martin Night” on August 8 in New York. During this event, the Staten Island Yankees will be called the “Staten Island Direwolves.”

According to MLB.com, Martin himself will be present and signing autographs. A wolf from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary will also be a guest; this animal will make an appearance on the field.

The players will wear specially-made jerseys with fabric that features a brown fur and gray material design. One jersey will be auctioned off to raise funds for the wolf sanctuary. (via DNAinfo.com)

“All men must draw!” Bantam, a Penguin Random House imprint, will publish an official Game of Thrones-themed coloring book for adults.

The New York Times reports that George R.R. Martin, the author behind the A Song of Ice and Fire series, will oversee the creation of this project. It will feature a total of 45 illustrations.

According to The Guardian, “no details have yet emerged about the scenes the artists will be covering, but given Martin’s penchant for killing off characters, and the amount of blood and gore with which the fantasy series is drenched, it seems fair to assume that a good quantity of red pens will be needed to complete the pictures.” The publication date has been scheduled for October 27th. (via The Daily Dot)

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is currently developing three new television series with HBO and Cinemax.

Martin revealed the news on his blog, though he didn’t go into too much detail. Check it out:

Life is impossibly busy right now. I am wrestling with the Son of Kong (that is, working on THE WINDS OF WINTER), trying to wrap up a final round of edits and revisions on the twenty-third Wild Cards book (HIGH STAKES), developing three new series concepts for HBO and Cinemax, hiring writers and directors for three short low-budget films I am hoping to produce based on some classic SF short stories (more on that in the months to come), making my way through the Hugo Packet to prepare to vote, looking forward to opening JURASSIC WORLD at the Cocteay and to hosting a ten-author special event for the release of Steve Stirling’s new “Emberverse” anthology, THE CHANGE. In a week’s time, we’ll be flying off to Europe for long-planned appearances in Germany (Hamburg) and Sweden (Stockholm), en route to Archipelacon on the island of Aland, where I am to be the Guest of Honor…

I finally finished A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin yesterday. I am glad it is finally over. I’m not going to do a full write-up of it because it is the fifth book in a series and frankly, I found it full of bloat and, while better than book four, still not great. In fact, I am not certain I will read the Winds of Winter when it finally comes out. Of course if people I trust read it and tell me how good it is I will probably cave in and read it, but otherwise, I’m burnt out. The thing has become so fragmented with a gazillion different storylines going on that it feels out of control and out of focus.

So there.

I know you have been wondering about my library hold situation and the resolution I made at the beginning of the year to keep my hold requests down to no more than five at a time. I had been doing so well and feeling so proud of myself. I got cocky. And of course I slipped.

Currently I have only one book checked out from the library, Lumberjanes, and one waiting for me to pick up, The House of Paper. But then there are eight hold requests. Only eight though, that’s not bad, right? One of them will be coming up to my turn very soon, When Mystical Creatures Attack! by Kathleen Founds. The rest I have a little wait for – I am 120 in line for The Buried Giant by Ishiguro but only third in line for Molecular Red by McKenzie Wark. There is a good time spread between the two. Granted the rest of my requests I am twenty-something in line, but still they won’t all arrive at once (Hahahaha!). So even though I went over my self-imposed five hold requests limit it isn’t terrible, not like when I had close to twenty hold requests out at once, right? And it’s not like I’ve gone completely crazy with new hold requests. I’m still in control. Yes, yes I am. I am absolutely certain of it. Yup. In complete control.

On a side note, I went on my first group bike ride last night. It is a women-only ride that leaves from a nearby bike shop. I was nervous, let me tell you. The route was to be rolling hills and since it is a no-drop ride (the group stops and waits for those falling behind) I was terrified I would be the one everyone was stopping to wait for. Since I had never ridden with other people before I had no idea how my fitness level would compare. Turns out I didn’t have a thing to worry about. My fitness level is just fine and I am not too bad on hills.

There were ten of us and I had a blast. Most of us had not gone on this particular group ride before so no one really knew anyone which meant no one got left out socially. And because of the hills I got to practice shifting on Astrid, something I haven’t done much of because I haven’t had to. And I discovered a lovely sound, the sound of a group of strong women on bikes coming up to a stoplight and all of us clipping out (unlocking our shoes from the pedals) and then clipping back in when we start again. I don’t know why I like the sound so much but I do. Maybe it’s because I am making it too as part of a group. At any rate, I will be riding out again next Wednesday so chances are good that unless the weather is bad and the ride gets cancelled, I will not be posting on Wednesday nights through the end of summer. I’ve got a bike to ride!

For A Song of Ice & Fire series author George R.R. Martin, history is a constant muse. The TED-Ed team has created a six-minute lesson that focuses on “the wars that inspire Game of Thrones.”

The video embedded above explores the similarities shared between the events and players of the Wars of the Roses and Martin’s beloved epic fantasy story. Over at the TED-Ed website, viewers can access a quiz, a discussion board, and more resources.

Author George R.R. Martin has posted a new excerpt from The Winds of Winter.

Mashable reports that this piece “is told from the perspective of Sansa Stark, who is currently in hiding as Petyr Baelish (a.k.a. Littlefinger)’s bastard daughter Alayne Stone.” According to Martin’s blog post, he would have shared this excerpt on April 1st, but he “did not want it mistaken for an April Fool’s joke.”

Back in February 2015, Martin confirmed that the full book, the sixth installment of the A Song of Ice & Fire series, will not be published at any point during this year. Perhaps this new snippet will help his legions of fans (who love both the books and the Game of Thrones HBO show) better cope with the wait.

HBO has unveiled a new clip from the fifth season of Game of Thrones. The video embedded above showcases a tense conversation between Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys.

The forthcoming new episodes will feature surprises for fans now that the story from the TV show adaptation has caught up with the one in George R.R. Martin’s book series. Click on these links to watch the first trailer and the second trailer. (via The Hollywood Reporter)

Author George R.R. Martin won’t be making it to the World Fantasy Convention or Comic Con in San Diego this year.

Instead, he’s going to stay home and get his book done. In a blog post he explained: “I have too much to do. Too many things on my plate. Son of Kong foremost amongst them.”

However, if he completes Winds of Winter before the events, “I reserve the right to change my mind,” he blogged. (Via The Hollywood Reporter).

Art director Grace Fong and her team hope to raise $18,500 for an art book called Draw ‘Em With the Pointy End. More than 100 artists contributed pieces inspired by George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire books and the Game of Thrones HBO series. We’ve embedded a video about the project above.

Here’s more from the Kickstarter page: “This is a non-profit project. The campaign pays for printing 500 books and compensates the artists at a flat rate – but every dollar past our goal will be used to print even more! These additional copies will go towards non-profit organizations that benefit wolves and wildlife.”

Welcome to our Kickstarter Publishing Project of the Week, a feature exploring how authors and publishers are using the fundraising site to raise money for book projects. If you want to start your own project, check out How To Use Kickstarter to Fund Your Publishing Project.

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has given away a rare, first-edition, copy of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This particular volume contains illustrations created by Tolkien himself.

The donation was made to Texas A&M University. According to the school’s blog post, the book will be displayed at the Cushing Memorial Library & Archives for a few weeks.

During his visit, Martin explained that “there’s no doubt his effect upon me was profound and I take a strange pleasure in seeing him included in a library like this, to be a 5 millionth book with Cervantes and Walt Whitman. It represents an acceptance of fantasy into the canon of world literature which I think is long overdue, frankly.” Do you agree with Martin’s opinion? (via Chron.com)

Poor George R.R. Martin has endured constant hounding from his fans to finish writing A Song of Ice & Fire. The eager readers are not the only ones who are playing the waiting game.

The creatives and cast members behind the Game of Thrones HBO series will go into the new season blind because the story of the adaptation has now caught up to the material featured in Martin’s book series. The author has already revealed that some of characters who are not yet dead in the books may make an early exit on the TV show.

In the video embedded above, several of the Game of Thrones actors and actresses sat for interviews to discuss the fates of their characters. Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, thinks that the direction of the show “will be the most ambiguous thing ever.” Liam Cunningham, who plays Sir Devos Seaworth, foresees that Game of Thrones will end before the book series. What are your predictions?

Myriad Pictures plans to create a feature film called In the Lost Lands. The story for the script was adapted from three George R.R. Martin short stories.

Constantin Werner, a German filmmaker, serves as both the director and the screenwriter. Milla Jovovich, an actress known for her work in the Resident Evil movies, may tackle the role of a sorceress named Gray Alys.

Deadline reports that this will be the “the first time that the author’s works have been adapted for the big screen outside of HBO’s Game Of Thrones.” The overarching plot weaves together three different storylines that feature a desperate monarch, a female warrior, and a barbarian.

George R.R. Martin attended his first Super Bowl last night.

The author told the Associated Press that while he is not a big football fan, he did write a TV pilot a while back that featured an alien landing at the Super Bowl. The show was never filmed, but the author has plans to turn it into a graphic novel.

HBO has released a new trailer to promote season five of Game of Thrones—what do you think? As of this writing, the video post has received more than 15 million views on Facebook.

The Huffington Post reports that actress Maisie Williams recently participated in a Reddit AMA session and teased that the new season will feature her “most difficult scene to film.” Click here to see pictures from the set.

BookVibe has examined 80 million Twitter posts from the past 12 months. Quartz reports that the data shows that the most popular book on the Twittersphere is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Green’s hit young adult novel was mentioned in 1.2 million tweets. The books that made it onto the top 10 list are a mix of recently published hit titles and classic icons of literature; several of them have inspired highly successful film adaptations.

According to the article, “recent research suggests that film adaptations of books have the ability to influence people to read, so while critics may bemoan the latest adaptation of a book for the silver screen, the halo effect does increase the book’s readership which, at the end of it all, is exactly what the author wants.” Below, we’ve featured the full top 10 list—what do you think?

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The hackers behind the Interview incident have elicited both anger and fear from American moviegoers. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin (pictured, via) has publicly expressed great fury towards Sony for pulling the film from theaters.

Here’s an excerpt from Martin’s blog post: “I haven’t seen The Interview. I have no idea how good or bad a film it is…That’s not the point, though. Whether it’s the next Citizen Kane or the next Plan 9 From Outer Space, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.”

Should The Interview ever become available, Martin has offered to showcase it at his own independent theater. Martin owns the Jean Cocteau Cinema which is based in Santa Fe, NM. What do you think? (via comicbook.com)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

George R.R. Martin has made it onto the 2014 edition of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People.”

Martin earned his place on Walters’ list due to the great popularity of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series and the Game of Thrones TV adaptation; both projects have made a serious mark in pop culture history.

The nine other people alongside Martin include Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, Chelsea Handler, Neil Patrick Harris, Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Michael Strahan, David Koch, and Amal Clooney. (via The Huffington Post)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hollywood has been chasing after popular books for inspiration. Titles such as the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games trilogy, and The Fault in our Stars novel have been transformed into blockbluster film franchises.

At this point in time, a diverse array of adaptation projects are being developed for YouTube, Hulu, and the silver screen. In recognition of book creators, The Hollywood Reporter has crafted a list of “Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors.”

J.K. Rowling claimed the number one spot because arguably speaking, “no single creator has had so much influence on a megafranchise since George Lucas and the original Star Wars trilogy.” We’ve posted the list of the top 10 authors below—what do you think?

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last night, novelist George R.R. Martin appeared at the 92Y in New York City to promote The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones. Salon.com co-founder Laura Miller served as the moderator.

Throughout the event, Martin answered questions, gave details about the artwork in the book, and opened up on working with two fan co-writers Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson. During the discussion, Martin confirmed that the next book he will publish is a collection of three Dunk and Egg novellas entitled The Knight of The Seven Kingdoms with illustrations drawn by Gary Gianni. He also talked about how many of the characters and storylines for A Song of Ice & Fire were influenced by history.

When asked about the religion of Westeros, Martin shared this tip on creating fantasy stories: “You can’t ignore religion in fantasy because it’s too important to history.” Do you agree with Martin’s wisdom? Click here to watch a video recording of the entire conversation between Martin and Miller.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.

To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

Emily St. John Mandel will read from her new book, Station Eleven, and sit for an interview with Lev Grossman. Hear her on Thursday, October 23rd at Macaulay Honors College starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)

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Grammy Award winner Weird Al Yankovic requested that author George R.R. Martin “type as fast as you can.” Yankovic reasons that “we need more script.”

The video embedded above features Yankovic performing a medley of TV theme music at the 66th annual Emmy Awards. As he was singing the Game of Thrones portion, comedian Andy Samberg (donning a Joffrey Baratheon costume) handed Martin a typewriter.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Coraline author Neil Gaiman was challenged by his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, to take on the #IceBucketChallenge. The video embedded above features Gaiman performing the act with assistance from a group of friends.

In addition to having a bucket of ocean water and ice thrown over his head, Gaiman names a new set of challengers that includes A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. Gaiman calls Martin a “murderer of characters.”

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

For years, fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire series have speculated on the true parentage of the character Jon Snow. Neither Martin’s books or the Game of Thrones TV adaptation have divulged the answer to this mystery.

Many readers subscribe to a popular theory known as “R+L=J.” Follow this link to watch a video that explains this theory in detail. During a Reddit AMA session, actor Sean Bean (who portrayed Eddard “Ned” Stark on the HBO series’ first season) gave up a revealing clue when he responded to the question: “Why did you not teach Jon Snow anything?”

SPOILER ALERT: If you prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of how the Game of Thrones storyline will unfold, stop reading this post now…

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