George RR Martin
George RR Martin, author of the "Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series that is the basis of the television series "Game of Thrones," gestures during his masterclass at the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) in Neuchatel, July 10, 2014. Reuters/Denis Balibouse

Work on “Winds of Winter” may pick up pace starting this week, as George RR Martin has announced that he is cutting down on non-work related activities. After restricting visits to conferences and other speaking engagements, the author has now decided to stop blogging for a while.

In a recent blog post, Martin said there are “lots” of exciting things he is currently working on. There are so many projects, in fact, that he is starting to feel overwhelmed despite having an army of people assisting him. Due to the stress, the author announced that he will be taking a step back from blogging until he completes some of these projects or, as he puts it, until he gets some of the monkeys off his back.

The next book in “A Song of Ice and Fire” is Martin's biggest and most highly anticipated work at the moment. However, HBO is planning a few spin-off shows based on his work, which may require some degree of involvement from the author.

Apart from the shows planned by HBO, there are other series adaptations being planned for Martin’s other books. The author has been promoting his “Wild Cards” series for some time now and has also released new books in the series.

Even though Martin has all these other commitments, he still continues to write. The finale of “Game of Thrones” will air next year, and the author should have the next book out by that time or the show will spoil more of the storyline.

Martin has promised to return to blogging soon, but he doesn’t know when. Will his return mark the completion of the book?

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