All the Projects Keeping George R.R. Martin From The Winds of Winter

George R.R. Martin keeps saying he is working on The Winds of Winter, and I believe he is. But if you have wondered why the thing still is not on your nightstand, it might have something to do with the stack of other jobs he has taken on. He is very open about this on his blog, and, well, there are a lot of them. Here is everything he is juggling that is not Winds.

What Martin is working on right now (that is not The Winds of Winter)

1. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (the Dunk & Egg show)
   Martin is an executive producer on HBO's prequel series based on the Dunk & Egg novellas, and he has said he is happy with the episodes he has seen so far. He even did the promo rounds at New York Comic Con, meeting the cast and talking up the show with fans. The team has already started work on Season 2, which means Martin will keep sending notes to the showrunner and stay in the mix for another round.

2. New Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas
   Remember when he said he would not write anything else until Winds was done? About that. Earlier this year he acknowledged he is working on another Dunk and Egg novella. He has also floated plans to keep the saga going with multiple new entries — his long-stated goal is six more novellas.

3. House of the Dragon Season 3
   If you read his blog, you saw how cranky he got about parts of Season 2 — he posted long, detailed gripes about the direction. With Season 3 arriving soon, he is back in conversation with showrunner Ryan Condal and the writers. As the story pushes toward its big fireworks, Martin is still offering guidance. He is not hovering over production every day, but he is involved, even when the show drifts from the books.

4. Aegon's Conquest spinoff
   The series about Aegon the Conqueror has a writer: Mattson Tomlin. In July, Tomlin said Martin is heavily involved, which tells you they are working closely on the creative while Winds sits unfinished. Fair or not, that is the reality.

5. Fire & Blood, Volume 2
   Quick clarity: the Targaryen history book is called 'Fire & Blood' (not 'Blood & Fire'). Martin blogged in 2023 that he plans to write Volume 2 after he finishes Winds. He also published Volume 1 back in 2018 while Winds was already very late, and he has said this Targaryen history is easier for him to write because he already knows the beats. Translation: do not be shocked if the sequel lands before Winds.

6. Dark Winds (AMC)
   Martin has been an executive producer on this Western-flavored psychological thriller since the start. The show premiered in 2022 and follows Navajo Tribal Police officers investigating crimes across the Four Corners region in the American Southwest. He mentions it on his site from time to time, but plenty of fans still do not realize he is one of the EPs.

7. Wild Cards
   The 77-year-old author is a co-editor of the long-running Wild Cards superhero anthologies and has contributed stories over the years. Lately he is focused on editing. A screen adaptation has been bouncing around: Peacock passed in 2023, and Martin said the team would shop it elsewhere. So it is not dead — just looking for a new home.

8. Who Fears Death (HBO)
   This is an adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's novel that HBO first announced in 2017, with Martin attached. It has moved very slowly. The last real update was in 2021, when Tessa Thompson's company came aboard. Projects can stew for years before cameras roll, so who knows — for all we know, he could be more hands-on here than in Westeros right now.

9. Even more Thrones spinoffs in development
   Martin has also signaled interest in other Westeros projects: 'Ten Thousand Ships,' 'Nine Voyages,' and 'The Golden Empire' are all in early development. Details are thin, but he has given these a thumbs-up and has been meeting with creatives. At this point, would anyone be surprised if another spinoff premieres before Winds shows up?

Yes, he keeps saying Winds is the priority. Also yes, he is involved in a small city's worth of other things. Are you still holding out hope for The Winds of Winter, or have you made peace with living in pre-Winds limbo? Drop your take below.