A couple of posts down, I announced that I had decided to cancel a couple of my planned appearances for 2015, namely the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga and the San Diego Comicon.

As seems to happen with everything I post these days, this was immediately misinterperted and misreported.  The usual game of internet telephone took place, and suddenly it was being said that I had cancelled ALL my planned appearances for 2015.  This immediately triggered a flood of emails, and comments here on the blog, from fans who had bought memberships in Norwescon or Conquest or Sasquan in order to see me, and were now worried that I was not coming.

No.  Not so.  Listen, please.  I am skipping San Diego Comicon and World Fantasy Con... but as of this writing, I am still planning on making all of my other scheduled appearances.  Okay?  Clear?  That means, yes, I will be in Seattle for Norwescon next week, and yes, I will be going to Kansas City for Conquest over Memorial Day.  And so forth.  And so on.

Please note that at both of these cons, I am a guest of honor. They invited me years ago, and have been advertising my participation for many months.  Fans and readers have planned accordingly.  I would not feel right in pulling out of an obligation like this, except perhaps in cases of medical or family emergency, and that does not apply here.  At San Diego and Saratoga I was not a GOH, just a program participant, attending largely on my own hook.  Makes it much easier to withdraw.

It is possible that I may withdraw from some other announced appearances later in the year... most likely in the summer and fall... but if I do, it won't be from cons where I am the featured guest of honor.  I would prefer not to have to cancel anything, but that depends on how the work is going.

And by "work," I mean WINDS OF WINTER, of course... but not exclusively WINDS OF WINTER.   When I say, "my plate is full," I don't just mean with WINDS.  I am still editing the latest Wild Cards volume, HIGH STAKES.   I have an overall deal with HBO, and three new television concepts in various stages of development, with a variety of collaborators and partners.   I am consulting on a couple of videogames.   There's the Wild Cards movie at Universal, where I'm a producer.  And I've recently formed a new production company to make low budget short films based on a trio of classic short stories by... well, no, not yet, that would be telling.  Premature telling.

(Many of these other projects may come to nothing.  Such is the dance of development as they do it in Hollywood.  If anything ever actually comes to fruition, you will read about it here.  Till then, don't hold your breath).

Anyway, I'm busy.  But please note, most of these other projects involve me editing, producing, consulting, or financing.  The writing I'm doing is all on WINDS OF WINTER.

Speaking of which... after wrestling with it for a month or so, I've decided not to script an episode for season six of GAME OF THRONES.  Writing a script takes me three weeks, minimum, and longer when it is not a straight adaptation from the novels.  And really, it would cost me more time than that, since I have never been good at changing gears from one medium to another and back again. Writing a season six script would cost me a month's work on WINDS, and maybe as much as six weeks,  and I cannot afford that.   With David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Bryan Cogman on board, the scriptwriting chores for season six should be well covered.  My energies are best devoted to WINDS.

So... back to it.

I don't often attend the World Fantasy Convention (not to be confused with the World Science Fiction Convention, which I have only missed once thirty years), but I was there the last time it was held in Saratoga, and I had a great time. A terrific town, a wonderful con.

This year the convention is returning to Saratoga once again, and I was hoping to return as well. I'm not a guest of honor, and I'm not (so far as I know) getting an award; I just wanted to go.

Reluctantly, however, I've just had to scratch Saratoga off my list of 2015 appearances. For no reason having to do with the con itself. I am sure it will be terrific. It's just a matter of time.

I have too much to do. Too many things on my plate. Son of Kong foremost amongst them.

My apologies to anyone who saw Saratoga on my Appearances page and planned to go in order to see me. I won't be there. Go anyway. You'll have a great time.

Also, I have decided against attending this year's San Diego Comicon. Same reason. But since Comicon was never listed on my Appearances page, scratching it is not as big a deal.

(Should I complete and deliver WINDS OF WINTER before these cons roll round, I reserve the right to change my mind).

This will be a great weekend at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

PETER S. BEAGLE and his travelling show return tonight, with THE LAST UNICORN.



We have one screening tonight (Friday) at 6:00, and two tomorrow at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Peter will be introducing each screening personally, and fielding your questions afterwards. He'll also be on hand to sign copies of his original novel, and many of other classic works. If you missed him last year when he passed through, don't make the same mistake again. And if you were here last year, well, come again.

In between the two Saturday screenings of THE LAST UNICORN, we'll be showing THE SALVATION a new western in the classic tradition, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green.



Come Sunday, ELLEN DATLOW will be here with new anthology, THE DOLL COLLECTION.



Ellen will be joined by two of her authors, Jeffrey Ford and Stephen Graham Jones. We'll have readings from the book, an interview, a question-and-answer, and of course Ellen, Jeff, and Stephen will all be available to sign their books.

All that... and our CREEPY DOLL CONTEST! Check back here on Monday to see the winners.

I am off to the Lone Star State tomorrow for a whirlwind visit... no, not to Dallas, or Fort Worth, or Austin, or Houston, or San Antonio.

I am going to College Station for a very special presentation at the library.

And thence to Nacogdoches for the Nacogdoches Film Festival.

I will be doing a signing at the Hastings in Nacogdoches, for those who want your books defaced. Well, a book, anyway... only one to a customer. We will also be screening a couple of my episodes of GAME OF THRONES ("Blackwater" and "The Lion and the Rose"), and I'll be doing some stuff with my friends Howard Waldrop, Michael Cassutt, and Joe R. Lansdale.

So come see me, y'all. (I won't be there long).

October has arrived, the leaves are turning, and I am headed east.

The U.S. hardcover of THE WORLD OF ICE & F IRE is scheduled for release on October 28, and Bantam is bringing me to New York to help launch it.



I will be making an appearance on the Seth Meyers show on Tuesday, October 28 and doing an event at the 92nd street Y with Laura Miller on Sunday,October 26.

http://www.92y.org/Event/George-R-R-Martin.aspx

Tickets for the latter are still available, but they are going fast, so if you want one, move quickly. I will be signing a thousand copies of THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE for the Y, and the ticket price will include the autographed book.

((Sorry, no plans for other signings while in the city)).

I will also be turning up in Providence, Rhode Island on this trip. Brown University is honoring me with the Harris Literary Collection Award, and I'll be attending a dinner there on October 23 to accept. My friend Tom Doherty, esteemed publisher of Tor Books, is also being honored. It will be a real delight to share the journey, and the moment, with Tom. Brown students will have first dibs on tickets to that one, I am told... I'll add a link here as soon as I have one.

((Never been to Providence before, aside from speeding through it on the Acela. If I have time, I will try to make a pilgrimage to H.P. Lovecraft's grave, which I believe is required of anyone who has ever written horror)).

... to teach at Clarion West.

But there's a reading and signing at Town Hall as well, sponsored by the University Bookstore. Check with them for details, Seattle-ites.

It seems as though San Diego Comicon and my nine-city book tour just ended yesterday, and yet here comes worldcon, bearing down on me like a wedge of charging knights.

As I said at every one of my tour appearances, the BEST place to meet your favorite writers (including me, if I'm one of them) is not at a bookstore signing, but at a con. And there's no con like worldcon. Yes, comicon is bigger. So is Gencon, Dragoncon, and many more. But worldcon is the source from whence they all sprang, the granddaddy of them all, and still the center of the SF/ fantasy universe.

And hey, they give the HUGOs there!



Here's my schedule for Reno:

THURSDAY, August 18
1:00 pm A reading, from THE WINDS OF WINTER (AO1+6, RSCC)
3:00 pm autographing (Hall 2, RSCC)

FRIDAY August 19
11:00 am The Art of Ice & Fire, with John Picacio and Martina Pilcerova


SATURDAY August 20
11:00 am - 1:00 pm "The Pointy End" - a special screening of my episode from
the first season of the HBO series, with commentary

4:00 pm The Ethics of Adaptation, a debate/ dialogue w/ Melinda Snodgrass

8:00 pm HUGO AWARDS (Peppermill, Tuscany Ballroom) I will be presenting.

SUNDAY August 21

12:00 noon WILD CARDS panel (Ao1+6, RSCC)
1:00 pm autographing (Hall 2, RSCC)

Of course, the daytime programming is only a small part of what worldcon is all about. The other part is the room parties. And yes, I'll be hitting those as well, partying every night -- and you can expect that the Brotherhood Without Banners will once again throw the best, most kickass party at the con, as they've done for most of the past decade.

Unlike comicon, worldcon does not sell out. Full memberships and day passes will be available at the door. All you need do to attend is make it to Reno.

For most information, go to http://www.renovationsf.org/

See you in Reno!

The Clarion West writer's workshop in Seattle has announced its lineup of instructors for 2012.

I'm one of them.

Here's the scoop:

http://www.clarionwest.org/

The Clarion workshops are a sort of writer's boot camp. They're not for everyone -- the criticism can be intense -- but for those who are willing to live, eat, drink, and breathe SF and fantasy for a summer, there's no better training. Admission is pretty competitive as well. Many apply, few are chosen.

But over the decades Clarion and Clarion West have turned out more professional SF and fantasy writers than all the college creative writing programs in the country combined.

Scholarships are available for those who cannot afford the tuition.

And here's my appearance in Seattle, courtesy of Vimeo, Suvudu, and the University Book Store.



Any resemblence to my pre-signing remarks in Burlington, New York City, Indianapolis, San Diego, LA, Redwood City, Denver, and Lexington is entirely... ah... intentional.

For those of you who couldn't be there, here's my interview at Google.





The Google campus was pretty amazing. Must be a fun place to work. I especially liked the slide who those who want to get to the ground floor quickly...