George R. R. Martin has cleared his last conference for this year after having just attended Bubonicon in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which should allow him to concentrate on the "Winds of Winter" release date.

On his Not a Blog, the author wrote, "I'm back home from Bubonicon, our venerable local con, and the last one on my schedule for this year. No more cons on my schedule until the end of February, when I'll be headed to Virginia."

The Bubonicon 47 Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention also featured Catherynne Valente ("The Boy Who Lost Fairyland" and "Six-Gun Snow White"); Tamora Pierce ("Tortall & Other Lands," "The Immortals," and "Song of the Lioness"); and Mary Robinette Kowal ("The Lady Astronaut of Mars" and "Scenting the Dark and Other Stories").

George R. R. Martin also interacted with fans where he said that characters in "Game of Thrones" who died in the HBO hit series may not be dead in the books. Maybe there's hope yet for Jon Snow?

"A number of characters dead in the show WILL survive in the books," he responded to a fan question. "But not all. So don't get complacent."

The author has said that he's trying to scale back on the number of cons on his schedule in order to work on the "Winds of Winter" release date.

"I wish it was out now," George R.R. Martin told Entertainment Weekly. "Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish. But I canceled two convention appearances, I'm turning down a lot more interviews-anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done."

According to his goal, George R. R. Martin hopes to announce the "Winds of Winter" release date prior to the airing of "Game of Thrones" season 6 in April 2016, and he said sticking to that schedule "has been important to me all along."