Winds Of Winter Release Date: Most fans know by now that "The Winds of Winter," the next installment in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, won't be finished before the return of HBO's Game of Thrones season 6 premieres in April.

Martin is keeping fans in suspense over the release date of his upcoming book "The Winds of Winter" but says don't expect it any time soon.

"Having said all that, I know what the next question will be, because hundreds of you have already asked it of me. Will the show 'spoil' the novels?" Martin wrote on his January 2 blog.

"Maybe. Yes and no. Look, I never thought the series could possibly catch up with the books, but it has. The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly. There were other factors too, but that was the main one. Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of GAME OF THRONES that have not yet happened in the books."

Conan O'Brien had some pointers for the Game of Thrones writer. On his Thursday night "Conan," O'Brien dressed as Martin testing beds at a mattress store, smacking a pinata, destroying mailboxes and robbing liquor stores. He's been too busy to meet his deadline for Winds of Winter.

There are rumors that Martin wants to bring in a co-author to finish "The Winds Of Winter."

The latest rumors have it that "The Sandman" and "Good Omens Bad Omens" author Neil Gaiman will be co-authoring "The Winds of Winter."

"The Winds of Winter is not finished," Martin told fans in a year-end update of the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire book.

"Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words," Martin wrote.

"You're disappointed, and you're not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed... but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, 'I have completed and delivered The Winds of Winter' on or before the last day of 2015. But the book's not done."

"The Winds of Winter," after all it was set to be released in the last quarter of 2015. Martin confirmed that "The Winds of Winter" will not be out before "Game of Thrones" season 6 premieres earlier this month.

"I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures," Martin shared.

Hollywood witch Marie Bargas threw some cards on the Game of Thrones cast and discovered that Sansa Stark is a Queen of Swords. 

"Game of Thrones" Season 6 is slated to return to the airwaves on April 24, 2016.