Just when fans have hoped the "Winds of Winter" release date will be announced soon after George R. R. Martin declared that he's scaling back on all commitments to work on the book, the author wrote about being part of three new endeavors.

In his blog, he wrote, "Life is impossibly busy right now. I am wrestling with the Son of Kong (that is, working on THE WINDS OF WINTER), trying to wrap up a final round of edits and revisions on the twenty-third Wild Cards book (HIGH STAKES), developing three new series concepts for HBO and Cinemax, hiring writers and directors for three short low-budget films I am hoping to produce based on some classic SF short stories (more on that in the months to come)."

And that's not all because in a week's time, George R. R. Martin will be jetting off to Europe "for long-planned appearances in Germany (Hamburg) and Sweden (Stockholm), en route to Archipelacon on the island of Aland, where I am to be the Guest of Honor..."

The blog post was quite different from what George R.R. Martin told Entertainment Weekly when he admitted that the "Winds of Winter" release date was already quite delayed.

George R. R. Martin said that he's trying to rush it before the start of "Game of Thrones" season 6 next year.

"I wish it was out now," he 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."

Fans have been clamoring for the "Winds of Winter" release date because the events in "Game of Thrones" are in danger of overtaking the book. But George R. R. Martin said that fans shouldn't worry because TV shows and books are fundamentally different and that he would not be swayed by what happens in the HBO series to change his overall vision for "A Song of Fire and Ice."