This was George R.R. Martin’s initial response to the news, the “happy dance” he promised to perform if the news from HBO was good. And it was. He’s since followed up with thanks for the outpouring of congratulations. He does note that for the most part, David Benioff and Dan Weiss—executive producers of the show—will be closer to any news, as they’ll be working on it on a regular basis while GRRM will stay in Santa Fe.
And in other news? He notes A Dance with Dragons has hit 1311 manuscript pages, which is up another 50 or 60 pages from his last page count, showing good progress. “No, not done yet,” he adds.