[Note: The following report explains the discrepancy in the total number of POVs, which GRRM has given as 19. 9 characters are carried over from ASoS and 8 new POVs have been announced so far. It appears that Sansa's chapters count as two POVs.]
Alayne is that missing POV.
...
Parris told us that George wants to write a trilogy about one of the Targaryen Kings.
She did not hesitate to inform him that he needed to finish this series first or might face a riot. So I guess this is a far-future event.
GRRM most assuredly stated the book covered more like FIVE months (not four) than five years. As drunk as I have been in the past few hours, I am certain of this.
The Dabel Bros, (Ernst, Les, and later on Pascal) were there. Seems they were ironing out a deal to adapt 'The Sworn Sword' into comic book form.
The Hedge Knight TPB is being released in a second edition with a new cover by Boris Vallejo and additional art by AMOK. Ernst and Les gave me a copy of this as of yet unreleased book. They also gave one to a few other fans. (Babyraven, Frisco, Banipal, and a new fan that came from NY to see George) The Dabels are really great guys...... they always have been. I went to High School with Ernst, and he is one of the genuinely good guys out there.
The unofficial BwB party was the hit of the convention on Saturday night. We made you all proud. (despite being kicked out of our first site for not being on the 'party floor.') We quickly picked up and moved to a new location and the party did not skip a beat. It was not to the scale of a Worldcon party, but it was QUITE large for a regional con. Parris, George, an the Dabels were there all night and were still partying when we made an exit at approximately 2:30am. Living on 'Worldconesque' amounts of sleep.
It's really really great to spend time with BwB members again. Babs, Yags, Banipal, Frisco, Arend, and of course Lady Stego, are amazing people to spend time with. I suck, but they more than made up for me. :P
From what I gather, AFFC is not finished yet, but George said what I stated he said about this summer.I can only asume he's on the verge of completion. He did make reference in the reading to the fact that he HAS to finish sooon. (Publishers being anxious and such.)
GRRM is here at Boskone again this year. He had an hour reading which I attended. I was at a previous reading so I didn't get to the room early. People usually line up early to get into his readings even though they are held in one of the larger rooms for a reading.
He had started on time, so I came in after he had already begun reading. I don't know if it was a 'new' Feast of Crows chapter, or a previous one that he was re-reading. He stated at Worldcon that he would only do one more reading with new material, but who knows if he kept to that or not. Anyway it was a Sansa chapter. It was good. He read for about 40 minutes and then answered questions and spoke about the situation.
He is still working on the book, though close to the end. He will post it as soon as it is done on his web site. It is only real when you see it there, not what publishers, or booksellers say. He has over a 1000 pages written, and possibly 1300 or is thinking he will end at 1300 -- not sure which, he was rather unclear. He said he had enough to send it in to be published, but he didn't want to end it with: To Be Continued. He wants the book to be something he can be proud of, and not just acceptable for publication. He is struggling with the ending of the book now. He also said he had most of the parts done, but was now trying to string it together into a complete whole that worked.
He knows where he wants the series to end, but he does not have a mapped out route of how to get there. He said sometimes he takes the interstate, and sometimes he takes a small scenic road, and finds really interesting stuff along the side of the road, and sometimes he breaks down. He then said that at one time he was talking about a 5 year gap between the end of the previous book and the start of this one. He announced that at cons and in interviews and so felt he had to keep to it even when it wasn't working for some characters - they just had too much that would have had to happen in the past and be explained through flashback. So he didn't change but kept fighting to make it happen. He finally realized he had to let it go, and throw out a lot of writing he did, and start over. He wants the 5 year gap because he wants the kids to grow up, but some of the adults have too much going on for that to work. He now thinks he needs to somehow put the characters on different time-lines, so that those who are kids can grow up, and he can still detail the adults activity. He said he has an idea how to do it, but since he felt trapped the last time he said what he was going to do, he wouldn't talk about the specifics.
He thinks there are going to be 6 books in the series, but he laughed and said that of the five year gap AFfC has only covered 4 months so far. Others have mentioned 7 or 8. He has a definite end to the series and there will be the number of books needed to get the story there. Then he talked about the next book which is tentatively called Dances With Dragons . It was supposed to be #2, then #3, then #4, and now #5. He said no matter how much he writes it recedes into the future.
He said even though he has started #5 it is not a case where it will come out 6 months after AFfC. Some of what was written is based on AFfC having the 5 year gap, so it will have to be redone.
He said the publishers have releases for all their books planned out for the year, and once you miss your slot even if only by a few weeks it may take months or another year for the next slot to come around - so he has no idea how soon AFfC will be out once he turns it in. He did say that he expects the UK version to come out first because their market is so small they have made an effort to push new US books through very fast and beat US publication -- they are trying to steal the US readers who are unwilling to wait. Simultaneous publication robs them of this edge, so they will push it out first.
He also mentioned that part of the reason for the delay was the expansion of POV characters in AFfC. He said in book one it was 8, in book two 9, and in book three 10. AFfC has 19 POV characters. He said it was due to him bringing in Dorn and the Northern Isles. He also said he needs to kill some characters off. He wouldn't say who. His favorite is Tyrion, but his is the last chapter he is having trouble finishing. He thinks it might split into 2 chapters. Bran is the character he likes least. Not because of the character, but because it is very hard for him to write from the perspective of a 7 year old, and then a crippled 7 year old. He also says the temptation when writing fantasy is to use magic to cure him, but he doesn't see that happening.
The other reasons for the delay is that he has been sucked into doing things associated with the books. He talked about the art, games, audio books, figurines and the graphic novels. He thought it would just be giving an ok, and then he is involved in picking artists, approving text. All things he enjoys but which also reduce his writing time. He is also going to be meeting with the people who did the Graphic Novel of The Hedge Knight and there may be more Duncan and the Egg Graphic Novels. He has had a few nibbles from Hollywood on ASoIaF, but he doesn't think they will be able to make a movie of the books unless they wait until the series is done and then find the central character - whittle the rest down to about 4 and tell a limited story from the POV of 4 or 5 characters.
He said in the last book (which I haven't read yet) the Red Wedding was the toughest to write out of all the writing he has done over the years. He wrote up to it, and the repercussions of it, but then had to go back and actually write it.
One of the fans asked how he was dealing with the danger that when authors got very big and were no longer edited that they produced less than wonderful work. The guy tapped dance around the question but GRRM knew what he was talking about. He said it was always a danger, and no writer likes to be edited, but he had editors he trusted, and first readers who gave him good feedback. He also takes his stuff to workshops and listens to the suggestions and criticisms. He said you have to worry about becoming self-indulgent and turning out crap. The only thing to do is try to listen to others, even though what you write and keep is really up to the writer, and be aware of the possibility. He said he thought the fans would tell him right away if that happened, and then joked that some thought it already had.
He attends about 6 cons or events a year. If he did any more he would have no time for writing. He knows he could get more done if he attended less, but he is unwilling to do so. He enjoys the fan contact and the perks of visiting different places around the world that now come with his success. What he is doing is booking events years ahead so he can keep to 6 per year and still not have to turn things down. He just agreed to do a writer's workshop in a chateau in the Dordogne in 2008.
So that is what I remember, if there are any errors it is because I didn't remember correctly.
Most of you will chalk this up for a gag or joke or something of that nature. I assure you that it is not. This is the forum with the most traffic, so I decided to post it here first.
Due to the recent change in art for AFFC shown on Amazon.com, one of my first questions for George at Boksone (on the way to a hobby store to look at toy Knights) was about the new cover art. He stated that it was an attempt to bring new readers into the fold, much like the original Game of Thrones cover.
He also stated that all of he other books would be rereleased with that type of cover, including Hardcover editions. (Big news for collectors)
He ALSO stated, quite definitively, that 'A Feast For Crows' would be released this summer.
This wasn't an estimate. this wasn't 'Don't even ask.' This was, AFFC will be coming out in the summer.
Book is as long as Clash of Kings right now.
Ran & Linda get a shout out for remembering everything about Westeros and maintaning the site. The Board and Loady got a shout out as well, so we may have a few new visitors.
Minor characters sometimes don't stay minor. Bronn wasn't intended to be as important as he is. Don't think he'll actually appear in this book.
George was on a panel at Worldcon about this exact subject [creating gods in fantasy]. He said that in the real world he doesn't see gods, but he does see religions...and he creates religions, not gods.
The other folks on the panel then went on as to how to make gods-as-characters work in a fantasy world...when George was asked about it later at one of the parties he scoffed - "You can't have gods as characters! That just doesn't work." (paraphrased).
Now, as to whether or not this means gods exist in Westeros is still up for debate. But it seems fairly clear that it means they don't exist as beings that can come down from on high and play with the mortals.
[Note: The following is a paraphrase of the reporter's statement.]
Martin officially said that Dunk was not knighted [by Ser Arlan of Pennytree].
[Note: The following report pulls together several reports on a similar topic for clarity.]
Trebla: Lastly....someone mentioned to me that George stated that he might want to someday write a book about Aegon IV. Does anyone remember George saying that? Again, this is 2nd or 3rd hand info, so I'd like to see if we can clarify it.
Ghost of Nymeria: In the discussion of anti heros, in the tradition of Flashman and etc, he said that he would like to do a book on Aegon the fourth.
Padraig: Yup...GRRM was quite attracted by the idea of writing a book based on the POV of a "villain" like Aegon IV. But I don't think we have to worry about it coming out anytime soon.
King Maekar I did NOT die in battle against one of King Aegon IV's bastard sons. That shoots down the theory that he died in battle against Bloodraven or Bittersteel.
The King of the Mummers probably will not make an appearence in AFfC but Harry the Heir might. It wil depend on where he decides to end AFfC and begin ADwD.
He likes writing Arianne Martell and Asha Greyjoy and again made the "the women are taking over" statement.
AFfC might not take up the 5 year "gap". He's not sure how long a time the story may encompass.
After reading us the newest Arya chapter, he will probably go back and re-write it. While reading it he found some things he might need to change.
He already has a 3rd Dunk and Egg story written and will probably finish it after he completes AFfC.
He also said that for A Feast for Crows he had about 1000 pages ready to go. He also said that there was maybe a few hundred that were written but not yet ready and that he was still looking for a way to end the book.
He related that he had "drastically reworked" the prolougue chapters due to thier inordinate length.
GRRM is still aiming for six books if he can manage it, which contradicts a prior report that GRRM seemed settled on seven books total.
Prior reports said the Iron Islands and Dornish chapters made up 12 chapters, 7 for one and 5 for the other. Os says it's 7 for the Iron Islands and 5 for Dorne, specifically.
During his panel on Shared Worlds, GRRM mentioned that he has a deal in hand with the Sci-Fi channel for a pilot for Wild Cards. The contracts are not yet signed, but the ball is in his court. The only details I remember is that the pilot would be two hours and that the long-term plan is for a weekly series. GRRM would not be involved except in the most cursory of fashion. ("My role would be cashing checks").
[Note: This report is pieced together from several posts by the reporter. It has been slightly edited.]
I did leave a bit early to get a spot in the George R.R. Martin reading. Which I did. Good thing I did because there was a very long line to get into the room, and I am not sure everyone made it in - and it was one of the larger rooms.
....
He read a chapter about Arya, and it was very moving, and well done. It was the first AFfC reading I have been to, I have no idea what chapter it was. He did say that after a reading he is giving in Seattle next week, he isn't going to read anymore new material from the book. He said it was getting to the point where what he was reading to the audiences was just a little behind what he was writing. I think he was also worried about reading the whole book before it was published, negating the need to purchase the book - though he didn't say that. After Seattle he said he would start to re-read chapters that he has already read. He also said he hoped not to be reading from AFfC next year. He wants to do Dance of Dragons next (it was supposed to be #2, then #3, then #4, and now hopefully #5).
He said several things about the book:
He is hoping it will not be as long as the last one - which caused technical problems for publishers in other parts of the world (they had to split it in 2 because of the size). However he said he won't just get to say page 1300 and say "To Be Continued" -- the book has to have an end even though it is part of a larger story arc. He is afraid though that if it is too large his publishers will refuse to publish it (not sure if thats really true or not).
Some of his problems have come because he has introduced new POV characters, and he really likes them. So he has more story to tell. At one point he was going to do a one chapter prolog that incorporated stuff from Dorne, and stuff from the Iron Isles. That became 2 chapters, then 12 (7 for one and 5 for the other). He realized he couldn't have a 250 page prolog that was all about characters that we have never met before, so he had to rip it up and start over. He wove the material in the prolog into the rest of the book. He is also finding that in some places where he was going to have a 5 year gap in when we see a character - that what the character does and learns in those 5 years was too interesting and important to skip over. So the story has grown bigger. The chapter he read today was somthing that he originally planned to skip over and then decided not to.
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Gaiman won the short story award and had nothing prepared to say, but his didn't say f*ck again. George R. R. Martin presented the award and said he took credit for Gaiman's carreer. Seems he once pitched Martin this story about a character called The Sandman for Martin's anthology series Wild Cards and he rejected it, which led Gaiman to get it published elsewhere and the rest is history. Gaiman said he didn't know what to do with the award - since he was on stage all night, and Martin offered to take it. It ended up on the floor next to the podium.
George didn't mention a page count, but he is clearly frustrated that Feast isn't finished. He did say he was closer than last year, but has no idea when he will be done, since he has been wrong before about it. There were 2 auctions at bubonicon one Friday and one this afternoon in each George had donated a audio book. I won both times, and have a game of thrones and a clash of kings in audio for a mere $40.
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Lots of jokes about George's big one after they mentioned Connie Willis Hugo's started mostly by Gardner Dozois. From questions on his reading is that he doesn't much believe in the happily ever after endings, he prefers the bittersweet ending much like the Lord of the rings. He did say he plans to continue doing the Egg novellas between novels. During the overrated/underrated panel he said that he felt Nueromancer by Bill Gibson is overated, while being a fine novel doesn't belong on list of top sf novels next to novels like Stars of my destination and another novel I can't recall. On underrated authors he mentioned Jack Vance and Howard Waldrop. also george asked Connie willis about Heinlein being her influence, and it came out that both Connie and George's first sf novel that they read was Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. Right now I'm jealous of the folks going to Worldcon, but I decided on World Fantasy this year. But I am so going to Worldcon in 2006 in LA.