Off to the Emmys

September 15, 2011 at 9:40 am

Flying off to Hollywood in a few hours for the Emmy Awards.

Last week GAME OF THRONES won an Emmy for Best Main Title.

And Sunday, at the televised portion of the awards, we’re up for four more. David Benioff and Dan Weiss for writing (‘Baelor’), Tim Van Patten for directing (‘Winter Is Coming’), Peter Dinklage for Best Supporting Actor, and… the big one… Best Dramatic Series. Where we will be contending against three-time winner MAD MEN, HBO’s other big new series BOARDWALK EMPIRE, the old line on-line network contender THE GOOD WIFE, Showtime’s DEXTER, and the fine high school football drama FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Tough competition.

I’d ask you all to wish us luck, but in show biz the preferred wish is “break a leg.” So let’s hope we shatter four legs to splinters come Sunday night.

See you on the red carpet.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

I’m Number One…

September 15, 2011 at 9:31 am

… in Portugal.

The first translation of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS is just out. And the gold medal for fastest translation goes to Portugal.

Mind you, my Portugese publisher splits each book into two volumes, so this is only the first half of DANCE… but even so, the first volume is in the bookshops, and I’m told it has vaulted to the top of the Portugese bestseller lists.

(cover art by Andreas Rocha)

So… which country will get the silver medal? Spain? Italy? Germany? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, back in the States, DANCE fell to #3 on the NYTimes list last week, and this week is down to #4. But still in the top ten, nine weeks after publication.

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Tags: a dance with dragons, foreign editions

Now It Can Be Told

September 12, 2011 at 4:52 pm

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER has broken the story, so I’m now free to comment on a juicy little nugget of GAME OF THRONES news that I’ve been sitting on for a week or so:

Neil Marshall has been signed to direct an episode for our second season.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past ten years or so, Marshall is the director of CENTURION, of DOG SOLDIERS, and — especially — of THE DESCENT, which I think may well be the best horror film of the past twenty years or so. (Do NOT confuse it with the sequel, a much weaker film). GAME OF THRONES will be his first foray into television.

And my comment?

That sound you hear is a high-pitched squeal of delight.

I love Marshall’s work, in case you couldn’t tell.

And what makes this especially exciting is that the episode he’ll be directing is… mine. Yes. He’s going to directing episode nine, “Blackwater.” The Battle of the Blackwater.

I still don’t how the hell we can possibly afford to do half of what I put into that script, but if anyone can pull off my budget-busting battle, it’s Marshall.

For more about our second season directors, check out the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER story at:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-neil-marshall-season-234126

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

The NFL Returns

September 11, 2011 at 10:58 pm

Football is back!!!

And life is… full of joys and pain, ups and downs.

My beloved Jets played the despised Cowboys in the season’s first Sunday night game, and played… ah… not nearly as well as I would have hoped. Though there were high points. Revis, of course. Plaxico Burress looked pretty good for a guy who has been in prison the past two years. Dustin Keller was great, as always, and LaDamian Tomlinson had a few good moments. Even so, the Cowboys came to play, their Rob Ryan D was much tougher than I had expected, and Dallas looked to have the game wrapped up early in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately, their QB is still Tony Romo. Who played really well for most of the game, as he often does, only to commit some truly horrendous mistakes at the worst possible times, as he often does. Thereby losing the game. Which is what happened tonight, giving the Jets a great if improbable victory. I really do need to buy a cardiac defibrillator in Jets green; I swear, this team is going to kill me one of these nights.

Revis deserves a lot of credit for the Jets win. So does Mike Westoff, Joe McKnight, and the Trufant kid who ran in the blocked punt for a TD. Oh, and Jim Leonhard, who ran down what would have been the Cowboys’ game-clinching TD and knocked the runner out of bounds inside the five, setting up the crucial Romo fumble that started the tide to turning.

But mostly of the credit goes to Romo.

As for the Giants… sigh… the less said, the better. They got embarrassed by the Redskins and Rex Grossman, f’r chrissakes. How humiliatin’. It could be a long season for Big Blue.

But hey… football is back!!

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Tags: nfl

A Taste of Cyanide

September 11, 2011 at 12:18 pm

Two of the game designers from Cyanide’s studio in Montreal flew down to New Mexico on Friday to give me a look at their GAME OF THRONES RTS game (that’s Real Time Strategy, for those of you who don’t speak Gaming), which is now done and will be rolling out Real Soon Now.

Now, I have to admit, I am far from being an expert on videogames. In fact, I’ve never played any of the current RTS games. My experience with videogaming was almost entirely with older, turn-based DOS strategy games like ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS, PIRATES, MASTER OF ORION, RAILROAD TYCOON, and the like. And as you can probably tell from those titles, I stopped videogaming some years ago (not because I did not like it — truth to tell, I liked it too much, and found that I was spending way too much time playing games on my computer when I should have been writing).

That being said… I thought what I saw looked really cool. And Ty, who DOES play a lot of videogames, seemed impressed as well. The gang at Cyanide (Montreal) have come up with some innovative features for this one, that should help make A GAME OF THRONES: GENESIS unlike any other RTS on the market at present. And fun to play as well, we hope… but that’s a verdict that will need to come from the gamers out there.

Focus, our publisher, has opened an official website for GENESIS. Check it out:

http://www.agot-genesis.com/

(Just to be clear. This is the RTS game, designed and developed by Cyanide’s studio in Montreal. A second videogame, an RPG, is also under development at Cyanide’s studio in France, but that one won’t be along for a while yet. The two games are very different, so please don’t get them confused).

Anyway, I enjoyed having the crew from Cyanide down here, and liked what they had to show me. I hope you will as well.

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Tags: games

Awards, Awards!

September 8, 2011 at 1:16 am

Hey, cool. GAME OF THRONES has just been nominated in eight categories for this year’s SCREAM Awards. We’re a finalist for:

BEST TV SHOW

BEST FANTASY ACTOR- Sean Bean

BEST FANTASY ACTRESS- Lena Heady

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR- Peter Dinklage

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: FEMALE- Emilia Clarke

BEST ENSEMBLE

MOST MEMORABLE MUTILATION – Head Covered in Molten Gold

and finally, the “big one,” the category called THE ULTIMATE SCREAM.

The nominees were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges whose numbers included Tim Burton, Darren Aronofsky, Edgar Wright, George Romero, Matthew Vaughn, Damon Lindelof, Neil Gaiman, Wes Craven, Robert Rodriguez, and others.

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in LA on October 15, to be telecast on SPIKE.
And while the judges picked the nominees, it’s the fans, viewers, and public who decide the victors. To cast your vote, check out the Scream website at http://www.spike.com/events/scream-awards-2011/

Congratulations to HBO, to David and Dan, and to all our nominees. It’s not every day you can contend for “Most Memorable Mutilation.”

Meanwhile, over at Airlock Alpha, GAME OF THRONES took home three PORTAL AWARDS:

BEST ACTOR: Sean Bean
BEST SERIES
BEST EPISODE: Winter Is Coming

For the rest of the winners, go to http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/08/2011-portal-award-winners-game-of.html

Congratulations to the Portal winners as well. And to the “differently victorious.” It’s an honor just to be nominated….

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Tags: awards, game of thrones, hbo

Don’t, Don’t, Don’t

September 5, 2011 at 6:05 pm

Elmo is a fibber and a drubber and a jock. He’s whispered to horses and conversed with dogs. A diamond in the rough, he is, but no pinhead.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

SubPress Announces ADWD

September 4, 2011 at 4:43 pm

Just got word from Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press — Marc Fishman has delivered the last of his artwork for their limited, illustrated edition of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. Some 90 interior illustrations as well as the two covers and the other full-color plates.

Here’s a look at one of the covers:

The text is now being proofed, the artwork is all in the hands of Subterranean’s book designer, and Bill hopes to go to press in about six weeks. Accordingly, he has announced the edition and made it available for purchase (for those with “rights”) on the SubPress website, here:

http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=martin09&Category_Code=PRE&Product_Count=18

Those who purchased the limited (numbered or lettered) of A FEAST FOR CROWS have first right of purchase for DANCE, and will have until the end of September to place their orders.

After that date, any unsold copies will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis to readers new to the series. Subterranean does NOT maintain a waiting list, so you can’t order now unless you are already one of the subscribers to the series. But there are always dropouts, so some copies should be available to newcomers. Not many, no, but some. If you hope to snag one of those, your best bet is to subscribe to Subterranean’s online newsletter, since that’s where their availability will be announced, come October. (And if and when you see such an announcement, ACT AT ONCE, or you’ll be shut out by those who do).

As with previous volumes in the series, the Subterranean edition of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS will be limited to 448 numbered and 52 lettered copies, slipcased, and signed by me and by artist Marc Fishman. The lettered copies will also include remarques by Fishman.

I have only seen a small portion of the art myself at this point, but I’m eager to have a look at the rest. Fishman is a major talent, and I don’t doubt that his vision of Westeros will stand right up there with the work of Jeff Jones, John Howe, Tom Canty, and Charles Vess on the first four books.

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Tags: a dance with dragons, subterranean

Still Dancing

September 1, 2011 at 6:13 pm

My dragons continue to dance… around the top of the NY TIMES bestseller list.

The latest list (for 9/11) will have A DANCE WITH DRAGONS still at #2 for hardcover fiction, one slot below the latest big debut, Kathy Reichs’ FLASH AND BONES.

The week before (the 9/4) list also had DANCE at #2, this time behind the new Terry Goodkind fantasy, which debuted that week.

And the week before that (the list for 8/28) saw DANCE back at #1, after falling to #2 the previous week/

So… seven weeks and counting, all at #1 or #2. Not half bad.

Of course, Stieg Larson’s THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST has been on the list for 66 weeks as of the September 11 list, and THE HELP for 106 weeks, so we need to keep this all in perspective.

But I’m a happy writer. Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven books, seven weeks near the top… I’ll take it, and hope for more.

Thanks again to all of you, my readers. You are the ones who made this all possible.

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Tags: a dance with dragons

Cage Match Pairings

September 1, 2011 at 11:56 am

Pirate and Bully.

Dead Man and Barman.

Corporal and Potato.

Gash and Nark.

And let’s all be grateful, the big dog didn’t get bitten.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Not a Blog

Off to the Emmys

I’m Number One…

Now It Can Be Told

The NFL Returns

A Taste of Cyanide

Awards, Awards!

Don’t, Don’t, Don’t

SubPress Announces ADWD

Still Dancing

Cage Match Pairings

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