Game of Thrones fans, get ready, George R.R. Martin has shared another update on his long-awaited book, The Winds of Winter. While the news isn’t earth-shattering, it does give fans a little more insight into what’s going on behind the scenes.

In a recent interview with Time, Martin admitted that the book is still not done, and he knows just how long fans have been waiting. “That’s the curse of my life here. There’s no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I’m still working on it,” Martin said. “I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention.”

The book, which is supposed to be the next chapter in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, has been in development for over a decade. During the interview, Time editor Jeffrey Kluger brought up a funny comment from online: “We got real dire wolves before Winds of Winter.”

Martin seemed to understand the fans’ frustration. He admitted that distractions have played a big part in the delay. One of those distractions? Working on new Game of Thrones-related shows for HBO.

Martin also mentioned that some fans think he’s spending too much time on side projects, like his bookstore or a small movie theater he’s involved with. But he said those don’t take up as much time as people think. “I’m not behind the register ringing people up at [my] bookstore or running the projector at [my] theater,” he explained.

Another thing fans talked about recently was a photo of Martin holding a wolf-like animal that reminded people of the dire wolves from the show. He said that didn’t take much time away from writing either.

“You’ve heard exactly what role I played in the dire wolf thing. I’m sitting at home. I might’ve been working on Winds of Winter or a screenplay, and suddenly, Peter Jackson is on the line. I heard about this, and I traveled out to see it. The trip was probably like four days. I flew down to Dallas, we took the tour, and then we ate some barbecue,” Martin said. “It did not seriously impinge on the writing of Winds of Winter. But people make it seem—my more fanatic fans—as if it’s one or the other, and it’s not.”

So while the book still isn’t finished, Martin wants readers to know that he hasn’t given up. He’s still working on it — just not as fast as many would hope.

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