‘The Winds of Winter’ Release Date: Is George R.R. Martin Struggling to Finish the Book? 'TWOT' Is Now His Priority

George R. R. Martin briefly came out of his “burrow” to greet his social media followers on Groundhog Day. Unfortunately, his social media update still did not include any clue about the release date of “The Winds of Winter.”

The Groundhog Day, celebrated every 2nd of February, is one of the oldest traditions that is still popular to this day. It stems from the belief that a groundhog that comes out of its burrow will see its shadow forcing it to go back to its hiding place and winter would extend for six more weeks. Given the elements surrounding the tradition, it was fitting that Martin made a social media appearance as fans eagerly wait for the release of “The Winds of Winter.”

In Martin’s social media post, he told fans that he had also “emerged from [his] burrow.” It can be recalled that reports from late 2018 claimed that the renowned author went to a remote location to finish “The Winds of Winter.” However, there is still no definite release date window for the book.

The author promised that “The Winds of Winter” is back to being his number one priority shortly when “Fire and Blood” was released last November. Martin has also admitted that he was struggling to work on “The Winds of Winter” “for a few years” while “Fire and Blood” was relatively less complicated to write.

“The Winds of Winter" is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players, antagonists, allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together against the march of time in an extremely complex fashion. So it’s very, very challenging. 'Fire and Blood' by contrast was very simple. Not that it’s easy – it still took me years to put together – but it is easier,” Martin previously told the Guardian.

Since then, there have been several speculations on when “The Winds of Winter” could be released. Some say the writing alone might only take a couple of months, but the book would still go through editing that might take a few more months. While many are hopeful that the book will be out this year, some fans are leaning to a mid-2020 launch.