George R. R. Martin Is Happy 'Game Of Thrones' Is Over For One Very Important Reason

Although Martin admits that the HBO show put pressure on him to finish his book series, he tells The Guardian that his writing suffered from the stress.

"I don’t think it was very good for me," Martin says, "because the very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down. Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day — and a good day for me is three or four pages — I’d feel terrible because I’d be thinking: 'My God, I have to finish the book. I’ve only written four pages when I should have written 40.' But having the show finish is freeing, because I’m at my own pace now."

This revelation will surprise exactly zero of Martin's loyal readers, who have come to love his intricate plots and wide networks of characters. It does help to explain why he has published books like Tales of Dunk & Egg and Fire & Blood, however.

"Westeros has become very big," Martin says, "and I know that that frustrates some of my fans, who would rather I just keep to the main storyline as they see it, which is the seven-book Song of Ice and Fire. But almost from the first I’ve seen other possibilities, other stories that are buried there."

The Guardian interview goes on to note that, even during his pre-ASOIAF days in Hollywood, Martin preferred his "big, untidy, expensive first drafts" to the "pared-down and polished up work that was acceptable to the studio executives."

Prior to the success of HBO's Game of Thrones, Martin was a well-known author in science fiction and fantasy circles, who maintained a tight-knit community of adoring fans. Included among these were the Brotherhood Without Banners — a squad of fans who attended conferences and had drinks with Martin on various occasions. After the show became popular, the parties became "bigger and bigger and more and more crowded."

"They still have those parties and they’re still great, and I’m still friendly with the people I met back in 2001 and 2002, but I can’t meet the new people any more because there are too many. I’m sure they’re just as delightful as the old people, but I don’t want to go to a party where an unending succession of people want to take selfies with me, because that’s not fun the way it was in the old days. That’s work."

Not only can Martin not attend Brotherhood Without Banners parties like he used to, but he also can't go out to normal places, like bookstores.

"I can’t go into a bookstore any more," Martin says, "and that used to be my favourite thing to do in the world. To go in and wander from stack to stack, take down some books, read a little, leave with a big stack of things I’d never heard of when I came in. Now when I go to a bookstore, I get recognised within 10 minutes and then there’s a crowd around me."

Closing out his interview with The Guardian, Martin fields a question about his favorite scene from the ASOIAF books — and his answer isn't what you'd expect.

"I remember there’s a speech that a septon gives to Brienne about broken men and how they become broken," he says. "I was always pretty pleased about writing that."