'Winds of Winter' News: George RR Martin To Release New 'Game of Thrones' Story This October

George RR Martin may be hard at work finishing the sixth book in A Song of Ice and Fire series - Winds of Winter but there has been no guarantee that the book will come out this year. Fans who are waiting for new material to come out about the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros may be relieved to know that they might get their fix this October with a new short story from the author.

It can be recalled that in an unprecedented event, HBO's Game of Thrones series has already surpassed the events of the book series last season when it tackled the events of Winds of Winter, even before the book is published resulting in some spoilers about key events in Martin's fictional universe.

However, in a recent post on his online journal, the author admitted that while he working hard at completing the novel he could not assure that the book will come out this year. Martin has admitted to being a notoriously slow writer, reported Vanity Fair.

"I think it will be out this year. But hey, I thought the same thing last year," he addressed a fan query in the thread.

However, even if the book does not come out this year in a worst case scenario, fans would have something to look forward to with a much more concrete time frame.

An Amazon listing reported by Vulture spotted a possible new Game of Thrones story within the anthology material called "Book of Swords" which was described as "Fifteen original tales celebrating fantasy's golden age of sword and sorcery, including a new story from George R. R. Martin set in the world of A Game of Thrones!"

The book is expected to come out on October 10 and is edited by renowned sci fi writer and editor Gardner Dozois, who has won 14 Hugo Awards throughout his career. It is uncertain though if the short story will play a crucial role in the events of the book version of Winds of Winter.