"The Winds of Winter" is one of the most highly anticipated books among fans of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. It has been almost six years since the fifth book, "A Dance with Dragons" was released in the market. What is keeping the 68-year-old author from releasing his sixth book?

"The Winds of Winter" release date still remains a mystery among fans of GRRM's books. This will be the sixth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series since the author released the fifth one, "A Dance with Dragons" in 2011.

Some fans are growing impatient waiting for the release of "TWOW," especially because its TV counterpart, "Game of Thrones," is headed for its seventh season. There have been speculations that George RR Martin will release the sixth book before the sixth season, but it looks like the book will not be out even before the seventh season.

At the recently conducted Q&A with Martin, the "ASOIAF" author explained that "The Winds of Winter" release date is taking a bit longer than others. According to Martin, the upcoming book is all about winter, which has been mentioned in the previous books countless times, reports EW.

"Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world," he shared. "So this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for."

As Paste Magazine explains, Martin previously wrote in a blog post that "The Winds of Winter" already has "hundreds of pages" written, but the story is not yet done. This was posted on his blog over a year ago and up to now, the author has not yet provided any updates about his sixth book.

The publication notes, however, that Martin has no reason for pushing himself to release "The Winds of Winter" soon. Author Neil Gaiman also previously told a fan that authors also have personal lives to tend to aside from their obligations to write for their audience.