While Game of Thrones may be over as a TV series (not that that’s stopped fans from demanding a redo of Season 8), fans of the source material are still looking forward to the next novel in George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter. They’ve been waiting quite a while for this one, in fact, but luckily Martin was able to provide them with a status update this week, going so far as to hint when the book might finally be finished.
On his personal blog, he elaborated on how the coronavirus pandemic has given him more time to work on his next book. "The enforced isolation has helped me write," he said. "I am spending long hours every day on The Winds of Winter, and making steady progress. I finished a new chapter yesterday, another one three days ago, another one the previous week.”
Alas, Martin made it clear that it will still be a while more before fans can read it, saying, “This does not mean that the book will be finished tomorrow or published next week. It’s going to be a huge book, and I still have a long way to go."
As for when he thinks he might finish The Winds of Winter, Martin gave a small clue when he expressed his disappointment over not being able to attend ConZealand, a sci-fi convention in Wellington, New Zealand that had to cancel its physical event due to the pandemic. To that he added, “I can always visit Wellington next year, when I hope that both COVID-19 and The Winds of Winter will be done.”
Source: George R.R. Martin's Not a Blog