Is George RR Martin trolling himself over Winds of Winter delay?

Still, at least Martin himself can see the funny side in the six years and counting since he last released an instalment of his Song of Ice and Fire series. The author has posted on Twitter about his recent visit to New York City where he said, "everywhere I go people know me, stop me on the street, ask for selfies".

But Martin has found that "the only place I was not recognised was my publisher's offices, where the security guards stopped me and demanded to see my ID".

https://twitter.com/GRRMspeaking/status/893471977469607936

While it's highly plausible that Martin was halted on the door, it seems the writer is all too aware of the fact that his publishers may not have seen as much of him as they'd have liked in the past six years.

Martin's last major Thrones novel, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011, with fans hopeful that Winds of Winter will finally be made available in 2018.

Martin is due to conclude his series with A Dream of Spring with the Game of Thrones TV series due to air its final run of episodes in either late 2018 or early 2019.