George R.R. Martin
Before garnering critical acclaim for his epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, American award winning author George R. R. Martin traces his humble beginnings back to Bayonne, New Jersey. He was born on the 20th of September 1948. In his youth, he attended a Marist High School where he was first exposed to comics and the genre he would later become famous for. This fascination with comic books eventually led to George R. R. Martin winning an Alley Award, during his teens, for his work entitled “Powerman vs. The Blue Barrier.” Totally convinced in his new found passion, he went on to study Journalism in Northwestern University where he eventually graduated summa cum laude.
Afterwards, when his scholastic training was over, he pursued a career in writing. He received some success in this endeavour often being nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award. Eventually, to further expand his craft, George R. R. Martin also tried his hand at writing for Television. In this realm, his best known works would be his projects for Twilight Zone and for the Beauty and the Beast series starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.
To round up an already solid writing career, George R. R. Martin also became a professor of Journalism and an instructor at one of his other passions, Chess. His fascination for the fantasy genre never waned as he is still an avid collector of toys, comics, and other fantasy trinkets.
On his personal life, George R.R. Martin is married to Ms. Parris McBride. They were married only recently on February 15, 2011. In typical artistic fashion, their celebration was an explosion of creative thought complete with Celtic undertones and a wedding ring crafted by artisans.
Today, the name of George R.R. Martin is synonymous with the success of his serialized novels collectively known as A Song of Ice and Fire. This ambitious piece of work consists of seven books, of which only five are written. Its latest instalment entitled A Dance with Dragons was just published last July of this year (2011). It ranked number one in the New York Times Bestseller List as well as that of the Wall Street Journal’s. Its first book entitled A Game of Thrones has recently been adapted into a mini-series by HBO. It stars the likes of Sean Bean and Lena Headey to name only a few. The rights for the entire series have apparently been bought by HBO as well.
Despite his evident success and fame, what is most notable about George R. R. Martin as an author, is his personal involvement with his fans. He is a known regular at science fiction and comic conventions and goes well out of his way to speak, mingle, and interact with his fans. He is active on the internet forums discussing fantasy topics with those equally fanatical about it. Despite being adored by legions of fans, George R.R. Martin has been criticized for letting his readers wait too long before following up on his award winning novels. Between the one most recently released (A Dance with Dragons) and the one prior to that (A Feast for Crows), there was a six year gap. While being keenly aware of the sentiments of his fans, the author coolly responds that he has no plans of sacrificing all the other writing projects he has lined up just to rush and finish the series. For his writing philosophy, he is not a fan of fan fiction. For him, it is a disrespectful thing to do and should not become a habit for aspiring writers.
Official website of George R.R. Martin: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/
George R.R. Martin´s Blog: http://grrm.livejournal.com/
