Despite the lack of official updates about the progress of George R.R. Martin's "The Winds of Winter," fans of "A Song of Ice and Fire" still anxiously wait for the sixth installment of the novel series.

A recent interview with the author himself explained the reason behind the delay of the book.

At the Emmy awards night, the renowned author talked about the heaps of work he has on his plate, making it difficult for him to complete the highly anticipated book.

"I do have thousands of pages of fake history of everything that led up to 'Game of Thrones,' so there's a lot of material there and I'm writing more. At the moment we still have this show to finish and I still have two books to finish so that's all speculation," he said.

To some, Martin's statement meant that "The Winds of Winter" won't be released until the end of "Game of Thrones" season 7. The author indicated that the show has kept him preoccupied these days, leaving him with very little time to get the book done. On the other hand, he clearly hinted that despite the delay in its release, he is still obligated to finish the two books in the novel series, including "The Winds of Winter."

Fans hope that the book will be released early next year. A preview of the novel has been featured in the "A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition," which was released in line with the celebration of the 20^th anniversary of the best-selling book. The e-book was out on September 29 on Apple's iBooks and came with a price tag of $8.99.

Meanwhile, the release of "Game of Thrones" season 7 is set in mid-2017 on HBO.