It appears that 'A Song of Ice and Fire' author George R.R. Martin will be busy with the next book in his series, so much so that he has recently opted out for helping write the next season of 'Game of Thrones.'

Martin has also opted out of writing any scripts for this current season for the same reason. 'The Winds of Winter' has been such a long awaited title, and the increase in popularity of the books and television series has driven the author to really buckle down.

His devotion has even made him declare his absence from public appearances.

"Martin told EW last month that he's making every effort to finish the next book in his Song of Ice and Fire saga before the sixth season of the series based on his novels debuts next year. Game of Thrones' storyline is expected to move beyond the events chronicled in Martin's most recent novel (2011's A Dance with Dragons). Martin has also cut back on doing media interviews, and he's canceled planned convention appearances, including July's San Diego-based mega-conference Comic-Con, as well," writes EW.

The books and television series has recently been announced to be splitting ways very soon, so the author is in no way obligated to finish the books in an allotted amount of time. 'Game of Thrones' fans will actually soon see the series surpass the books.

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish," Martin told EW. "But I canceled two convention appearances, I'm turning down a lot more interviews-anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done."

'The Winds of Winter' does not yet have a release date, but is expected to first be announced on his blog.