Frustrating 'Game of Thrones' fans, those who believed that George R.R. Martin would release 'The Winds of Winter' this Christmas, the author took to Twitter and apologized to fans saying that his recent tweet on the subject was misleading.

In fact, the author has confirmed that the release of the book, the sixth installment in the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, would be delayed further.

According to Christianity Today, Martin took to his Twitter recently to announce his Christmas countdown. The first tweet he posted read, "On the first day...House Tully came bearing gifts...#12DaysofWesteros." This was followed by another tweet that said, "On the second day...House Greyjoy ran out of power...#12DaysofWesteros #books #GameOfThrones."

These tweets led his fans to believe that he would either announce the release date of 'The Winds of Winter' or make some other announcement by the 12th day of Christmas. However, dashing their hopes, Martin tweeted, "#12DaysofWesteros is NOT a countdown to the release of WoW, we're sorry for those of you who were misled, just spreading Christmas Cheer :)."

In other words, this suggests that 'The Winds of Winter' will not be released any time soon. Earlier Martin, who claims to write just 250 words a day, had said that he himself is not sure as to when he would be able to complete the novel. When Martin was asked at the Sante Fe Film Festival to comment on the reasons behind the delay in releasing the book, he said it was not due to writer's block.

Martin had then explained, "Writer's block isn't to blame here, its distraction. In recent years, all of the work I've been doing creates problems because it creates distraction," adding, "Because the books and the show are so popular I have interviews to do constantly. I have travel plans constantly."

The author went on to say, "I don't write when I travel. I don't write in hotel rooms. I don't write on airplanes. I really have to be in my own house undisturbed to write. Through most of my life nobody did bother me, but now everyone bothers me every day."