George R.R. Martin reveals battle with depression and 'nightmares' in rare blog post

A rare blog post

George R.R. Martin published a new entry on his "Not a Blog" on Monday, his first self-penned post since February 19. The 77-year-old author acknowledged the long silence, noting that subsequent posts had been written by his assistants, whom he calls his "minions." He warned that his own future updates would likely be "short and rushed." The post arrived amid a busy period for the Game of Thrones universe, with House of the Dragon's third season finale airing this Sunday and a stage play, The Mad King, having opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company to a sold-out first run.

Mental health disclosure

Martin described the past year as "stressful, to say the least," and said he had been overwhelmed by events both good and bad.

“This year has been... stressful, to say the least. So much has been happening, it's been overwhelming. Some great things, exciting things. Dreams coming true. But there have been nightmares too. I have lost friends. Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come. I turned seventy-seven last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun. But there have been amazing times as well.”

He added that such ups and downs were simply part of life, a theme familiar to readers of his stories. The candid admission marks a rare personal disclosure from the author, who has previously joked about his mortality. In a January profile, he told The Hollywood Reporter, "I never thought I'd live to be 77.... Maybe you should make that your headline: 'George R.R. Martin Is Not Dying.'" Martin turns 78 on September 20, just days after the Emmy ceremony.

Emmy hopes and disappointments

One bright spot Martin highlighted was the nine Emmy nominations for HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a prequel series set a century before Game of Thrones. The show, based on his Dunk and Egg novellas and starring Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, earned a nod for Outstanding Drama Series. "I am proud of our team," he wrote, adding that he hoped the series would take home several awards. He even included a link to an image of an Emmy statuette in the post. He expressed disappointment that the cast received no acting nominations, but noted "there's always next year." The Emmy ceremony is scheduled for September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Martin said he hoped to attend, though he cautioned that it depended "on a lot of things."

The unfinished novel

While the blog post did not mention The Winds of Winter, the long-delayed sixth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, the topic has shadowed Martin for years. He has been working on the novel for more than a decade, with the previous installment, A Dance With Dragons, published in 2011. Two books remain to complete the planned septology. In a January interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he described his struggles: "I wrote a Tyrion chapter I just loved. Then I looked at it and said: 'I can't do this, it will change the whole book.'" He also told the publication that he would "hate" not finishing the book. Fans have grown increasingly impatient, a sentiment Martin has occasionally addressed with sarcasm, once joking that he should find a replacement writer because he is "so old" and has "no interest" in the series.