Much has been made of George R.R. Martin’s slow writing pace, especially since David Benioff and Dan Weiss have had to go off book in part because Martin has yet to finish The Winds of Winter, the 6th book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Earlier this year, the author announced that he would be skipping out on some conventions and public speaking engagements so that he could dedicate his time to finish book 6 before Season 6, which, by the way, he also announced he would not be writing an episode for.

Admittedly, as a huge fan of the books, I was pleased to hear that he was dedicating his time and effort toward finishing the series, or at the very least, the next book. We know very little about The Winds of Winter, but Martin has released a few sample chapters on his website, including an excerpt about Sansa titled Alayne. Understandably, the anticipation for Winds is starting to build to quite a fever pitch, with fans much like myself thirsting for any sort of news or information about a release date.

Well, this isn’t a release date, but it’s something, as Martin has announced via his Not A Blog website that he will be heading to Conquest 46, a local convention in Kansas City, Missouri, as the Editor Guest of Honor, on Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-24.

Yes, I will be reading a chapter from THE WINDS OF WINTER there, and yes, I’ll talk about ICE AND FIRE and my other writing… but the emphasis at Conquest will be on my editing, especially the WILD CARDS series, and one of my two scheduled autograph sessions will be limited to the anthologies I’ve edited. Just sayin’.

So, if you have some free time, and are either in or around the Kansas City, Missouri, area, you may just get to hear Martin read a new chapter from The Winds of Winter. I say “may” because Martin did not say that it would definitely be a new chapter. Still, it would be quite a pleasure to listen to the bearded bard read any chapter from Winds, and to listen to him talk about Ice and Fire.