George R.R. Martin has been quite the busy man lately. Despite missing last week’s San Diego Comic-Con (the right decision, to hear him tell it), the author just returned home to Santa Fe, New Mexico from a trip to Europe, right before he jetted off to Chicago for a Grateful Dead concert. Martin’s main reasoning for pulling back from events like SDCC was so he could focus more attention on the sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, which he has aptly nicknamed “Son of Kong.”

In a recent post on his Not a Blog, George talked about going to a wedding, presumably on Staten Island, during the first week of August, and while he’s there, he plans on meeting with his editors and publishers.

So I’m headed east the first week of August… for a wedding, yes, and no, that’s private, so you don’t get to hear any more about it… but I am going to see my editors and publishers and agents while I am in town, and do some other fun stuff… including a ball game.

More on the ballgame and the incredibly neat Game of Thrones-inspired theme later. What sticks out to me is that the Bearded Bard himself has emphatically stated that the only site that would announce the release date for The Winds of Winter will be his Not a Blog. Also of note: in another post, Martin said that he would be attending WorldCon, despite saying earlier that he would probably be skipping the event to concentrate on Winds. So, does his statement about meeting with editors and publishers mean that The Winds of Winter is near completion? If I were a betting man (which I’m not), I would say yes.

Of course, he could just miss his pals who happen to be editors and publishers, and just wants to take them out for a nice dinner of honeyed-roasted chicken, roast onions dripping with brown gravy, bread trenchers, suckling pig, pigeon pie, turnips soaking in butter, and honeycombs. Oh, and lots of wine.

Now about that baseball game. George stated that he will be catching a baseball game while in Staten Island, and it just so happens that the team is hosting a Game of Thrones night. The Staten Island Yankees will change their names to the Staten Island Direwolves on August 8, when the team plays their rival the Hudson Valley Renegades who will wear the gold and red of House Lannister with the Lion of Lannister sigil on their uniforms.

The first 2,500 fans through the gates on August 8 will get a free baseball cap with the Direwolf logo. There will be a special fund-raising lottery on behalf of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary (Of which Martin and his wife are benefactors), and the winners will take home the actual Stark and Lannister game jerseys worn by the players.

Martin will also be on hand to do some signing of stuff:

I will be signing a few books for lucky fans as well, and making an appearance, and the good folks from Wild Spirit will also be on hand, with one of their wolves.

Sounds like a blast will be had on August 8, so if you live in the area, get over to the ball field and get your book(s) signed by GRRM, and be the 1,000,000,000 person to ask him when The Winds of Winter is coming out! I’m only kidding, please don’t do that…he’ll kill another Stark.