It's been no secret that Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin has had difficulty finishing the sixth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, with the HBO TV series officially overtaking and diverging from the novels thanks to the long delays. In fact, since the HBO series started, only one novel in the series, A Dance with Dragons, has been released, and that was all the way back in 2011. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, he's opened up about the upcoming sixth entry in the series.

"I know there are a lot of people out there who are very angry with me that Winds of Winter isn’t finished," he explained. "And I’m mad about that myself. I wished I finished it four years ago. I wished it was finished now. But it’s not. And I’ve had dark nights of the soul where I’ve pounded my head against the keyboard and said, 'God, will I ever finish this? The show is going further and further forward and I’m falling further and further behind. What the hell is happening here? I’ve got to do this.'”

With the huge increase of popularity for the series following the HBO show, there must be a ridiculous amount of pressure felt by the author. On Nov. 20 he'll be releasing his book Fire & Blood, which details the complete history of House Targaryen from the series. The Winds of Winter, however, still doesn't have a firm release date. Speaking about Fire & Blood, he said it was "emotionally a big lift" for him following the pressure to finish Winds of Winter.

When Winds of Winter does finally arrive, R. R. Martin has said that he plans to finish it all off with A Dream of Spring, the seventh and final novel in the series. The TV series, however, is set to wrap up next year with its eighth season.

Head over to Entertainment Weekly to read the full interview.