Abusing or harassing George R.R. Martin is not going to get his next book published faster

Fans of George R.R Martin have been waiting for the final two books in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series for over 13 years now and are understandingly eager to have the author finish the books. That being said, just because you are a fan doesn’t give you a right to behave badly with the author. If you search on the web you will see multiple instances of fans cursing out the author or being mean to them just because he hasn’t published the book they are waiting for and that is just not right.

At WorldCon last week another so called fan took this to the next level by literally telling him that:

“Here’s the thing, George, you’re not going to be around for much longer, and this is a tough question I wanted to ask,” the fan began. “This is more directed at Brandon. How would you feel about someone else taking over and finishing the books?”

Who asks something like this to anyone? There are so many other ways they could have asked this question. For example, something Like: “You have been working on this project for a while, when can we expect the next book to be released and do you have a plan in mind for the series if you are unable to finish it for whatever reason?”. This ‘fan’ didn’t expect the backlash from other fans and authors and are now trying to backtrack and justify their behavior but you need to take a hard look at your self if you think that this is acceptable behavior and maybe get some help.

There are so many other authors writing amazing books that I literally don’t have enough time to read all the books that I want to, so maybe try another book while you are waiting for this one to come out. Mercedes Lackey published the last book in the Dragon Prophecy series after almost 9 years (and there are others that were published after decades) and guess what, the world didn’t end because she took longer to publish the book. Personally I would rather wait a bit longer for a book to be published so that the author can polish it and ensure it is good than read a half baked book that was pushed out on because of time constraints.

Check out the comments to the story at collider.com and there are idiots who are trying to justify this behavior. One example comment: “*I love George’s work, but come on, “Stan” has a valid point. George needs a little fire put under his butt to finish both books. For those who do not know, Winds of Winter has taken 14 years so far, and he claims that it’s only 75% finished. UGH…..”

Authors are not robots that are there to serve you and produce entertainment for you, they are human beings with human feelings and emotions. You really think George Martin is going to feel like writing immediately after dealing with this nonsense? Of course not. But for these so called fans emotions other than anger are for the weak, all they know is that their desires should get fulfilled immediately no matter how the other person feels as evidenced by the comment: “Ah, did poor widdle Georgie get his feeling hurt by da big bad fan?”

– Suramya