George R.R. Martin, in a departure from his previous stance of refraining from predicting a release date for his highly anticipated 'A Song of Ice and Fire' installments, has revealed that he hopes to finish the currently in-development 'Winds of Winter' before the sixth season of Game of Thrones that will air next year.

As reported in this article on Entertainment Weekly, Martin is working around the clock to finish the newest chapter in his long-running fantasy saga. "Having The Winds of Winter published before season six of 'Thrones' airs next spring has been important to me all along. I wish it was out now. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish. But I canceled two convention appearances, I'm turning down a lot more interviews—anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done," Martin shared.

While Martin's statements are far from a guarantee, the circumstances surrounding the yet to be developed sixth season "Game of Thrones" and the novel it should be based upon, "Winter", makes it doubly important to release the novel in a timely manner to allow the HBO adaptation ample time to catch up with television production.

Speaking about his current progress with the book thus far, Martin said that there are good times and bad times when it comes to how he views it. "On Tuesday, I think it's the greatest thing I've ever done. On Wednesday, I think it's all garbage and I should throw it all in the fire and start again."

The author also shared that he feels a bit of regret in not taking advantage of his forward momentum after finishing 'A Dance with Dragons', which he finished back in 2011. Martin explains that he was writing very well at that time, and wishes he could've continued straight into 'Winds' instead of taking a six month break.