The long wait goes on for "The Winds of Winter" despite previous rumors that the novel will finally hit bookshelves this year. Unfortunately, there's still no solid news about the book's launch but new reports suggest that author George R.R. Martin may be busy with other things to focus on "TWOW."

"The Winds of Winter" is the sixth installment of Martin's hit series "A Song of Ice and Fire." Despite the excitement for the show "Game of Thrones," some fans are getting even more disappointed these days due to the lack of information from the author and his publishers.

A fake Amazon listing has disappointed fans immensely and many were annoyed over the glitch that gave them hopes of a March 9, 2017 release.

Recent reports suggest that there are other projects Martin is busying himself with these days, which could probably be the reason why he cannot deliver "TWOW" before 2016 comes to a close.

The rumors stemmed from Martin's recent talk with Deadline wherein he said: "I do have thousands of pages of fake history of everything that led up to Game of Thrones, so there's a lot of material there and I'm writing more."

The said pages are speculated to be the beginning of a prequel since Martin mentioned "history." While a prequel is very good news for the avid followers of the hit HBO series based on the author's novels, readers are worried that this prequel, if it ever happens, will further delay "The Winds of Winter's" launch.

Since Martin also said that he's actually writing more, some fans are starting to speculate that instead of working on "The Winds of Winter," Martin may be focusing on the said prequel for "Game of Thrones."

On the other hand, there is no official confirmation about the prequel yet so any rumors at this point should be taken with a grain of salt. For now, fans can keep hoping that the highly anticipated book installment will arrive in the next months.

Stay tuned for more updates on the release of "The Winds of Winter."