George R.R. Martin may be under more pressure than fans expect as it is now rumored that he has already started working on the seventh installment in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Rumor has it that "The Winds of Winter" is currently in the proofreading stage and Martin has already started working on "A Dance with Dragons." If this is true, fans can expect "TWOW" to come around anytime 2017, as long as all works well with the author's publishers.

"The Winds of Winter" has long been delayed but it seems that Martin is determined to deliver the novel before "Game of Thrones" season 7 starts airing sometime mid-2017. If he fails to produce the sixth book in his "ASOIF" series, fans will surely be disappointed, considering that they have been patiently waiting for the book's launch.

It is further speculated that Martin has already started work on "A Dance with Dragons," and the seventh book will be released on the same year as "The Winds of Winter," though the former will be launched at a much later month.

It is worth noting that Martin has not addressed the rumors and the closest date that fans have for the release of "TWOW" is 2017 or 2018.

Meanwhile, Ty Franck, who was a former assistant under Martin, recently defended the aging author against haters who have been throwing insults at his way of writing.

Speaking with Winter is Coming, Franck, who goes by the pen name James S.A. Corey, said: "Actually, I built him the computer he writes on now, which is a state-of-the-art machine running DOS and WordStar 4.0," adding that while Martin is working with a high-end computer, he refuses to have an internet connection on the said PC. The reason behind this is because he doesn't want to risk getting the files hacked or losing the documents due to a virus.

"He's clearly one of the top writers in the field," Franck said of his former mentor.

For now, fans can only wait for Martin's official announcements regarding the launch of "The Winds of Winter" and "A Dance with Dragons."