Game of Thrones: 10 lesser known facts about George R.R. Martin

By now, almost everyone, unless you live in a parallel universe where alien abduction is a thing, knows that one man whom we can't thank enough for the mother of all drama series, Game of Thrones, is 'drum roll' - George R.R. Martin. For those who are still scratching their heads over this, worry not! You are in to find out a thing or two that even 'GOT' fans might not be privy to, yet. As Game of Thrones - Season 7 is inching towards its release date (16th July, 2017), it seems to be the right time as any to shed light on some of the lesser known facts about the author with the gifted vision - George R.R. Martin.

Born as George Raymond Martin on September 20, 1948, this American novelist, who penned the international bestselling book series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', on which the HBO drama series, Game of Thrones, is based, adopted the confirmation name (Roman Catholic’s adopt a ‘Christian’ name after baptism) 'Richard' at the age of 13. He started using it much later in his life though.

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Yes, you read that right! GRRM is a diehard comic fan. In fact the one of his first published works was a fan letter in Fantastic Four #20. In November 1963, a 15 year-old Martin wrote to the Fantastic Four creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in which he passionately talked about how he absolutely loved that edition of the comic book. GRRM, who grew up with a particular fondness for Marvel stories, attended his first Comic-Con the following year. What's more, he currently maintains a large collection of comic books which he still likes to read once in a while.
Speaking with John Hodgman on a public radio broadcast Bullseye, Martin described his fascination with comic books and how it exercised its influence on him in the following way - "The Marvel comics that I was writing letters to were really revolutionary for the time. Stan Lee was doing some amazing work…"

One character which Martin was particularly fond of was that of 'Wonder-Man'. He had voiced his fondness for the said 'Wonder-Man' in the following words - "I liked the character — it was a tragic, doomed character. I guess I've responded to tragic, doomed characters ever since I was a high-school kid." (Well, this explains so much)

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It's a little hard to believe but Mr. Martin, who is known for killing the Stark family unceremoniously, was nibbled like a snack by a mutant shark in the film. Reportedly, members of the Sharknado team ran into Martin at San Diego Comic-Con 2014 and asked him if he could do a cameo in the film. He gave his nod and asked them if he could hold a special screening at his Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe. A deal was struck!

(Image: Southward Films)

You know who people have a reading nook or a mini library in their homes, Martin has a whole tower built, right across his own place in Santa Fe, to house all the books that he owns. To say that it's impressive is an understatement.

Built in 2009, it also serves as his office space. The most striking feature of this majestic structure is a set of stained-glass windows with sigils of five houses from the Seven Kingdoms.

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The word you are looking for is 'ancient'. Mr. Martin happens to be a dedicated user of the WordStar word processor software, that ran on Microsoft DOS, which was the word processor used by the world's population back in the 1980s. You'd be astounded to know that he is not the only one who has a fondness for this outdated software, there are many other notable personalities, like William F. Buckley Jr., Ralph Ellison, Robert J Sawyer, Anne Rice, and Andy Breckman (of the TV show Monk), who use the WordStar 4.0 Computer that utilizes a DOS operating system.

In an interview with Conan O'Brien, George R. R. Martin explained his stance, "Well, I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do, and it doesn’t do anything else. I don’t want any help. I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lowercase letter and it becomes a capital. I don’t want a capital! If I’d wanted a capital, I would have typed a capital. I know how to work a shift key!"

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Back in his early 20s, while Martin to was trying to carve a niche for himself as an author, he ran weekend chess tournaments to pay the bills. Martin worked as a director of the Midwestern chess circuit for a national organization that held chess tournaments.

He was quoted as saying by a leading daily, "For two or three years, I had a pretty good situation. Most writers who have to have a day job worked five days a week and then they had the weekend off to write. These chess tournaments were all on the weekend so I had to work on Saturday and Sunday – but then I had five days off to write. The chess generated enough money for me to pay my bills. Chess really did mark a crucial turning point in my career."

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He has worked with the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary on numerous occasions, raising over $200,000 for the charity through competitions. Interestingly, he and his wife have named a pack of 10 rescue wolves after characters from Song of Ice and Fire series. He has also offered prizes, in the past, to the fans who are willing to donate money to the organization.

He was deeply moved when a 13 year-old kid from the United Kingdom sent the entirety of his savings (about £153) towards the cause. Touched by his gesture, Martin donated $10,000 to the U.K. Wolf Conservation Trust in his name.

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This might come as a shock to you that Martin had originally planned the 'A Song of Ice' to be a trilogy, but, thankfully, while he was penning down his third book, the idea grew on him and he decided to take the story forward. When he wasn't quite satisfied after finishing the fourth installment, he went ahead to write six books. It didn't end there, it gave birth to a new idea - A Dance with Dragons.

This one had a lot of offer so Martin, (on the advice of a friend) split the book in two (by character and geography) and then 'A Feast For Crows' was born.
Now we hear, hold your breath, that there might be an EIGHT book in the offing!

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Martin, who brings in some 15 million Dollars every year, bought the struggling Jean Cocteau Cinema in his home town of Santa Fe in 2010, which he reopened in 2013 after extensive renovations. It supports independent artists and writers, holds screenings of old classics, in 35mm and in digital, and hosts book signings as well.

In addition to that, it hosts live music and book readings and has a full-licensed bar. A small lounge area boasts of a bookshelf on which rest many of Martin's books and those of the up and coming authors which he supports.

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Martin had started a multi-author anthology series called Wild Cards in 1987, in which created an alternate history, starting right after World War II. In the series in question an alien virus covers New York City and wipes out 90% of the population.

Out of the remaining 10%, 9% become horribly mutated monsters and 1% gain superpowers. The ones with superpowers are called 'Aces' and then there are 'Deuces', a name given to those whose powers weren't of note. To put your brewing curiosity to rest, there IS a lot of sex and graphic violence in this one as well.

We can safely conclude that with the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, GRRM revolutionized the entertainment scene. He boasts of innumerable honours that were bestowed on him. A notable one was awarded to him in 2005, when Lev Grossman of Time called Martin ‘the American Tolkien’.