Will George RR Martin ever finish "The Winds of Winter" or more correctly, will he still be around to actually complete the seven-volume "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel? That's exactly the plan, according to GRRM, adding not only that ASOIAF will see publication but also 30 more books in the remaining years of his storied life.

Martin, now 68, is looking to live another 30 years and each year put his pen to work in the hopes of releasing a title annually. The "Game of Thrones" creator made the declaration following concerns aired by fans - that he might not live to finish TWoW or for that matter ASOIAF.

In his reply, Martin reminded "I don't see speculation about the possibility of my death as any sort of compliment." The author also made clear, per CNET, "My own hope is to live another thirty years and write thirty more books."

The tense exchanges stemmed from the recent blog conversation GRRM had with his fans. Chiefly, the author clarified why he's not too keen on providing TWoW updates. The answer is simple - there is nothing new to report. Martin said he dreaded the thought of releasing weekly updates that dance around on the line "Still working on it, not done yet."

The GoT creator added if new developments on TWoW would be worth sharing, he certainly will tell the world. But for now, suffice it to say work on the book has not stopped a bit and remains underway. As Martin has indicated in an earlier blog post, "I AM STILL WORKING ON WINDS OF WINTER and will continue working on it until it's done."

And in a more recent piece, Martin shared the temptation is there to work on other book projects like a Wild Cards title but the priority at the moment is The Winds of Winter then "A Dream of Spring." In other words, while GRRM would like it very much to see his name credited for Wild Cards that will only happen when ASOIAF is over and done with.

But really, what would happen to the remaining volumes of ASOIAF in case of Martin's untimely death? Bustle.com pointed to an earlier statement made by GRRM and the gist of which - TWoW and the rest of ASOIAF will be left untouched. The balance of the books will remain unfinished.

Martin said it's unthinkable that the universe he created would be expanded minus his active participation, the way publishers tinkered with the works of Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum and lately Tom Clancy.

When he dies, there'll be no more Game of Thrones and The Winds of Winter. "No one gets to abuse the people of Westeros but me," GRRM declared.

But as things stand now, TWoW seems close to see its completion but unlike in previous years Martin is no longer dropping clues on when the book is coming out only to frustrate the fans. And it seems very likely now that The Winds of Winter release date will be delayed and printing will not happen until early 2018.