10 Interesting Facts About George R.R. Martin

1. As a child, Martin was into the business of writing short stories and selling them to other neighborhood kids. The demand for his stories was so high that he initially charged a penny but later raised his prices to a nickel.

2. However, he had to shut down his promising business when his stories caused one of the kids to have nightmares.

3. When he published A Game of Thrones (the first book of his ASOIF series), Publisher Harper Collins expected it to sell only 5,000 hardback copies. The series would go on to sell over 70 million copies worldwide.

4.After he had become an established author, Martin got his first writing job in 1985 for thereboot of The Twilight Zone.

5. Martin has professed that the Red Wedding was the hardest scene for him to write. He put it on hold until he had written the remaining scenes in A Storm of Swords.

6. He almost didn’t include dragons in A Song of Ice and Fire! He was reluctant at first to add them to the story but his friend and fellow author Phyllis Eisenstein convinced him otherwise.Imagine Game of Thrones without dragons! There goes some of the mystery.

7. At first, Martin believed A Song of Ice and Fire was so big that it couldn’t be adapted into a feature film.

8. In fact, he rejected several offers to turn the series into a movie until he met with HBO.

9. His first meeting with the Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss lasted for 4 hours. It started as a lunch meeting but ran through to dinner.

10. In a bid to gauge their knowledge of the books, Martin asked the duo, “Who is Jon Snow’s mother?” Their response impressed him and convinced him further to produce the show.

11. One of the things Martin is famous for is his moderate lifestyle. He has a networth of $15 but still drives his old Mazda.

12. According to Martin, his favourite character is Samwell Tarly. He believes he’s a lot like the character.