Stephen Colbert questions George R.R. Martin about the delay of "Winds of Winter".

Stephen Colbert gives George R.R. Martin some benevolent grief about his epic fight to finish Winter Winds.

the Game of thrones the author was on the End show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night to discuss his new history book Westeros, Fire and blood. Colbert noted that fans are still waiting for his next epic A Song of Ice and Fire.

"That's 700 pages," said Colbert. Fire and blood. "Should not you finish Winter Winds all this time? Without adding to the chorus of "What took so long", it's a detour of 700 pages! "

Martin explained that his plan is to finish Winter Windsand then do the following of Fire and blood and then maybe release the latest novel Ice and Fire, a dream of spring.

"There are a lot of things to write," said Martin. "I should actually go home and go to work."

Martin also revealed a pretty touching and personal origin for Game of thrones you probably never heard of it before. Of course, Martin's direct inspirations include the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and other fantasy writers. But there was also an incident of his childhood that precedes his literary influences.

Colbert noted that Martin was wearing a purple turtle brooch and the author said, "I love turtles, my writing career began with turtles".

Martin explained, "I was living in Bayou, N.J., in a federal housing project. We did not have the right to have dogs. We did not have the right to have cats. So the only pets I could have were turtles – little turtles from dime stores … I had a toy castle. I could install two bowls of turtles in the castle. But the problem is that these little turtles from the dime stores are dying very soon. I gave them turtle food, I thought everything was fine. I could not understand why they would die. It certainly was not my fault. I decided that they were competing for the turtle's throne. They were competing for who would be the king of turtles. It was my first fantasy: Turtle Castle. He preceded Game of thrones many years. "

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