George R. R. Martin Biography, Books, Career, Age, and Family
George R. R. Martin Biography
George R. R. Martin, born George Raymond Richard Martin, also known as GRRM, is an American novelist and short story writer in the genres Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. He is best known for his book series, A Song of Fire and Ice which has been adapted into the HBO series “Game of Thrones”. He is considered one of the most influential people in the world as he was included in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential people in the world.
He began writing at an early age and sold his stories to neighborhood children. One of his greatest influences in writing was the late Stan Lee.
George R. R. Martin Age
He was born on the 20th of September 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States. As of 2018, he is 70 years old.
George R. R. Martin Family
He is one of three born to Raymond Collins Martin, a dockworker, and Margaret Brady Martin. He has two younger sisters, Darleen and Janet. The combined family had ancestry with French, English, Welsh, German and Irish elements.
George R. R. Martin Wife(s)
His first wife was Gale Burnick. The two met at an East Coast science fiction convention and got married in 1975. The marriage ended and in 1979, the divorce was finalized without a reason for it being known. Years later, he started an intimate relationship with Parris McBride. He married her on the 15th of February 2011 with a small ceremony at their home in Santa Fe. The couple renewed their vows with a larger ceremony and reception at Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention.
George R. R. Martin Career
He started off as a teacher at the Clarke University, then known as the Clarke College. He then moved on to be a Writer in Residence at the college in 1978-79. He resigned from his job and decided to become a full-time writer and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began selling sci-fi short stories in 1970 at age 21. His first book was The Hero published in 1971. His first story to be nominated for the Hugo Award and Nebula Awards was “With Morning Comes Mistfall“, published in 1973 in Analog magazine. His first novel was Dying of the Light published in 1977. He needed a day job as the money he got from his books wasn’t enough to pay his bills. He became a chess tournament director for the Continental Chess Association. He worked his day job only on weekends and as a writer for the rest of the time.
George is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and he served as the organization’s Southwest Regional Director from 1977 to 1979 and as the vice president from 1996 to 1998. George wrote and published the vampire novel Fevre Dream in 1982 which received praise for its strong atmosphere. Soon after, he wrote another horror novel, The Armageddon Rag which was an unexpected failure that almost ruined George’s career. He was forced to write Tuf Stories, collected in Tuf Voyaging, after this failure. He later got a job as a television writer and moved to Hollywood. After some time he became an executive story consultant and was hired as a writer-producer on the new dramatic fantasy series Beauty and the Beast; in 1989.
In 1987, he released a collection of short horror stories titled Portraits of His Children, around the time he worked as a book series editor for the Wild Card book series. He signed another contract with the 22nd volume of the series Low Ball published in 2014 by Tor Books and later the 23rd volume of the series High Stakes released in 2016. The Wild Card Series could be adopted into a Tv series by Universal Cable Productions after they took the rights in 2016. Most recently, he served as the executive producer of the HBO television series adaptation of the 2010 novel Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor.
A Song of Ice and Fire
George began writing the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire in 1996 with its first book, A Game of Thrones. The books in this series have greatly contributed to his prominence and have garnered notable awards and mentions from various well-known sources. The series is supposed to have seven volumes but till date, it hasn’t yet been completed. The book series rights to TV adaptation were purchased by HBO productions in 2007. The series began airing on their US premium cable from the 17th of April 2011 with the title Game of Thrones. The series has garnered widespread recognition and awards throughout its seven seasons. The eighth season of the Game of Thrones series is expected to b released in 2019.
George R. R. Martin Books
Title |
Year |
Type |
The Winds of Winter |
Upcoming |
Novel |
A Dream of Spring |
||
Fire & Blood |
2018 |
Reference book & novella collection |
The Sons of the Dragon |
2017 |
Novella |
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms |
2015 |
Collection |
The Rogue Prince |
2014 |
Novella |
The World of Ice & Fire |
Reference book |
|
The Ice Dragon |
Young adult illustrated novel |
|
The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister |
2013 |
Quote collection |
The Princess and the Queen |
Novella |
|
A Dance with Dragons |
2011 |
Novel |
The Mystery Knight |
2010 |
Novella |
Hunter’s Run |
2007 |
Novel |
A Feast for Crows |
2005 |
|
GRRM: A RRetrospective |
2003 |
Short story & essay collection |
The Sworn Sword |
Novella |
|
Quartet |
2001 |
Short story collection |
A Storm of Swords |
2000 |
Novel |
The Hedge Knight |
1998 |
Novella |
A Clash of Kings |
Novel |
|
A Game of Thrones |
1996 |
|
The Skin Trade |
1989 |
Novella |
Portraits of His Children |
1987 |
Short story collection |
Tuf Voyaging |
1986 |
Fix-up novel |
The Glass Flower |
Short story |
|
Nightflyers |
1985 |
Short story collection |
Heroes for Hope |
Comic book script |
|
Songs the Dead Men Sing |
1983 |
Short story collection |
The Armageddon Rag |
Novel |
|
Fevre Dream |
1982 |
|
In the Lost Lands |
Short story |
|
Windhaven |
1981 |
Novel |
Sandkings |
Short story collection |
|
The Ice Dragon |
1980 |
Young adult fiction |
Sandkings |
1979 |
Novelette |
The Way of Cross and Dragon |
Short story |
|
Dying of the Light |
1977 |
Novel |
Songs of Stars and Shadows |
Short story collection |
|
The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr |
1976 |
Short story |
A Song for Lya |
Short story collection |
|
Nobody Leaves New Pittsburg |
Short story |
|
This Tower of Ashes |
||
And Seven Times Never Kill Man |
1975 |
|
A Song for Lya |
1974 |
Novella |
Override |
1973 |
Short story |
The Second Kind of Loneliness |
1972 |
|
“The Hero” |
1971 |
George R. R. Martin TV Works
- The Twilight Zone
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Outer Limits
- Doorways (1993) – writer, producer, creator
- Game of Thrones
- Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015) – cameo
- Z Nation (2015) – cameo
George R. R. Martin Editor Works
- New Voices in Science Fiction
- New Voices in Science Fiction 2
- New Voices in Science Fiction 3
- New Voices in Science Fiction 4
- The Science Fiction Weight Loss Book (1983)
- The John W. Campbell Awards, Volume 5
- Night Visions 3 (1986)
Wild Cards series editor (also contributor)
- Wild Cards
- Wild Cards II: Aces High (1987)
- Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild (1987)
- Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad (1988)
- Wild Cards V: Down & Dirty (1988)
- Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole (1990)
- Wild Cards VII: Dead Man’s Hand (1990)
- Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks (1991)
- Wild Cards IX: Jokertown Shuffle (1991)
- Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire (1992)
- Wild Cards XI: Dealer’s Choice (1992)
- Wild Cards XII: Turn of the Cards (1993)
- Wild Cards XIII: Card Sharks (1993)
- Wild Cards XIV: Marked Cards (1994)
- Wild Cards XV: Black Trump (1995)
- Wild Cards XVI: Deuces Down (2002)
- Wild Cards XVII: Death Draws Five (2006)
- Wild Cards XVIII: Inside Straight (2008)
- Wild Cards IXX: Busted Flush (2008)
- Wild Cards XX: Suicide Kings (2009)
- Wild Cards XXI: Fort Freak (2011)
- Wild Cards XXII: Lowball (2014)
- Wild Cards XXIII: High Stakes (2016)
- Wild Cards XXIV: Mississippi Roll (2017)
- Wild Cards XXV: Low Chicago (2018)
- Wild Cards XXVI: Texas Hold ‘Em (2018)
- Wild Cards XXVII: Knaves Over Queens (2019)