January’s Featured Author: George R.R. Martin
Most fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones are very familiar with American novelist, screenwriter, and producer George R. R. Martin. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire was quickly picked up by HBO and turned into the award winning series Game of Thrones. This January, we’ve chosen George R. R. Martin as our featured author of the month in order to take a deeper look at his writing career.
Born September 20th, 1948, Martin has loved writing and telling stories ever since he was a child. When he was young, he would sell his monster stories to neighborhood children for pennies. After graduating with a Master’s in journalism from Northwestern University, Martin needed to find a day job to support himself while he wrote and sold short stories on the side. He took a job as tournament director for the Continental Chess Association on the weekends and wrote during the week. This gave him time to become an established writer by the 1970s.
Martin’s writing is often at the intersection of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. In high school, he was heavily influenced by Stan Lee’s Marvel comics. In many of his works, he creates characters that have often faced significant misfortune and tragedy which gives them an element of realness, as well. Martin has also been known to kill off main characters citing “when my characters are in danger, I want you to be afraid to turn the page.” He also believes that while magic is an integral ingredient to his novels, it is important that all of his storylines are rooted in some reality or historical fiction. The suspenseful writing paired with intricate characters and an element of magic keeps readers coming back for more.
If you’re interested in checking out one of George R.R. Martin’s books, be sure to subscribe to our “Strange Worlds” science fiction/fantasy category in our BookCase.Club subscription service. This month, we’ll be sending you Nightflyers, a science fiction novella by Martin along with another sci-fi or fantasy novel! Once you sign up for only $9.99 per month, you’ll receive two books right at your doorstep each month. This month, get 20% off 1 month first orders with code “HELLO2021” and 25% off 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month orders with code “SAVEMORE.” Head to our website to learn more and discover all the genres we offer!
