George R.R. Martin is not dying, and ‘Game of Thrones’ leads Emmys

“Game of Thrones,” HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy novels, earned a leading 19 Emmy nominations on Thursday in North Hollywood. Meanwhile, over on the other side of the Atlantic, the 65-year-old Martin was responding angrily to the notion that he might not live long enough to finish the seven-book series.

“I find that question pretty offensive, frankly, when people start speculating about my death and my health,” Martin began, in an interview with a Swiss newspaper, before throwing in an expletive directed at his impatient and anxious readers. And lest there be any doubt about how he really felt, he flipped those readers the bird.

“Game of Thrones” is adapted from the series of novels Martin calls “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Six years passed between the fourth and fifth installments in the series, and as yet there is no release date for the sixth book in the series “The Winds of Winter.” The last book, “A Dance with Dragons,” came out in 2011.

As the Guardian points out, this is not the first time Martin has felt forced to defend the fact that books can sometimes take years to write. In 2009 he told his fans: “Some of you are angry that I watch football during the fall. ... Some of you hate my other projects. … Some of you don’t want me attending conventions, teaching workshops, touring and doing promo, or visiting places like Spain and Portugal (last year) or Finland (this year).”

In the best drama series category, “Game of Thrones” will compete with “Breaking Bad,” ’’Downton Abbey,” ’’House of Cards,” ’’Mad Men” and “True Detective.” The other nominations for “Game of Thrones” include three acting nominations, and nominations in writing, art direction, makeup, costumes, cinematography, casting and special effects.

You can follow Hector Tobar on Twitter @TobarWriter.