One can only imagine that the internet will split in two upon the announcement of the release date of "Winds of Winter." But right now, fans are still in the dark as to when that will actually happen, and in meantime are playing the dreaded waiting game, which is growing intolerably painful.

George RR Martin, the main man behind the bestselling "A Song of Ice and Fire" series that gave birth to the mega-successful award-winning fantasy HBO series "Game of Thrones," has earned the reputation of being a slow writer.

The 67-year-old is not very keen on providing a timeframe for the release of "Winds of Winter," although he has been speaking about why the sixth installment of his popular saga is still nowhere to be found. One of these instances happened in the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival.

During the event, Martin claimed that it is not writer's block, but distraction that is keeping him from completing "Winds of Winter," which he has been working on since 2011, when the fourth book "Dance of Dragons" was published.

"In recent years, all of the work I've been doing creates problems because it creates distraction. Because the books and the show are so popular I have interviews to do constantly. I have travel plans constantly. It's like suddenly I get invited to travel to South Africa or Dubai, and who's passing up a free trip to Dubai?" the author said via Uproxx.

According to Screen Rant, Martin can only write in his home. So when he flies to different countries, it is understood that he will be missing days or hours of writing "Winds of Winter." No other location will get his juices flowing than his beloved desk in his home.

Independent adds that the novelist also prefers to work in peace, without people bothering him. However, there are also times where he realizes how "daunting" the task ahead of him looks like, so he just chooses to, at least temporarily, "give up and sit down and play a video game."

It is widely believed that "Winds of Winter" will be published before "Game of Thrones" season 6 premieres in April. There are speculations that a manuscript was provided to the show's writers, which they used to outline the flow of the new season.

Martin won't give a clue as to when the book will really be out, although he has promised that when it is ready, he will personally be the bearer of the good news.