'Game of Thrones' fans shouldn't give up hope that George R.R. Martin is making progress on his long-promised book series

• More "Game of Thrones"-related projects continue to be announced.
• Now people are more pessimistic about creator George R.R. Martin's ability to finish his books.
• By looking at the writer's blog updates, there's still hope we'll get the rest of the story soon.

For the last year, a steady stream of news reports about a downright bevvy of "Game of Thrones" prequel projects has resulted in a familiar uptick of pessimism around George R.R. Martin's ability to finish his promised seven-book series.

But I'm here, at risk of outing myself as a "sweet summer child," to argue that we have no tangible reason to believe Martin won't one day finish his epic series.

While it's been a rough ride for fans, and I'm certainly empathetic to those of us who have dropped any expectation that the next book will be on store shelves soon, here are a few reasons why you should still have a modicum of hope.

During the later seasons of 'Game of Thrones,' Martin stopped giving book updates. But in the last year, he's revitalized the progress reports.

For those who haven't been reading Martin's "Not A Blog" blog for the last seven years or so, you may not realize the significant change that took place starting last year.

Martin originally thought he'd finish the next book in his planned seven-book "A Song of Ice and Fire" series well before HBO's adaptation, which wrapped in May 2019, could catch up with him.

But as "Game of Thrones" skyrocketed in popularity, Martin struggled to balance his book-writing time with the new responsibilities and joys that came with being a suddenly world-famous author. He stopped making predictions for when the sixth book, "The Winds of Winter" would be done, taking lessons from his failed estimations with earlier books.

In 2016, he shared a brutal blog post outlining how disappointed he was in himself for failing to meet his publisher's deadlines. Then the blog went dark on "The Winds of Winter" updates, and the show pressed on with its three final seasons.

That's why, throughout 2020, it felt so exciting to see Martin suddenly giving "The Winds of Winter" writing updates to fans regularly.

Here are quotes from the last three blogs that mentioned the book:

• November 8, 2020: "I was really on a roll back in June and July. Progress has continued since then, but more slowly…I suffered a gut punch in early August that really had me down for a time, and another, for different reasons, in early September. But I slogged on, and of late I am picking up steam again."
• February 2, 2021: "I wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of THE WINDS OF WINTER in 2020. The best year I've had on WOW since I began it. Why? I don't know. Maybe the isolation. Or maybe I just got on a roll...I still have hundreds of more pages to write to bring the novel to a satisfactory conclusion. That's what 2021 is for, I hope."
• March 11, 2021: "I need to finish WINDS, and then maybe write another Dunk & Egg novella, and then get right into A DREAM OF SPRING, and in between edit some more Wild Cards books. Once more into the breach, dear friends…Westeros beckons."

These updates are where my mind goes whenever I see a fan or critic claim that Martin has "lost all interest" in finishing the books, or that he's deliberately taking on more than he can chew because he only cares about profiting from his unfinished story. Those claims are at odds with what the man himself is telling us with his own words.

All the 'Game of Thrones' prequel TV shows and projects in the works shouldn't lead fans to believe Martin isn't dedicated.

The headlines connected to these projects often emphasize Martin's involvement, because he's the most famous name attached to them. But there's usually a different lead writer on these projects, which means you shouldn't assume the various prequels are going to be a big time-suck for Martin.

For the HBO prequel shows, Martin said he worked in a consultant-style role on the initial pitches, and is credited as an executive producer. Because of this, fans shouldn't assume he's taking on a new pile of writing work in connection to any of the TV shows being developed.

The only upcoming writing-related task we have reporting on is the new play, which will tell the story of the Tourney at Harrenhal. But The Hollywood Reporter says Martin is in charge of the story for that production, and he's working "alongside" a playwright, meaning he might not actually be putting pen to paper.

The Tourney at Harrenhal isn't a even a new story - it's a tale Martin has already plotted out and written within the context of his "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels. So he could have a very well already have his work for that project done and dusted, and is leaving the bigger time commitment up to the team involved.

Martin told fans 'The Winds of Winter' was his priority ahead of any work on the prequels. There's no reason to assume that's changed.

Here are Martin's own words when it comes to the prospect of him writing TV scripts:

"But…let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered WINDS OF WINTER," Martin wrote in an October 2019 blog post. "Winter is still coming, and WINDS remains my priority."

There are many complicated reasons why Martin hasn't finished his books yet, most of which I reported on five years ago. But as long as he is consistently communicating to fans about actively writing "The Winds of Winter" (which he has done for the last two years), saying "he's given up" is nonsensical.

I understand the frustration, the disappointment, and the sadness that many people are feeling. At this point, fans are better off having no expectations about when the book will arrive. But lowered expectations should not give way to pessimistic assumptions about Martin's personal feelings and progress in the series.

"The Winds of Winter" is coming, and we can deal with the prospect of "A Dream of Spring" after that. In the meantime, join me in being a sweet summer child.