How 'Game of Thrones' author George R.R. Martin went from chess captain and journalism professor to a reported net worth of $15 million

• George R.R. Martin was already a successful author when he began to write "A Song of Ice and Fire" in 1991

• He has been writing stories since childhood

• Before his writing career took off, Martin was a chess tournament director and a journalism professor

In the summer of 1991, a startling scene popped into George R.R Martin's mind.

A boy watched a man get beheaded, and then found some dire wolf pups in the snow.

"It just came to me so strongly and vividly that I knew I had to write it," he told Rolling Stone.

So Martin began to write "Game of Thrones," the first installment in the series that would become "A Song of Ice and Fire." The book was published in 1996 and sales were "solid," according to the Guardian.

However, Martin's idea would ultimately snowball into a huge success. As of 2016, the Guardian reported that the books have sold 70 million copies. The series also launched HBO's smash hit "Game of Thrones" in 2011.

According to Forbes, Martin is now worth $15 million. But how exactly did this New Jersey native come to be one of the most talked about authors in the US?

Here's a look at the life of the man who Time once dubbed the "American Tolkien":