George R.R. Martin
George Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
“-Hän vei pyydetyt lunnaat, mutta hänet ripustettiin joka tapauksessa.-Hirtettiin, Ami. Isäsi ei ollut kuvakudos.”
“She had no time for sleep, with the weight of the world upon her shoulders. And she feared to dream. Sleep is a little death, dreams the whisperings of the Other, who would drag us all into his eternal night.”
“As for 'too much description,' well, opinions differ. We write the books we want to read. And I want to read books that are richly textured and full of sensory detail, books that make me feel as if I am experiencing a story, not just reading it. Plot is only one aspect of telling a tale, and not the most important one. It is the journey that matters, not how fast you arrrive at the destination.That's my view, anyway. Others writers differ, of course. There are hundreds of books where everything is subordinate to advancing the plot, some of them quite fine, but my work has never been about that, and never will be.”
“Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.”
“My mother told me that dead men don't sing”
“The dream was green, and the green dreams do not lie.”
“There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.”
“Tears aren't a woman's only weapon.”
“Ask yourself why Aemon Targaryan was allowed to waste his life upon the Wall when by rights he should have been raised to archmaester. His blood was why. He could not be trusted.”
“Whites were bright as fresh-fallen snow, yellow shone like gold, reds turned to flame, but the shadows were so black they looked like holes in the world.”
“The sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler. Do you knows what that means?No. Is it a riddle?”
“If you share your pans with no one, no one can betray you.”
“I have been despised by better men than you.”
“be careful what you say. The gods may not be the only ones listening.”
“A sweet face oft hides a sinner's heart.”
“Who are you?We we're king's men when we began, the man told her, but king's men must have a king, and we have none. We were brothers too, but now our brotherhood is broken. I do not know who we are, if truth be told, nor where we might be going. I only know the road is dark. The fires have not shown me what lies at its end.”
“This is an evil dream, she thought. But if she were dreaming, why did it hurt so much?She tried to ask the shadows, but they did not answer. Perhaps they did not hear her. Perhaps they were not real.”
“The snow fell steadily, cloaking all the world in white.”
“I remember a man throwing me in the air when I was very little. He stands as tall as the sky, and he throws me up so high it feels as though I'm flying. We're both laughing, laughing so much that I could hardly catch a breath, and finally I laugh so hard I wet myself, but that only makes him laugh the louder. I was never afraid when he was throwing me. I knew that he would always be there to catch me.”
“he'd told her that young girls were always happiest with older men. Innocence and experience make for a perfect marriage.”
“No one sang up there. No one ever laughed too loud. Even the gods were silent.”
“You disappoint me, Arianne.Said the crow to the raven. You have been disappointing me for years, Father.”
“Best stop swallowing, you're like to choke on it.”
“If? The word is when.”
“I told them to place a cyvasse table in your chambers.""Who was I supposed to play with?""Yourself. Sometimes it is best to study a game before you attempt to play it. How well do you know the game, Arianne?""Well enough to play.""But not to win. My brother loved the fight for its own sake, but I only played such games as I can win.”
“Half of the Ullers are half-mad, the saying went, and the other half are worse.”
“Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt.”
“And she would weep. When he saw tears rolling down her face, he would forgive her.She was less certain whether she would forgive herself.”
“I think you go to some hell for that. One o'the bad ones.”
“In a world so full of treachery, that was worth a few kisses.”
“I need to sleep, but fear to dream.”
“Are you blind or bought?”
“A fish on a leash, he said, chortling. There's a sight I never saw before.”
“You heard me. Go away.But... where should I go?To hell or home, as you prefer.”
“Would you throw your life away for pride?”
“May the Father judge him justly.Now, there's an awful prospect.”
“Men will always underestimate you, he said, and their pride will make them want to vanquish you quickly, lest it be said that a woman tried them sorely. Let them spend their strength in furious attacks, whilst you conserve your own. Wait and watch, girl, wait and watch.”
“Your lips were made for kissing.They are lips. All lips are the same.And all lips are made for kissing.”
“I have the virtue of being still amongst the living. Some would say that is my only virtue.”
“It is being common-born that is dangerous, when the great lords play their game of thrones.”
“The sun will soon be setting, and corpses make poor company by night. These were dark and dangerous men, alive. I doubt that death will have improved them.”
“Bad dreams never come true. The both of them had been so young, that had sounded almost wise.”
“Can our morrows be foretold?Your Grace might ask instead should our morrows be foretold? And to that I should answer no. Some doors are best left closed.See that you close mine as you leave.”
“But the girl did not have sense enough to be afraid.”
“If sinners speak, why should the righteous listen?”
“The gods are never that good.”
“Titles were cheaper than dirt, and the riverlands were full of ruined castles, standing desolate amidst untended fields and burned villages.”
“The dungeons are windowless. One hour is much like another down there, and for me, all hours are midnight.”
“You took me unawares, my lord. I was not told of your coming." - "And I seem to have prevented yours.”
“All you Westerosi make a shame of loving. There is no shame in loving. If your septons say there is, your seven gods must be demons. In the isles we know better. Our gods gave us legs to run with, noses to smell with, hands to touch and feel. What mad cruel god would give a man eyes and tell him he must forever keep them shut, and never look at all the beauty in the world? Only a monster god, a demon of the darkness.”