George R.R Martin fans have been impatiently waiting for a release date of his next book "The Winds of Winter." But if rumors are true, they won't have to wait much longer as the novel is said to be in the proofreading stage and is slated for a January release.

The sixth installment of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series titled "Winds of Winter" has long been overdue. Past reports say that the book will be available by the time the sixth season of "Game of Thrones" premieres, but obviously, that was not the case as that season has already wrapped up.

The worse news is that there have been rumors that "Winds of Winter" will be further delayed and will get a 2018 release window. By this time, the TV show based on the books will be entering its eighth and final season.

But according to new reports, the book might be released much earlier than expected. It is said that "Winds of Winter" is already in the proofreading stage and will be released as early as January. If this report proves to be true, expect that the January date to be postponed for a few more months in line with the premiere of the 7th season of "Game of Thrones."

The cause of the delay was rumored to be caused by George R.R martin's age and other distractions. The famous author was actually quoted saying why the latest installment of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" has been riddled with monumental delays:

"Unfortunately, the writing did not go as fast or as well as I would have liked. You can blame my travels or my blog posts or the distractions of other projects and the Cocteau and whatever, but maybe all that had an impact... you can blame my age, and maybe that had an impact too...but if truth be told, sometimes the writing goes well and sometimes it doesn't, and that was true for me even when I was in my 20s."

"Game of Thrones" season 7 will air next year most likely by June. Hopefully, fans can get a brand new book to go with it.