George R. R. Martin was born on September 20, 1948 in Bayonne,
New Jersey, the son of a longshoreman. The family lived in a federal housing project near to the
Bayonne docks. Being poor the young Martin
lived in his imagination and began writing and selling monster stories for
pennies to other neighborhood children, dramatic readings included. He also
wrote stories about a mythical kingdom populated by his pet turtles; the
turtles died frequently, and he decided that they were killing off each other
in "sinister plots." George
R.R. Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and then later Marist High
School While there he became a comic book
fan, developing a strong interest in the innovative superheroes being published
by Marvel Comics. Fantastic
Four #20 (Nov 1963) printed a letter Martin wrote to the editor, the first
of many. Other fans wrote him letters, and through such contacts Martin joined the comics fandom of the
era, writing fiction for various fanzines. In 1965 Martin won comic fandom's Alley
Award for his prose superhero story
"Powerman vs. The Blue Barrier", the first of many awards he would go
on to win.
Martin began to write science-fiction short stories in the early
1970s. His first story nominated for the Hugo
Award and the Nebula Award was With Morning Comes Mistfall, published
in 1973 by Analog magazine.
Although much of his work is fantasy or horror, a number of
his earlier works are science fiction occurring in a loosely defined future
history, known informally as 'The Thousand Worlds' or 'The manrealm'. He has
also written at least one piece of political-military fiction, "Night of
the Vampyres", collected in Harry Turtledove’s anthology The Best
Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century.
Martin was also a college instructor in journalism and a chess
tournament director. In his spare time, he collects medieval-themed miniatures,
reading and collecting science fiction, fantasy, and horror books, and
treasuring his still-growing comics collection, which includes the first issues
of Marvel's "silver age" “Spider-Man” and “Fantastic Four”.
On February 15, 2011, Martin
married his longtime paramour Parris McBride during a small ceremony at their
Santa Fe, New Mexico, home; the couple exchanged custom made, Celtic-inspired
wedding rings made for them by local artisans. Area friends were in attendance
and helped them celebrate the occasion. On August 19, 2011, they
held a larger wedding ceremony and reception at Renovation, the 69th World
Science Fiction Convention, in Reno, Nevada for their larger circle of friends
within the fantasy and science fiction fields.
Popular
books by George R.R. Martin:
A Song of Ice and Fire, Books 1-4 (A Game of Thrones / A Feast for Crows / A Storm of Swords / Clash of Kings)
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5)
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)
A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One
Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust (Song of Ice & Fire 5 Part 1)
The Lands of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones)
