Birthday of Thrones

SF/F luminary George R.R. Martin was born on this day in 1948. According to The Writer’s Almanac, Martin was “named as one of Time magazine’s ‘100 most influential people in the world’ in 2011 and dubbed the ‘American Tolkien,’ Martin is most famous for his best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire.”

The epic fantasy series of seven planned novels -- only five of which have been published so far -- was recently adapted for HBO’s drama Game of Thrones, which was also the title of the first volume in Martin's series. The television show, which debuted this spring, was such an instant critical and commercial success that it was renewed for a second season immediately following its premiere.

Martin, a former writer on The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast, got his start selling monster stories to kids in his neighborhood.

January Magazine spent some time with Martin back in 2001. That interview is here.