George RR Martin has, not in the slightest, mentioned a specific release date for the highly-anticipated, long-demanded and probably hollered-for sixth volume of his bestselling saga "A Series of Ice and Fire." Despite this though, he certainly has plans on when "Winds of Winter" will be published and this is what his good friend Alejo Cuervo dished out in a recent interview.

Fans have been clamoring for every bit of clue about the outing of the installment and Cuervo gave them a big one when he sat down with a radio show in Spain, which is why he is now hailed the new hero of Westeros. Cuervo spilled the beans and said as quoted by Watchers on the Wall that "Winds of Winter" is actually "planned for next year." Cuervo serves as the editor of Ediciones Gigamesh, which holds the rights for the books' Spanish versions.

 "They have promised us that they will give us the manuscript before the release date in English, but it won't be a big difference [between the dates]," when asked when the Spanish translation of "Winds of Winter" hits the shelves. As if the radio show host isn't convinced, he asked him again for clarification and there Cuervo said "Well, let's see, confident...but a meteor could fall."

This led The Week thinking that Martin's goal for the release of the sixth "Game of Thrones" book is set before the saga's series adaptation of the same name airs its sixth season, which is set for April. That means before this month, fans could be gorging on the book they've been waiting for four years now.

But Martin has already said that he follows no deadline when it comes to his books and he refuses to succumb to the pressure. One cannot forget his notoriety for pushing these target dates back too. That being said, it is still difficult to pinpoint a release date for "Winds of Winter" without the 67-year-old author's help.

Australian News Network recalled once about Martin's plans back in 1996 to wrap up "A Song of Ice and Fire" by 1998. Clearly, he did not imagine his novels becoming bestsellers and rating behemoths in the form of HBO's "Game of Thrones" when he said that almost two decades ago. The author admits that the popularity of his books have sidetracked him but he has already promised that he is tied to his desk and has no intention to have fans waiting for years more.