My Dysfunctional Relationship with George R. R. Martin

I’m having a dysfunctional relationship with George R. R. Martin.

That’s right. He’s so possessive, so demanding, so needy that I have no life outside the one I have with him—and oh, how I love spending time with him. I love his world, his words, his magic. I can’t get enough! But the world outside is moving on and I am still his, and his alone.

It’s not healthy.

It has to stop. I need to put an end to it. But I just can’t. 

I can’t.

GAME OF THRONES has had me in its clutches for ten months now. I have read little else since I entered this relationship. Instead, I spend countless hours lounging on the couch as my mind adventures through the world above and below The Wall. The Lannisters, the Starks, the Targaryns have become my friends, my family. I spy on them from afar--watching their triumphs, feeling the crush of their defeats, agonizing over their losses as if they were my own. Winter is Coming is the motto of House Stark. Let me tell you something, Winter is already here. I never leave MY house! I will read for hours and the little percentage gauge on my Kindle moves a measly two percent! Oh, the endlessness of it all!

It’s not healthy.

In the meantime, I have had other suitors. They have come to my door holding flowers of their tales. Their modest gaze cast downward, their feet tracing circles in the sand as I longingly brush my fingers along their beautifully designed covers. I wonder longingly about the adventures I am missing-- possible tales that will thrill me and take me away from my beloved dragons and direwolves, swords and crossbows, knights and ladies.

Here are a few of the suitors I have missed out on:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I know, I know. You are probably shaking your head at me. Sucking your teeth and tisking at my folly, “Girl, you are missing out on some good books! What is wrong with you? End that damn relationship with Martin. End it now!”

I know. 

It’s not healthy.

I’m on book five,  A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and I hope to god George takes his sweet time with book six (its expected to be released in 2015--thank the gods.) However, once he sends the call out regarding its release, like a war horn warning the Night’s Watch, I will come running. Like some wanton trollop, some filthy camp follower, I will leave behind whatever it is I am reading and run, arms outstretched, Kindle at the ready, to be reunited with my dysfunctional love...