'Winds of Winter' release date news, plot rumors: George R.R. Martin lost the manuscript? Fans boycott 'GoT'?

It has been almost a year since "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin announced that he had — for the second time — missed the publication deadline for "The Winds of Winter," the long-awaited sixth novel in the best-selling "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Still, fans who have been waiting for the novel for the last five years have yet to get an update on the possible release date for the upcoming installment. The anxiety has led to various speculations — from old rumors that Martin has given up on writing the novel to new reports that the best-selling scribe has somehow lost the manuscript for "The Winds of Winter."

While the "Game of Thrones" creator previously announced that he will no longer set a deadline for himself and will merely announce "The Winds of Winter" when it is finally ready to be released, rumors now indicate that the publication date for the book will be further pushed back as Martin has allegedly misplaced the manuscript. This is highly unlikely and it was suggested that because of this mishap, "The Winds of Winter" probably won't be out until at least 2018.

While the possibility of a world-famous author accidentally losing the manuscript that would cost him and his publisher millions, if not billions, seems highly improbable in the digital age, some fans have pointed out that perhaps Martin likes to save his work "the old-fashioned way." There are also suggestions that Martin uses a DOS word processor to write his novels.

In addition, there are also rumors that to force Martin to finish "The Winds of Winter" as soon as possible, some "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans have decided to boycott HBO's "Game of Thrones." The award-winning fantasy drama is based on Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" and the author is an executive producer on the series.

"Game of Thrones" season 7 is currently in production and will debut on HBO sometime in 2017.

Martin has yet to announce the official release date for "The Winds of Winter."