George R.R. Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series that was turned into HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones, has signed a huge new deal with HBO to make content for the network and HBO Max, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s a five-year deal worth “mid-eight figures,” sources told THR.

Although Game of Thrones ended in 2019, HBO owner WarnerMedia has already announced a prequel series, House of the Dragon, based on Martin’s 2019 book Fire and Blood. And there are five projects in development based on the Game of Thrones universe, THR reports. Martin is also developing series for HBO based on the novels Who Fears Death and Roadmarks.

My worst fear, though, is that this huge new deal keeps Martin from working on the sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, The Winds of Winter. The author said in February that he wrote “hundreds and hundreds of pages” of The Winds of Winter in 2020, which was the “best year” he’s had on the book. Fingers crossed he’s been keeping that momentum going. The previous title in the seven-book series, A Dance with Dragons, was released in July 2011.