George R.R. Martin did some Sunday night Livejournal blogging yesterday, addressing his involvement in four in-development Game of Thrones spinoffs recently announced by HBO. Uncommonly for Martin, who loves to tease fans with vague promises about the long-awaited sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, the post contained some useful and specific information.

For starters, there are now five spinoffs in development, though Martin said he wouldn’t name the fifth writer. The only hint he added was that the writer is a “great guy and a fine writer” and he loves the world of Westeros a lot.

Martin also addressed some speculation about which of his stories the new series might follow, squashing the popular demand for a show about Robert’s Rebllion — the conflict that occurs shortly before the beginning of the current series and pits Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon against the “Mad King,” Daenerys’ father.

Martin explained that choice adding, “By the time I finish writing A Song of Ice and Fire, you will know every important thing that happened in Robert's Rebellion. There would be no surprises or revelations left in such a show, just the acting out of conflicts whose resolutions you already know.”

Some other things the spinoff shows won’t be about: any characters that viewers have previously met on Game of Thrones or the popular prequel novellas Tale of Dunk and Egg. Martin says all five pilot scripts will be prequels, but he’d prefer you call them “successor shows.” Martin himself pitched two different ideas to HBO in August 2016, and he says one of those ideas is currently being developed by one of the five writers. Some of the scripts might not even be set in Westeros, though Martin says he has no idea how many will actually make it to air.

He also clarified that he has met with all four writers (originally Variety reported that he was working with two of them), to drink margaritas and talk about his books.

Speaking of his books: “And yes, before someone asks, I AM STILL WORKING ON WINDS OF WINTER (emphasis his) and will continue working on it until it's done.” Thanks for the update, George.