George R. R. Martin has repeatedly said that the books would vary from "Game of Thrones" and the author might have slipped a little spoilers ahead of the "Winds of Winter" release date.

On his Not a Blog post titled "Off to Spokane," a fan flatly asked the author, "alright mr Martin, lets cut the crap, is Stannis alive or dead(?)."

The author replied, "In my books? Alive, beyond a doubt."

Another fan commented to George R. R. Martin's response, "With all due respect, sir... The trueborn son of Lord Bolton reports that the false king Stannis Baratheon is dead."

Fans of the TV show watched as the Pink Letter was sent to Jon Snow in "Game of Thrones" has reported the death of Stannis Baratheon. The letter said, "Your false king is dead, bastard. He and all his host were smashed in seven days of battle. I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore."

Of course, it wasn't really clear if Brienne really killed Stannis Baratheon whom she deemed responsible for killing his brother.

"If Stannis is still alive in the novels, it means he's still a key player," iDigital Times pointed out. "The pink letter could have no real significance other than to get Jon riled up and killed, but Stannis being alive when Jon received it might be a clue to the bigger picture. Could it have been Mance Rayder getting back at Jon for betraying him? It's really hard to tell at this point."

All these theories and spoilers only fueled fans' anticipation for the "Winds of Winter" release date. George R. R. Martin had said that he would report the date on his own blog so fans shouldn't believe all the speculations flying around on the Internet.

Nevertheless, the author was quoted by Entertainment Weekly as saying that he's aiming to announce the release date for "Winds of Winter" before "Game of Thrones" season 6 airs in April next year.