Wunderbar!

So far, the only person who's read the Winter story from start to finish and given us feedback is Leo's son (and my godson) Inigo. Overall he seems to have enjoyed it, which warms the cockles, I can tell you - though it is possible that he's biased in our favour. What has been really interesting and helpful has been hearing his impressions of the characters - which ones he warmed to, which he found less engaging. Characters take on a life of their own once you've created them, and it's not always easy to tell right away which of them are going to click with your readers.

Inigo particularly liked the Iron Turk, who ended up playing a big part in Winter and, if there is ever a Spring book, he'll no doubt appear in that too. I dug out these early drawings by Martin to show how the character evolved. The ears were added at my insistence, though Martin didn't feel they fitted with the rest of the design. I can't remember now why I thought they were so important. Maybe to humanize him a bit?