Fans of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" epic fantasy novel series have been waiting for the release of the next book, "The Winds of Winter," for a few years now. However, they may need to wait for a bit more as George R.R. Martin has taken a break from writing to spend some time with friends in Los Angeles.

Martin posted on his Live Journal blog on Tuesday, detailing his trip to the city of angels to do some business meetings and catch up with old friends. The author shared a beautiful photo of the L.A. sunset from his hotel room, as well as a photo with some of the cast and crew of the 1980s series "Beauty and the Beast."

The author met up with actors Ron Perlman and Jay Acovone, show creator and showrunner Ron Koslow, producer David Schwartz, and writer Linda Campanelli. The group shared a hearty dinner. They also shared stories and laughter and raised a glass for the late Roy Dotrice, who died last month at age 94.

The best-selling author also shared his love and hate relationship with the city of L.A. "I have lots of good memories of LA, and some bad memories as well," Martin shared. "I made lots of friends out there. And even now, my work requires me to visit the City of Angels (which seems less angelic every day, if you're reading the news) several times a year."

Martin also revealed that he attended a number of meetings with HBO and some major film studios about the possibility of adapting some of his other works into movies. "All very exciting," he teased. "Cross your fingers, cross your toes, I might have thrilling news down the line."

The acclaimed author has presumably been spending the past few months writing the much awaited novel, as he was not as active on his blog as before. He has previously teased that he will be releasing a book in 2018, but did not reveal if it would finally be the long-awaited "Winds of Winter."