Game of Thrones (“GOT”) is the most popular fantasy series today, and deservedly so. I enjoy the books and am thrilled that the TV series is so well done.
I am looking forward to tonight’s episode, but mostly wanted to post this meme I just made and also to share my George R.R. Martin story.
I met George R.R. Martin at a convention last fall where we were both guest authors. Well, him more than me. (If you don’t know about my novels, click here.) I had previously met him probably ten years ago at another convention — before the Game of Thrones TV show — but we never spoke at that time.
As it turned out, Martin’s room was right down the hall from mine and we kept ending up in the elevator together. He knew I wasn’t stalking him because most of those times, I was in the elevator before him.
The first time there were some other fans on the elevator who asked for a picture with him, and he obliged. They got off before our floor, so it was just us. We walked out and headed down the hall and the conversation went like this:
Martin: I do get tired of posing for pictures all the time.
Me: Well, you’re quite famous now.
Martin: I wasn’t unknown before.
Me: True, among us. But you were never a guest on Conan before.
Martin: True.
Around the third time we were on the elevator together, he pushed he button for our floor and then asked the others what floors they needed, and then after everyone left, he turned to me.
Martin: I always wanted to be an elevator operator. If the writing thing hadn’t worked out…
We both laughed and went on to our rooms.
The final time we ended up together, the conversation went like this:
Me: I finally figured out why you have a character named “Hodor.”
Martin: Oh?
Me: I was thinking about your comment about wanting to be an elevator operator. It’s clear to me now that “Hodor” is short for “Hold the door.”
Martin: (laughing) You don’t know how close to the truth you are!
So there you have it. If we ever learn why Hodor says “Hodor” (which, as readers know, is not his given name) and it has something to do with elevators, remember: You read it here first.
EDIT: Follow-up years later (with a special guest appearance by George RR Martin)
ventrellaquest.com 
Considering that the episode leaked to torrent sites yesterday morning, I’m calling bullshit.
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Look at when this blog was posted.
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Look at my next comment.
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Whoops, I just realized this was posted years ago. *begs mercy*
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no mercy for you it seems
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Get rekt scrub.
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The best part about this blog post is that it helped me discovered your blog! I know nothing about US politics but still enjoy reading your articles 🙂
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HOLD THE DOOR! :.(
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Could it be you actually gave Martin that idea???
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Oh there’s no way. He wouldn’t create a character named Hodor, have him say nothing but that, and have absolutely no plan whatsoever as to why or what it meant.
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the backstory of hodor is soul scrushing 😦
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Kupon yap ev araba basalim reis
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I was skeptical at first because you can easily change the post date/time in WordPress. But I looked it up on the Internet Archive: Way Back Machine and there’s a snapshot from July 2014.
Kudos!
https://web.archive.org/web/20140717082036/https://ventrellaquest.com/2014/04/20/got-got/
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I’m not smart enough to know how to change dates and times!
Also, I do have witnesses and have told the story many times at conventions over the years. 🙂
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Best prediction Ever.
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I remember reading this a few months ago, and when I saw Sunday’s episode, I was like, “I CALLED IT!”
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You didn’t call it.
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orada dur dedi lan yanlış biliyonuz amk
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So I met George again and he remembered me…
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So the older comment is from May 22, 2016? The guy wrote this post one year ago and no one ever commented this before? It doesn’t make any sense. Everyone knows it’s possible posting something right now like it was 1988 A.C.
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I am not sure what you’re saying. My original post was two years ago or so. That’s been verified by many people and can be found by doing one of those internet searches that show you what the blog looked like two years ago (if you go up the comments, you’ll see someone who did that and he posts the link as well).
I mentioned the conversation on the day it happened on my Facebook page. I have witnesses who were with me who also commented on it.
Some people apparently saw the episode before it aired, remembered my post, and responded that afternoon, before it aired and long before I even saw it.
I saw George the weekend after the episode aired (hence the picture above) and he remembered the conversation and posed for the picture.
I know it’s a good idea to be a skeptic on the internet, but this one’s true. When the media contacted me about it, they also checked to make sure before posting anything.
If you read my blog, it’s mostly about law and politics. I am a middle aged lawyer who doesn’t know how to do computer things like changing the dates. I’m not some kid trying to scam people on the internet for no gain, and I’m not about to ruin my reputation by lying, especially about something so stupid. It was just a joke!
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