So I was viral for a while yesterday.

A few years ago, I had a conversation in an elevator with George R.R. Martin, made a joke, and blogged about it here.  “Hodor is short for ‘Hold the door’.”

Sunday night’s episode made everyone think I had made some grand prediction, and the next thing I knew, I had over 300,000 hits on this blog (and quite a few on my author blog as well — let’s hope I sold some books).

I was just making a joke!  Years earlier, I had posted that “Hodor was his sled” but somehow that never got the same amount of attention. Then again, what people were really reacting to was Martin’s reply to my comment that “Hodor is short for ‘Hold the door’.” — “You don’t know how close you are!” Without that response, the story isn’t half as good.

So I was interviewed by Buzzfeed and the Philadelphia Inquirer and soon was mentioned all over the place. Philly.com even ran a big picture of me. The Observer came up with a huge theory about how I am really a time traveler planting ideas in George R.R. Martin’s head. I was mentioned in Newsweek!

The best part? This weekend, I am a writer guest at a science fiction convention in Baltimore with — you guessed it — George R.R. Martin.

Let’s see if we end up on an elevator together again.

Anyway, here are links to some of the internet articles (I left out all the foreign ones I can’t read):

picture credit: Scott Kondrk (a/k/a Batman)

Buzzfeed: This guy unknowingly learned Hodor’s secret from George R.R. Martin years ago

The Onion’s AV Club: One guy predicted last night’s Game of Thrones twist three years ago

Newsweek: This fan predicted the meaning of Hodor years ago

Philadelphia Inquirer: Poconos lawyer predicted heartbreaking Games of Thrones shocker years ago

Daily News: George R.R. Martin told a guy the truth about Hodor years ago

Nerdist: George R.R. Martin was behind that Game of Thrones revelation

Metro (UK): Someone guessed that Game of Thrones Hodor reveal two years ago

Business Insider: We finally know how Hodor got his name

The Verge: How did three different Game of Thrones fans predict that Hodor surprise?

Pocono Record: Tannersville Attorney Predicts GoT episode twist in advance

EDIT/ADDITION: Here’s George reacting upon meeting me the weekend after the episode aired.

And a meme I made about our autographing session:

EDIT/ADDITION #2:  Here we are, more than a year later, and Cracked is still talking about it.