Thanks for the detailed post (I'm the first one to say that, I know...). Does anyone have any other fun facts about the genesis of characters, places or storylines/theology in the ASoF&I series? (I wonder if Casterly Rock is not an homage to Stephen King's fictional Castle Rock, although I am not sure if the two writers know each other's work or have spoken/written publicly about the other. I wonder if any of GRRM's upbringing or other personal interactions influenced any of the characters in his saga, and if so, how?) He's probably one of the most influential writers and pop culture influencers (w/ the help of the ongoing HBO series) of the latter 20th and 21st century, and if there's any additional information regarding his writing process and the creative origins of his world in this series, it would be much appreciated if anyone could share a web link or scuttlebucket regarding this.