George R.R Martin offered two Game of Thrones fans a pretty unique prospect earlier this year. In exchange for $20,000 at a fundraiser, a fan could be written into and killed at the hands of the writer.
Although both spots were snapped up at the charity auction, one young fan caught the attention of the author after sending him a pretty special letter. As well as the letter, the 13-year old fan Jack included £153 as a donation to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, the recipient for Martin’s crowdfunding campaign:
In fact the letter made such an impact on Martin that the young teen received a personal reply from the author:
Dear Jack,
Thank you so much for your heartfelt, touching note.
I’ve heard that you donated all your £153 pocket money savings to my Prizeo fundraiser on behalf of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. I cannot tell you how much that moved me. It pleases me no end to know that my novels, and the TV series based on them, have inspired readers as young as yourself to rally to the support of these majestic and too often stigmatized animals
Alas, I cannot promise you a grisly death in THE WIND OF WINTER. Those spots have already been filled by some very generous donors, and there’s a limit to how many people even I can kill.
However, inspired by your example, my friends at Prizeo and I would love to follow your lead with a $10,000 in your name to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust. That’s a wonderful organization that I’ve heard much about, and they are lucky to count people like you as supporters.
I wish you the best of luck in your future career as a wolf conservationist, and hope that you inspire many others to follow your lead.
Yours,
GRRM
We’re thinking the young fan was pretty excited – even if he doesn’t get a brutal ending.
