The author acknowledged experiencing happy and sad moments this year, adding, “I suppose that’s just life.”

George R. R. Martin is speaking candidly about the personal hardships that he’s faced this year.

The Game of Thrones author revealed in a blog post published on his website Monday that he’s been battling “sadness and depression” amid a tumultuous year that has been filled with extreme highs and lows.

“This year has been… stressful, to say the least,” Martin wrote. “So much has been happening, it’s been overwhelming. Some great things, exciting things.”

While the 77-year-old explained that he’s had some dreams come true this year, he noted that he’s also lived through some serious “nightmares,” too.

“I have lost friends. Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come,” Martin continued. “I turned seventy-seven last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun. But there have been amazing times as well.”

Still, the writer acknowledged that there have been “amazing times as well,” adding, “I suppose that’s just life. Of course, I knew that. If you’ve read my stories, you know that.”

One silver lining? Martin’s Game of Thrones prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, received nine Emmys nominations — including Outstanding Drama Series — last month. “The awards ceremony will be Monday, September 14 at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles,” he wrote. “I hope to attend… but that depends on… well, on a lot of things.”

He continued, “I am proud of our team, and hope we take home a few of the statues, but I will confess that I was hoping we’d get a few of the acting nominations as well.   But there’s always next year.”

Set roughly a hundred years before Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas and follows hedge knight Sir Duncan “Dunk” the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell) as they set off on an adventure through Westeros together. The fantasy series also stars Daniel Ings, Shaun Thomas, Danny Webb, and Finn Bennett.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in May, series showrunner and co-creator Ira Parker teased what fans can expected from the show’s forthcoming second season. “This is essentially Dunk wading into politics. Maybe he’s gotten pretty good with a sword and pretty good riding a horse and being a sword for hire, but not so good at talking to highborn ladies or politicking in general,” he said. “So somebody who can make him feel back-footed is gonna lead to good situations for us.”

In addition to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the third season of House of the Dragon premiered in June, with its finale set to air on Aug. 9. The prequel details the vicious battle between former friends Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) for the Iron Throne and its subsequent reverberations.

While he’s enjoyed small-screen success, Martin has also repeatedly voiced his frustrations with writing the next installment of the Song of Ice and Fire saga, The Winds of Winter. It’s been than 15 years since the release of 2011’s A Dance With Dragons and the follow-up does not have a release date.

Martin spoke about the status of the book in a January interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon,” he said at the time. “It’s been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but… I don’t know. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for that.”

Martin has also promised to write a seventh book, A Dream of Spring, after Winds of Winter.