Facebook Employee Paid George R.R. Martin That $20,000, Will Now Be “Slaughtered”

If your coffer is overflowing with Gold Dragons and Silver Stags, then why the hell not spend some of that moolah on a trip to Westeros? At least, that’s the thinking of Facebook’s Dave Goldblatt, one of ten benefactors who want George R.R. Martin to shut up, take their money, and write them into A Song of Ice and Fire.

Last week we reported that Martin was raising funds for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary by offering a number of unique incentives to fans (the author’s “worn hat!” is still up for the bidding at $7,500). The two “Martyr” prizes, for donors willing to pay $20,000 to have Martin kill them off in an upcoming novel, were claimed in under two hours. Since then, eight other people willing to spend a small fortune for Throne fame have joined an ever-increasing waiting list.

Goldblatt told The Hollywood Reporter that it took him just ten minutes to make the huge financial decision:

I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to do this cool thing, and it’s going toward a good cause […] I want to be a Valyrian if at all possible. But he figures it out himself. I wouldn’t want to impinge upon his creative process.

Martin promises that Goldblatt and his fellow donors will get their bloody money’s worth.

The outpouring of love and support has been far greater than I could ever anticipate, and has left me astonished and at a loss for words[…] Despite my sinister repute, I actually find it hard to kill off characters that I’ve been writing about for some time. Good guys or bad guys, they’re all my children […] But this time the slaughter should be easy, since the victims will be laying down their lives in a good cause. I will do my best to make their ends memorable.

If you’ve yet to show your direwolf love by contributing to the fundraiser, you’re just in time to help Martin break a record: the author is on track to usurp Justin Bieber and One Direction as the most-successful Prizeo campaign ever. Says Martin: “It is good to be the king. Of course, no man sits easy on the Iron Throne.”

I think you’ll be there for awhile, sir. While you’re at it, get some writing done.

(via Uproxx and The Hollywood Reporter, image via Prizeo)

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