Russell Wilbinski's Blog

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












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Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


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Copyright – Nicole Neri/The Republic

Today is a somber day for the country. On this day in history, we all know what happened. We all swore that we would never forget and for many of us, it marked a clear point of no return for our future. You see, I was seventeen years old when the attack happened, a high school senior with a head full of ideas. In August 2001, I signed up for the United States Marine Corps, thinking about adventure. To a seventeen-year-old me it almost seemed like my only option for a better or at least different life. See the world, earn some money for college, and make my parents proud. Learn to be a man.

My high school friends had also joined the military, some in the army, some the navy, a few to each branch and we were so excited. To train, to do something few people would do. To serve our country with pride and honor. Honestly though, I had hoped for all the perks with none of the negatives. America had been experiencing relative peace and safety for over a decade, fleeting memories of Desert Storm more of a dream to me than anything real. I was only seven when it ended and what does a seven-year-old understand of war.

But they shattered our relative peace and safety that morning in 2001. All illusions of America the untouchable gone in a few moments. War had come knocking, and America was sure to answer. My friends and I had all joined less than a month before 9/11 and together we sat in a morose silence as we watched the towers fall, a mix of what most Americans were feeling and a hefty serving of dread at knowing what it meant for us. We were going to war. All my ideas of free college and traveling to different countries for fun and training were gone, my head now filled with visions of what it would be like to go to war.

But what does a seventeen-year-old know of war?

To put it bluntly: nothing. My favorite movie at the time was Starship Troopers, a deeply satirical piece of media mocking fascism and nationalism with a candy-coated veneer. In the film, the main character becomes the hero of the war, elevated to the heights of fame and glory for killing the enemies of earth. But in Starship Troopers, the enemies were comically animatronic bugs. My enemies would be men and women just like me.

It only took a few days for the stupidity of youth to grab us all, to reinforce the hero narrative the country has for our troops. Gone was the fear and terror, or at least buried under dozens of layers of machismo and bravado to keep it far from our minds. My mother cried. My father hugged me for a long time. They knew what it meant for me. Prayers and words of support, and at times, begging for me to pull out of my enlistment. You don’t have to go; you don’t have to do this. But in the back of my mind, I wanted to go. I wanted to blow some shit up. As the Eponymous leader of Rico’s Roughnecks crowed repeatedly in the film: “C’mon you apes! You wanna live forever?”

It was a battle cry, one that says you will probably die, but this is your chance to become immortal through deeds. It asks if you want to live forever, even as you rush into battle. As if living forever would be the worst thing that could happen to you.Your job isn’t to live forever, it’s to get out there and kill until you can’t kill no more.

But the reality of war differed from any movie. Even Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, cannot truly prepare you for what it means to fight. The first time you fire your weapon in combat, is both horrific and exhilarating. The first time you hear the zips of projectiles whizzing past your head as you rush from point to point is the purest form of fear you will ever experience. Men are trying to kill you, and you are trying to kill them.

It’s impossible to understand. No civilian will ever feel it, know what it means to live one step at a time. To sleep while mortars rain down in the AO, to pull the cord on a howitzer knowing such a tiny action may kill dozens of people miles away trying to sleep, just like you. It’s downright awful.

I survived my time overseas, but lots of fine men and women did not. I made it home in one piece, but the scars would last a lifetime. Seeing the aftermath of every battle, every engagement chips away at the parts of you that are human. To see fields littered with the dead and dying, to smell burning bodies and the tang of spilled blood changes you. A combat veteran will never be who they once were, even though they make it home, war ALWAYS takes something from you. A little of your humanity, a little of your compassion, gone like smoke on the wind.

PTSD is a very real deal for hundreds of thousands of troops coming home. For many, it’s a war they will eventually lose. Suicide is all too common in veterans. If you know a veteran suffering from PTSD or depression, let them know it’s okay. Help them find solace and support. Donate to the charity of your choice if you support the troops. Elect representatives who want to spend the money to care for our veterans and who also want to prevent us from creating more broken men and women by ending forever wars and nation building.

Fight for them, like we fought for you.

– Russell Wilbinski









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Recent Posts

My 9/11 experience – A different kind of fear


Raiya: Early Game is LIVE! Let’s talk about pre-orders and the free book promo


Raiya: Early Game pre-order trends – Day One


Get the entire Archon’s Chosen Series for only 99 cents – Two books for the price of one!


Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2


My New Favorites!

The post My 9/11 experience – A different kind of fear appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
THE WILBINSKI BOOK CLUB
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Good day, friends!

Today is the day, the best of days, the day when Raiya: Early Game is available for download. It’s been a hard road, fraught with depression, setbacks and other non-sense we all deal with just trying to survive. Five hundred and fifty pages in print, six hundred pages in Ebook format, this is my biggest book yet. I love it.

Pre-orders – final tally

After a full five days, Raiya: Early Game pulled in a nice 118 pre-orders while priced at 99 cents. Best pre-order period for any of my books by a long shot. My last book, The Great Filter only got 40 pre-orders with two more days in the pre-order window. I would say it’s a success by my standards. Here is the full breakdown:

 

 

 

 

Free book promo – final tally

To generate more interest, Raiya: Starter Zone, Book one of the Achon’s Chosen series was available free during the pre-order window. The number of people who download free books is staggering. Let have a look at the free book downloads:

 

 

 

After five days, they downloaded 567 copies of Raiya: Starter Zone. One can only hope that they will like the first book and read book two shortly after! I will share reading results in a week or two.

The making of the cover – start to finish

I really love watching a cover come together, from the first sketch to the final product. This GIF displays exactly how much a cover changes throughout the design process. One thing many authors struggle with is finding the perfect artist. I am thankful every day I have a dynamite illustrator who understands every one of my requests and finishes covers in weeks instead of months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s to you!

I just wanted to thank every one of you who read my books, leave reviews and send me nice emails. It really warms my cold, black heart when someone takes the time out of their day to share in my love of reading and writing.

You are the real heros!

– Russell Wilbinski









Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

Raiya: Early Game is LIVE! Let’s talk about pre-orders and the free book promo


Raiya: Early Game pre-order trends – Day One


Get the entire Archon’s Chosen Series for only 99 cents – Two books for the price of one!


Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2


Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019


My New Favorites!

The post Raiya: Early Game is LIVE! Let’s talk about pre-orders and the free book promo appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
THE WILBINSKI BOOK CLUB
Contact Me



































Good day, friends!

I wanted to give you guys a sneak peek behind the scenes of my recent pre-order campaign for Raiya: Early Game. As you may (or may not) know, Book two is out for pre-order now, and book one of the Archon’s chosen series, Raiya: Starter Zone is free until September 6th. I did a lot of research about release schedules, dates, promotion methods and advertising to push this book toward moderate success.

Part 1 – Pre-order Pricing

During the pre-order week, I priced book two at 99 cents to make it attractive to new readers who may not have heard of my series. 99 cents is a good deal for a 600 page ebook, generally speaking. The goal was to provide maximum value to the reader and to create some early sales, thus boosting the rank for launch day. Hopefully, some of those readers will like the book, and leave a decent review. Let’s look at where it landed after the first twenty-four hours.

   

 

As far as pre-orders go, not terrible for a less than famous author such as myself. We broke into the top 100 in two separate categories which is wonderful. The real win for me has been on the free book promo.

Part 2 – Making Raiya: Starter Zone free during the pre-order week

The goal here was simple, get as many readers interested in book two by making it free to get up to speed and excited for book two. Fun fact: People love free stuff, especially LitRPG readers who often purchase books that don’t meet their rigorous standards or particular tastes. What better way to entice someone to read your works than giving them a free book? The results have been spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, I have had over 300 downloads in the first twenty-four hours!

Part 3 – Advertising

This is where I wanted to be very careful. When advertising free books, every penny you spend has Negative ROI, technically. If you dont make any money from sales, then ads are useless. The second caveat is that a 99 cent book is worth very little in sales revenue (35 cents) per copy, so the goal is to get a lot of visibility for as little money as possible.

Time for social media to come to the rescue. Facebook advertising is relatively cheap, and I want to get as many impressions as possible. Being able to filter my ad presentations to a very defined market allows me to hit as many screens as I can that are likely to be interested in free or cheap books, especially LitRPG fans. It takes time, research and tracking data to hit those drill downs, but once you have them, you can save them forever.

Twitter, Instagram and other free platforms allow you to engage with your audience at a personal level, growing your following and hitting a lot of eyes for no money at all. Do not neglect Twitter, there are some very nice people there.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!





– Russell Wilbinski









Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

Raiya: Early Game pre-order trends – Day One


Get the entire Archon’s Chosen Series for only 99 cents – Two books for the price of one!


Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2


Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019


The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


My New Favorites!

The post Raiya: Early Game pre-order trends – Day One appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
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Get it free on Amazon!

Skree loved playing Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Games. When he becomes the first player to reach level 100 in his favorite game, it offers him the chance to test a brand new game. Never one to read the fine print, he jumped at the chance to be the very first player to see the brand new game.

But some opportunities are just too good to be true…

Awaking to find himself trapped in a brand new world and struggling to survive, James must master the game and escape the world of Raiya. Angry wildlife, gargantuan monsters, and mysterious allies are not the only things he has to worry about. Will he have the backbone to do what is right and not what is easiest?

Will the carefree Skree find something worth fighting for? Something worth dying for? 

Only 99 Cents on Amazon!

After a desperate escape from the Blue Stone Island, Skree and his faithful companion Zuka must find a new home for Priestess and the last of the Kobold race. Joining the fiery Captain Fenna Lis and her no-nonsense first mate Hawkins, Skree finds plenty of opportunities to grow in skill and strength.

With few options available to him, Skree must provide a haven for his friends and the last survivors of the Kobold race. Luckily, Captain Fenna knows just the right guy to solve their problem, but it won’t be easy. Or cheap.

Will Skree and Priestess be able to find a home of their own, and if they do, will they be able to protect it from harm in the harsh world of Raiya? Who are the mysterious servants of Abrenacht and why do they want him dead? Can Skree overcome these challenges, level up and beat the game so he can return to his own world?

But a bigger question lurks at the back of his mind: Does he even want to go home?

Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

Get the entire Archon’s Chosen Series for only 99 cents – Two books for the price of one!


Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2


Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019


The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


My New Favorites!












– Russell Wilbinski

The post Get the entire Archon’s Chosen Series for only 99 cents – Two books for the price of one! appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
THE WILBINSKI BOOK CLUB
Contact Me



































Good day friends!

I know – It’s been a while since you heard from me. My bad, you can ask my mom, it’s a real problem of mine. No hard feelings I hope. That said, let’s get to today’s update. Since we last spoke, I have been working (Career wise and Writing) hard and found that I had less and less time to commit to my writing. Besides a few months with 60+ hour works, I struggled to find the motivation to write, and time to spend with my family.

Still, a writer needs to write.

Book 2 of the Archon’s Chosen series is complete and going through its final round of beta readers. I just wanted to give you all my sincerest gratitude for your patience. Hopefully, this next one will be worth the wait.

Let’s talk about the Archon’s Chosen series…

Originally, I intended this series to be a trilogy, no more, no less.The Trilogy would have book one: starter zone, book two: mid-game, and book three: end-game, but during the writing of book two, it continued to grow and grow until I realized there was no way to tell the story I wanted in three books, without making them all 1200 pages. I know some people would love a monster novel, but there are just as many who like books to be easier to digest in a single week.

Don’t misunderstand – Book two is still eighty percent longer than book one.

Raiya: Mid-game has become two separate books – Raiya: Early-game and Raiya: Mid-game will be the title for book three. Unless I get a wild hair in my derriere, book 2 sits comfortably at 150,000 words, just under four hundred pages. It should make for a fairly chunky read. As a Lit-RPG book, I found I wanted to limit the number of times the character sheet appears, and have taken every effort to reduce word count/page bloat. Many books in this genre suffer from dozens of pages that are just stats and inventory. 

Avoiding bloat in Lit-RPG writing

As with book length, some readers absolutely love crunch (myself included) but just as many only want the highlights, significant changes that will alter the story. An interesting conversation that I have had many times relates to audiobook production. Having someone read out the stat pages can be mind numbingly boring and pull you out of the action. The question many readers have asked: why not minimized tables and stat blocks for audio to keep things moving? Because you can’t most times. For those who don’t know, audible has some requirements, namely that audio and text books have minimal differences in content, less than three percent in total. If you make edits AFTER they release an audio book, keep them within that tiny editing window or you will break whispersync.

Onto the juicy bits – Two books for the low, low price of .99 Cents!

Raiya: Early Game will be available for pre-order on 9/2/2109, with the full release on 9/6/2019. During this time, Raiya: Starter Zone will available on Amazon for free. That’s right, ZERO DOLLARS and to sweeten the pot, you can pick up Raiya: Early Game during the pre-order window for only $0.99.

 

– Russell Wilbinski









Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2


Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019


The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist


My New Favorites!

The post Raiya: Early-Game – Archons Chosen: Book 2 appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
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Good day, friends!

Today is the start of 2019, and the start of my new set of ambitious goals for the year. 2018 was a great year for me personally and I am working hard to make 2019 an even better one. So let’s take a moment to look at last year, and of course, talk about all the upcoming stuff I am working on.

 
2018 in a brief recap –

Wrote and released Raiya: Starter Zone on Amazon

Started work on Raiya 2 – over 100k words so far and growing more

Podium Publishing contracted Raiya: Starter Zone for audiobook release

Wrote and released The Great Filter on Amazon

 
Plans for 2019

This year, I intend to hit the ground running and am targeting a very aggressive release schedule. Many people say you should set achievable goals, but I have always thought if you don‘t set the bar higher, it is easy to do only what you have planned, and not more. So here we go – my ambitious list of planned releases

 
Releases planned for this year

January – Raiya 2

Feb – Raiya 3

Mar – Great Filter 2, City of the Beast

April – Great Filter 3

May – Mech Story, Attack the booth

June – Fates 1

July – Untitled YA Novel

August – Sci-Fi LitRPG – experimental

September – Fates 2

October – City of the beast 2

November – Fates 3

December – City of the Beast 3

To add context to the listed stories, I will tell you a little about each of them

City of the Beast – This is one of the first novels I ever wrote and it shows. This one will be a full re-write and re-release. It take place in a city built around an enormous beast that terrorized the world until a mighty hero stopped it once and for all. Frozen in time, the beast is never dying and factions vie to control the beast.

Mech Story (Untitled) – A sci-fi mech story about a female pilot with a chip on her shoulder and a desperate need to live up to her own standards. I planned it as a trilogy, but we will have to see if it has legs once I start writing.

Attack the Booth – this is a story about a group of hackers and social engineers who steal an election using events from the real world as a backdrop. The style of writing is a series of short stories that explain how each event happened and how the group used technology, information security and blackmail to impact things of this magnitude.

Butterflies of Fate (Working title) – A modern day tale about a special group of people who can change the fates of people using their mysterious power. I would say more, but I don‘t want to give away any of my secrets on this one.

Untitled YA – This is a story for my nieces and nephews, each of them will be a character in the story. The synopsis is that a boy tries to use a power he does not understand, and it costs him dearly.  The ramifications of that choice will force him down a dangerous road where he will meet friends and save the lives of many.

Sci-Fi LitRPG – This story will take place in a future with space travel, and features a game used to train a crew of settlers heading for a far-flung world.

There you have folks, a robust plan for 2019, and one that will require serious work to accomplish. Now all I need to do is figure out how to market better and hopefully, this will be the year I do that.

Happy New Year to you and your families!

– Russell Wilbinski

 

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Recent Posts

Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019


The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist


Project Updates – Progress, Progress, Progress


My New Favorites!

The post Happy New Year – My Plans for 2019 appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
Book Reviews
Contact Me

Good day friends!

First, I waneted to share the good news – the cover for “The Great Filter” is done and ready for primetime! It is a stellar piece of artwork by the talented B-Ro on 99Designs.com You can see it as the premiere piece of art featured above. Now that it is complete, I wanted to share how much work goes into a cover and how a back and forth between artist and author develops a vision for the end product.

Day 5 – Rough Concepts

By day five, B-Ro had provided this stellar rough draft of what he wanted to do. It spoke to me from the get go and I knew that the final cover would be something special.

Day 7 – Refining the concept

At this point, we had agreed this was a great starting point and the style used for the characters was definitely going to fit the narrative. I love how realistic the mothers coat and hair look in this update. B-Ro is truly talented!

Day 10 – Continued development

Here is where it all starts to come together, the characters are fleshed out, colors and designs are perfect and I let B-Ro know just how much I am digging everything he is doing.

Day 14 – Getting closer to a final product

For me, this looks great, but it is too tan and too washed out for the story setting. It needed to be less dusty, less brown. B-Ro was happy to revisit it and enact the requested changes quickly.

Day 15 – Almost there!

Now this one is perfect. The world looks wrecked enough, but it has a city feel instead of a desert wasteland. The color pallette is warmer, more pleasing to the eyes. The brilliant sun and blue sky really provide a nice contrast. Can’t argue with this one, it is everything I was looking for.

Day 20 – The cover is done

I love it! I hope that you have found some enjoyment in seeing this majestic cover being brought to life from start to finish. If you are looking for an artist to spin you up something special, B-Ro is the man.

– Russell Wilbinski








Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist


Project Updates – Progress, Progress, Progress


Raiya: Mid-Game Beta Cover – Mostly Done


My New Favorites!

The post The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
Book Reviews
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Good day friends!

Today is an incredible one for yours truly, my very first audio-book is now available for pre-order on Audible.com! The official release date is December 11th, less than two weeks away. For me, this is one of the proudest moments of my career as an author. To see your work receive rave reviews is awesome, but having a giant like Podium Publishing pick up your work and produce it for you? Even better.

Narrated by the truly talented Michael David Axtell – a veteran narrator, he has dozens of titles to his name and continues to impress with each new work. He treats every work with reverence and care, building complex verbal characters and breathing life into these works. I cannot thank him enough for his outstanding work.

Raiya: Starter Zone has sold over 10,000 copies since its release and continues to do well on Amazon. I can only hope that it follows a similar trend on Audible! Thank you all so much for helping bring this book to an entirely new format, it means everything to me.

Pre-order today!

– Russell Wilbinski








Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist


Project Updates – Progress, Progress, Progress


Raiya: Mid-Game Beta Cover – Mostly Done


My New Favorites!

The post Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
Book Reviews
Contact Me



































Good day friends!

Recently, a little known game called ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ was released to much fan fare and praise. Honestly, it is deserving of many of the accolades showered upon it, from the serious realism and attention to detail, this game is a laborious and luxurious romp into what Video Games are becoming. I have no doubt that as a LitRPG author, some of our wildest concepts from the Genre will become reality in the future as gaming systems and virtual reality continue their march forward.

All that aside, I wanted to talk about what I felt was a central question posed by the story, the main character and by me. You see, I tried to play the game as a paragon, doing everything I could to live a normal life, interspersed with violent narrative hooks that were unavoidable. Just because I was a criminal, didn’t mean I had to be an asshole.

The question I kept asking myself: How many men do I have to kill before you leave me be?

Throughout, I could not stop thinking about this question, and it nearly drove me mad. You see, once you have a bounty, an endless parade of lunatic heroes (bounty hunters) come a’callin, ready to put you into the grave for your many sins. No matter how far away you go, no matter how good you are in the general day to day, these men are tireless and relentless.

I gunned them down, group after group, looting their wedding rings and family heirlooms from their still warm bodies. I would mount up, move on and try once again to find some peace. Much like the main story wants you to understand, men of Arthur’s station will never find peace. Even into old age, Arthur will be hunted until he is finally killed.

After I have killed my hundredth or maybe even thousandth bounty hunter, I can’t help but ask myself yet again: How many of you do I have to kill just to exist? At what point does capturing or killing me become a price beyond paying? Will there always be so many men willing to lay down their own lives just to put an end to my sad and lonely existence?

The old west was an insane time in American history. Lawless gangs roamed all across the unclaimed west, striking fear and terror in the poor folk just trying to eek out their own meager existence in the frontiers of the past.The government hired the first paramilitary organizations to hunt down these men as it pushed west, claiming ever more of the wild places and converting them to civilization. Sometimes by force, if necessary.

Late in the game, I decided to see how long I could go before being found by the next group of bounty hunters, finding an abandoned shack deep in the mountains. I spent the days hunting, fishing and eating what I killed or caught. I camped, and stayed far, far from civilization but as always, the ruthless and the desperate came looking and I killed them, one and the same. I would pull up stakes, ride hard west and find a new, isolated place to call my own and the cycle started over: a few days of peace, then bloodshed and bodies.

So, in the flickering light of a campfire, two bottles of fine whiskey lulling me to sleep, there was still that same question. And sadly, as history has shown, there is no answer.

You can’t kill your way to peace.





– Russell Wilbinski








Kindle Unlimited Rocks!
Recent Posts

The Great Filter – The Cover From Start to Finish


Raiya: Starter Zone – Audiobook Pre-Order and Release Date


Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist


Project Updates – Progress, Progress, Progress


Raiya: Mid-Game Beta Cover – Mostly Done


My New Favorites!

The post Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Central Question for the Protagonist appeared first on Russell Wilbinski - Author.

Russell Wilbinski
LitRPG, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer












My Books

Raiya: Starter Zone
Raiya – Book 2 Updates


Wilbinski Blog
Home Page
Book Reviews
Contact Me



































Good day friends!

So – it’s been a while. Real life can be that way sometimes. Work was requiring 60+ hours a week to complete some critical projects and so I am behind schedule, no doubt about it. But recently, I have decided to make writing a full time gig and kick it in to hyper drive so to speak. With that said, let me let you know where I am at in a few of my exciting projects!

Raiya: Mid-Game – Book 2 of the Archon’s Chosen Series

This book has been a hard one to write, as the story I wanted to tell was only supposed to be three books. A nice tidy trilogy with impact and meaning. As I have been writing, it has taken on a life of it own, demanding more words, more characters and more stories. As I have gone back for re-reads and re-edits, I really want to get the book back to where I originally intended. That means rewriting portions of the story to give it a much faster clip without unnecessary (yet awesomely fun) side plots.

Current word count: 75,000 words and counting. Soon it will be finished and out for editing, and I think you will really like it.

The Great Filter – a Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG saga

This has been the book taking up significant portions of real estate inside my head. It’s both a touching tale of a family braving a dangerous new world and a dark look at what we must sometimes become to survive and protect what we love. I am trying something new, something totally unique (at least for me) with the characters and the story. It is story of bleak darkness while maintaining a juxtaposition of a system that laughs in the characters faces every step of the way.

Very early readers have given it great praise and continue to pester me (the best feeling in the world) for new chapters all the time. I want them to have the very best story before I hand it over, even for those Alpha readers.

Current word count: 55,000 words and growing every single day.

The Butterflies of Fate – a modern story featuring some very interesting concepts

This is the book I have always wanted to write, and have never been able to. The concepts, the message, all of it was or is beyond my ken as an author. It is complex, it has many moving parts and the idea pushes me to the very limits of my creativity in how to weave a story so fraught with possibility. It has been started, scrapped, refined, re-written and worse, more times than you can shake a stick at. This is the book I want to write, then sit back, wait a year after the finer details have faded and re-read with fresh eyes. It is that important to me.

Current word count: 26,000 (or five times that if you count all words I’ve ever written for this work)

– Russell Wilbinski








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