C Gockel Writes

Want to keep reading for free (or close to it)?

by

I Bring the Fire Omnibus eBook and The Defiant audiobook

Subscribe & Save

You can read (and listen to!) most of my books through subscription services:

  • Everand* (formerly Scribd) – ebooks + audiobooks
  • Kobo Plus – ebooks (no Kobo device needed—the app is free)

Both offer 30-day free trials—so if you’re a fast reader, you could get through quite a bit at no cost.

Learn more about KoboPlus and Everand. 

Or Read & Listen Completely Free

You can also find my books at your local library:

  • Libby / OverDrive
  • Hoopla
  • CloudLibrary
  • BorrowBox

If your library carries ebooks or audiobooks, there’s a good chance they have my books—or can request them.

Find Libraries that Offer Libby/Overdrive

If Your Library Doesn’t Loan eBooks or Audiobooks

You may be able to get a library card at a larger library system for a modest fee. Here is a website that lists libraries with non-resident borrowing priveleges.

A quick note

I’m a big library user myself and often enroll in various subscription services (books add up fast—and so do growing kids’ expenses).

However you choose to read—buying, borrowing, or listening—I’m just glad you’re spending your time with my stories.

*Everand isn’t currently featuring Magic After Midnight.

Special Feature: Meet My (Sci-fi) Cover Designer Tom Edwards

by

Volka From Admiral Wolf

DESIGNING THE GALAXY

Science fiction lives or dies by imagination, and nowhere is that more visible than on its covers. Before a reader even turns a page, the art has already whispered a promise of adventure, danger, and wonder. Few artists capture that better than Tom Edwards, whose work has become the visual signature of modern space opera and military science fiction.

Over the past decade, Tom has designed hundreds of covers for some of the biggest names in the genre, from vast fleet battles and alien worlds to intimate portraits of lone heroes against the void. His art doesn’t just illustrate; it invites. It’s that rare fusion of painterly realism and cinematic light that makes you feel the hum of engines and the chill of deep space.

To celebrate his contribution to the worlds we write, and you love to read, a group of us, Joshua T. Calvert, C. Gockel, James Rosone and BA Gillies, have come together to showcase some of our favourite covers by Tom and to ask him how he brings galaxies to life.

[Read more…]

Featured Fantasy: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1) by George R. R. Martin

by

Featured Fantasy: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1) by George R. R. Martin

$2.99 as of May 3, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, Canada, Germany (Full-price: United Kingdom, Australia)

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES—THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
 
Here is the first book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece.

A GAME OF THRONES
 
In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the North of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
 
A GAME OF THRONES • A CLASH OF KINGS • A STORM OF SWORDS • A FEAST FOR CROWS • A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

Featured Sci-fi: Ascension Gate by Justin Sloan

by

Featured Sci-fi: Ascension Gate by Justin Sloan

START THE SERIES FREE — Book 2 and only 99¢
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo

The fate of the universe hangs in the balance.

When Earth discovers a gateway to the stars, it seems like humanity’s future is finally within reach. But the mission to colonize distant worlds spirals into chaos, thrusting the Marines and their allies into an intergalactic battle for survival.

From ice-covered wastelands to scorching deserts, alien planets hold secrets that threaten not only those who explore them but all of humanity. Meanwhile, on Earth, a genetically engineered threat begins to rise—one that could either tip the scales in this galactic war or seal humanity’s doom forever.

As alliances are forged, ancient powers awaken, and unimaginable forces collide, heroes must rise to face an enemy more powerful than anything they’ve ever encountered. With everything at stake, can they stop the onslaught before it’s too late?

Perfect for fans of Mass Effect, Stargate, and epic space operas, the Ascension Gate series delivers relentless action, unforgettable characters, and a universe filled with mystery, danger, and hope.

Join the fight today. The stars are calling.

Featured Fantasy: The Teashop Terror (The Weal and Woe Bookshop Witch Mysteries Book 1) by Cate Martin

by

Featured Fantasy: The Teashop Terror (The Weal and Woe Bookshop Witch Mysteries Book 1) by Cate Martin

FREE as of May 2, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

No one knows more about every branch of magic than Tabitha Greene. She devoted years to studying the most esoteric texts, hunting down the most obscure source materials, and deciphering the most cryptic ancient scrolls. But her career in academia hits a dead end when no wizard will take her on as an apprentice.

Just because, despite being descended from two long and prestigious lines of witches, her attempts to actually perform any magic always fail. Often spectacularly.

But no more college means no more dorm life. And no magical skills means no real job skills, at least, not in the witchy world. And a life spent moving from school to school every few months was a life without real friendships. She finds herself alone with nowhere to go.

Then an uncle she barely remembers offers her a summer job, running his bookstore over the summer. The Weal and Woe Bookstore, located in a magical pocket world within a block of buildings just north of the old Mill District of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Not exactly the pinnacle of all her hopes and dreams. But it’s just for one summer, right?

Or so Tabitha tells herself. But unbeknownst to her, the Weal and Woe Bookstore is about to change her life.

Featured Sci-fi: The Iron Fleet Books 1 – 3 by Daniel Gibbs

by

Featured Sci-fi: The Iron Fleet Books 1 - 3 by Daniel Gibbs

99¢ as of May 2, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Over 1,000 pages of Military Science Fiction action!

They struck without warning. Now, survival depends on a man who’s never led.

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Hanson was supposed to be an engineer, not a hero. Promoted to second-in-command aboard the CSV Margaret Thatcher, Arthur hoped for a quiet tour of duty—showing strength and keeping the peace.

He never expected a coordinated terrorist onslaught that would shatter the fleet and leave tens of thousands dead.

With the Thatcher crippled and reinforcements trapped behind political red tape, Arthur is thrust into command. Haunted by doubt but driven by duty, he must rally the broken survivors and strike back against a ruthless enemy who shows no mercy.

Because in the Orion Spur, freedom isn’t given. It’s fought for.

And aboard a ship named after the Iron Lady herself, surrender is not an option.

Perfect for fans of epic space battles, gritty heroes, and heart-pounding military science-fiction.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Clarke County, Space by Allen Steele

by

Featured Sci-fi: Clarke County, Space by Allen Steele

$1.99 as of May 2, 2026
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia

Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

The future of an orbiting space colony is threatened by a fugitive and the assassin on her trail in this science fiction adventure from three-time Hugo Award winner Allen Steele

Skycorp has always expected the near-Earth space colony Clarke County to serve as a cash cow, bringing the corporate behemoth a substantial return on its investment through food production and tourism. Now that the Church of Elvis is planning a major revival meeting on the colony, the execs anticipate that the devout and the curious alike will be rocketing to Clarke County in droves. Its residents, however, would prefer to be left alone, and there has even been some dangerous talk of freedom and independence from Earth.
 
It’s Sheriff John Bigthorn’s job to keep the peace on the colony, but his work may prove more difficult than usual in the upcoming days—especially following the unexpected arrival of a frightened young woman carrying money and important data she’s stolen from her gangster ex-boyfriend. With an ice-cold assassin called the Golem on the runaway’s tail, the holy “Living Elvis” stirring up the faithful, and revolution in the wind, Bigthorn will have to lay off the peyote and stay particularly sharp if he hopes to prevent total chaos and bloodshed . . . and perhaps even save his floating artificial world.