C Gockel Writes

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I Bring the Fire Omnibus eBook and The Defiant audiobook

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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.

Featured Sci-fi: Toolbert is Here to Help (Grease and Glory: Book 1) by Morgan Quaid

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Toolbert is Here to Help by Morgan Quaid

FREE on Amazon
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Woke up. Got hijacked by pirates. Got stuffed into a fleshy meat-sack. Worst. First. Day. Ever.

For decades Toolbert Zeta12 worked as a perfectly content helper bot aboard the mining ship Providence. He felt no pain, no disgust, and no curiosity, until a rogue virus sparked sudden self-awareness, a flood of baffling emotions, and a sudden desire to GET OUT!

His exit strategy? A crew of ridiculously dysfunctional space pirates blowing a hole through his workspace floor and forcing him to join the heist of the century… Well, heist of the week maybe.

Now, a logical, utility-focused robot is trapped inside a sweaty, organic shell. To survive, Toolbert must masquerade as a swaggering space captain, lead a crew of eccentric misfits, and handle the horrifying design flaws of a biological body. Worse, the nanobots that rebuilt his brain have achieved collective sentience and decided to unionize!

Toolbert is Here to Help: Grease and Glory is a laugh-out-loud, fast-moving science fiction adventure. If you love the reluctant, dry wit of The Murderbot Diaries, the chaotic gore and humor of Dungeon Crawler Carl, and the cosmic irony of Douglas Adams, grab your copy and prepare for launch!

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Turning Point (Elite Response Force ERF 1) by P R Adams

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Turning Point by P R Adams

FREE on Most Vendors

Click for current price: Amazon US | United Kingdom | Canada | Germany | Australia | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo | Google Play

They won the Metacorporate War. Now comes the hard part: Capture or kill the architect of the war.

After the death of the Elite Response Force’s popular leader, Captain Lonny Meyers assumes command. It’s an opportunity to prove he’s the right officer for the position…but is he?

When the hunt takes them to a powder keg colony world, Meyers needs to win over civilian support. Before he can do that, he’ll have to keep his outnumbered and demoralized team from tearing itself apart. But there’s more to the situation than anyone could have expected, and it could spell the end for the ERF.

If you like stories with special forces operations, artificial intelligence, and robots, you’ll love this book.

Grab your copy of Turning Point, the first book in the high-octane military science fiction Elite Response Force series.

Featured Sci-fi: Zero (Hal Spacejock Book 0) by Simon Haynes

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Zero (Hal Spacejock) by Simon Haynes

FREE on Most Vendors
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Apple, B&N, Kobo, GooglePlay

Learning on the job might not be the best idea when that ‘job’ is flying someone else’s spaceship.

Broke, about to get evicted, and bullied non-stop by his human-hating robot supervisor, Hal Spacejock is desperate to escape his miserable life as a cargo loader at a third-rate spaceport.

After helping an eccentric old nobleman threatened by two armed thugs in the shadow of a rusty, condemned starship, Hal sees his ticket to the stars. Don Manuel needs a pilot for his space-faring wreck, and Hal is more than happy to lie about his qualifications.

All Hal has to do now is figure out how to fly a starship before anyone realizes he’s a complete fraud.

Hal Spacejock: Zero is the prequel to the popular Hal Spacejock series.

Featured Fantasy: Blood Magic Books 1–6 by JT Lawrence

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Blood Magic Books 1–6 by JT Lawrence

99¢ on Amazon
Click for current price: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon AU

It’s a case she can’t refuse.

Spell-slinger. Vampire-slayer. Magical albino ferret-rescuer.

Meet Jacqueline Denna Knight, the best wizard detective in the city.

With 180+ MILLION page reads across the series and thousands of five-star reviews, you know you’ve chosen the right portal to take you on a totally addictive urban fantasy action & adventure.

Jax turns vampires to ash and pain into magic. She also has a knack for finding things. So when a distraught—and obscenely wealthy—elf calls Jax at midnight to hire her for an intriguing job, she grabs the opportunity with both hands…

But what Jax doesn’t know is that this case is going to unravel her life. She’ll get tangled up with a host of intriguing characters, most of whom are not who they appear to be.

As Jax speeds down a path toward the most powerful vampire clan in the country, she’ll have to put everything on the line.

Will she be able to use her unique brand of magic to save the Realm?

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Illustrated Edition by Douglas Adams, Illustrated by Chris Riddell

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Illustrated Edition by Douglas Adams, illustrated by Chris Riddell

$1.99 on Most Vendors
Click for current price: Amazon US, Amazon Germany,($4.99 on Amazon Australia)

Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, GooglePlay

“Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.”—The Washington Post Book World

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formerly Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don’t forget to bring a towel!

Praise for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“A whimsical odyssey . . . Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy.”—Publishers Weekly

“Irresistible!”—The Boston Globe

Featured Fantasy: A Time of Gladiators and Fate (Last Road to Rome Book 1) by Susan Illene

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A Time of Gladiators and Fate by Susan Illene

New Release on Amazon
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Time travel to ancient Rome. Become a gladiator. Try not to die.

And DO NOT be tempted by any morally questionable hot men.

Grace King grew up on a farm in Kansas, so nothing prepared her for landing in the Roman Colosseum while it’s still intact. A heart-pounding chase in her rental car follows with spear-throwing legionnaires, armed gladiators, and a couple of wild animals. Grace is eventually forced to surrender in a floral sundress meant for vacation, not blood sport.

The emperor offers her two choices: execution or gladiator school. While she isn’t afraid of hard work, the ludus where she’ll train with other men and women is brutal. Most doubt her right to be there, adding pressure to an already difficult situation. Every aspect of her new life, down to the clothes she wears and how she’s treated, is vastly different and horrifying.

Her fate will rest in the hands of two dangerous, conflicting men.

In the training arena, the first is a formidable lead instructor with icy good looks. He will push her body to its absolute limits and test her willpower to survive while trading heated banter with her. The second is a wealthy, enigmatic sponsor who shields her against Rome’s darkest exploits for a price, but his own time-travel secrets weave a dangerous web. The handsome man knows far more about how she ended up in ancient Rome than he’s willing to tell her.

A Time of Gladiators and Fate follows the gripping journey of a modern woman who must become a force that ancient Rome will fear and admire if she ever hopes to earn her freedom and find a way home. Perfect for fans of Outlander and Spartacus, with a genre blend of romantasy and time-travel historical fiction.