C Gockel Writes

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

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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.

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

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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 Sci-fi: Banish the Stars (The Formless Book 1) by Nathan Hystad

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Featured Sci-fi: Banish the Stars (The Formless Book 1) by Nathan Hystad

99¢ as of May 10, 2026
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

We have arrived. Descent is in progress.

Ryan Pierce traded military life for a peaceful existence in Napa Valley. Everything was fine until the starships appeared.
As aliens overtake the land and obscure the sun, Ryan quickly grasps that no one’s coming to rescue them. He can’t save the world on his own. Ryan must build a team to confront humanity’s greatest threat.

Who are the invaders, and what did they come for? As people are snatched from the Earth one space elevator at a time, those answers become apparent.

But is Ryan ready to hear them?

From the best-selling author of Ethos, The Event, Lost Contact, First Life, and many more, comes a brand-new epic series, The Formless.

Featured Sci-fi: Starship Bandits Books 1 – 7 by Jonathan Yanez and Ross Buzzell

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99¢ as of May 10, 2026
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

When a mild-mannered professor is sentenced to be an Orbital Garbage Reclamation Expert, he doesn’t expect to become a spacefaring outlaw. After his ragtag crew stumbles onto an ancient alien ship, they’re yanked out of Earth’s orbit and dropped into a brutal galaxy where survival favors the bold, the clever… and the slightly unhinged.

Hunted by alien warlords, criminal syndicates, and empires that would rather see them dead than free. The crew of the Junkyard must rely on fast words, faster guns, and each other to stay alive. Every mission pulls them deeper into a galaxy-spanning conflict, where lost civilizations, dangerous alliances, and impossible odds turn scavengers into legends.

[Read more…]

Featured Fantasy: Heaven’s Dark Soldiers by Steve Gillmore

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Featured Fantasy: Heaven's Dark Soldiers by Steve Gillmore

START THE SERIES FOR 99¢—Book 2 only $2.99
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

Angels and giants and beasties. Oh my…

In life, Dean Robinson was a soldier. Upon his untimely death at the hand of a fallen angel with serious daddy issues and a snappy wardrobe, he became something else.

From the backstreets of Boston to the nether regions of Heaven and beyond, join the wise cracking, beer swilling misadventures as Dean and his newfound gang of supernatural sidekicks stand between humanity and the things that go bump in the night. And, of course, the Devil’s in the details.

Semi-divine super soldiers, disgruntled fallen angels, supersized bad guys on high protein diets, a Heavenly grudge match played out on an Earthly stage – Just another day at the office, apparently.

Featured Fantasy: The Crescent Chronicles by Alyssa Rose Ivy

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Featured Fantasy: The Crescent Chronicles by Alyssy Rose Ivy

START THE SERIES FREE—Book 2 only $2.99
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

Apple, Kobo, B & N, GooglePlay, Everand

Sometimes you just have to take flight. A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi. Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.

Featured Sci-fi: Amaranthe II (Amaranthe Collections Book 2) by G.S. Jennsen

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Featured Sci-fi: Amaranthe II (Amaranthe Collections Book 2) by G.S. Jennsen

$4.99 as of May 10, 2026
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

Apple, Kobo, B & N, GooglePlay, Everand & Author’s Site

AMARANTHE II: REBELLION is jam-packed with over 1,200 pages of Sci-Fi Adventure
**Includes the Aurora Renegades trilogy (Sidespace, Dissonance, Abysm), the 2nd trilogy in the Amaranthe universe, + a short story + bonus content**

It is a time of accelerating technological change & shifting allegiances as the old rules fall away & the old balance of power is upended. A new world rises–one of unshackled AIs, indestructible starships, ethereal quantum spaces and potent new weapons–and the race is on to determine who will control its future.
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SIDESPACE (Aurora Renegades Book One)
Humanity is saved. But its troubles are just beginning.
To achieve their extraordinary triumph over the Metigen armada, humanity put aside its myriad of conflicts & united against a common foe intent on annihilating civilization. In victory, unparalleled peace & prosperity are theirs for the taking–if they can keep hold of them.

When the secrets behind the Metigens’ defeat escape the shadows, the people who won the war find their lives in danger. Facing anti-synthetic terrorists who want them dead, power-hungry politicians who want them chained, & a rapidly dwindling number of people they can trust, the Prevos–individuals & AIs sharing a single body–must take their fate into their own hands.

51 Portals. 51 Universes.
Intent on learning the purpose behind the Metigens’ elaborate multiverse network, Alex Solovy, Caleb Marano & Valkyrie embark on a gripping journey through the network’s portals, each one leading to a universe not their own. In a mosaic of spaces inhabited by fantastical aliens & worlds both beautiful & deadly, they will be forced to question everything they thought they knew, including the nature of life itself.

** AMARANTHE II: REBELLION WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE “AURORA RENEGADES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION **

Featured Sci-fi: Rise (Amaranthe Collections Book 1) by G.S. Jennsen

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Featured Sci-fi: Amaranthe Collections Book 1 by G.S. Jennsen

FREE as of May 10, 2026
Click for Current Price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany

Apple, Kobo, B & N, GooglePlay, Everand & Author’s Site

A galaxy on the brink of war. A discovery that can unite humanity—or ignite its destruction.
When a lone-wolf starship pilot follows a hunch into a forbidden nebula, she discovers a secret powerful enough to rewrite humanity’s place in the cosmos – or erase it entirely.

Now Alex, acerbic loner and recalcitrant wanderer, is the fulcrum of a struggle spanning over 100 worlds, racing against time and political conspiracies to keep civilization from burning. As Earth and its colonies teeter on the brink of war, alien forces move in the shadows to bring a fragile peace crashing down.

Can one stubborn pilot prevent the destruction of everything she loves?

When faced with our greatest challenge, will we rise to triumph or fall to ruin?
Perfect for fans of The Expanse, Mass Effect, Peter F. Hamilton, and Adrian Tchaikovsky, AMARANTHE I: RISE is an electrifying tale of interstellar intrigue, extraordinary technology and the unyielding human spirit in the face of impossible odds. Strap in for a high-stakes adventure and join a cast of unforgettable heroes on a captivating journey that will keep you engrossed to the last page. This is space opera for rebels, dreamers, and explorers.

Over 1,400 Pages of Sci-Fi Adventure! **AMARANTHE I: RISE includes the 1st trilogy in the Amaranthe universe (Starshine, Vertigo, Transcendence) + 2 short stories + bonus content**

** AMARANTHE I: RISE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE “AURORA RISING: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION” **