C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Here There Be Monsters by Rick Buchanan

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Featured Sci-fi: Here There Be Monsters by Rick Buchanan

99¢ as of September 24, 205
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When Sam Martinez finds himself abducted by aliens, he thought he was having a bad day. When he finds himself in charge of an eccentric collection of fellow captives on a stolen spaceship, he realizes it could always get worse.

Thus begins the misadventures of Captain Martinez and the crew of the starship Schwarzenegger. Intent on finding their way back to Earth, they encounter strange new worlds, new life and new civilizations… and immediately piss them off.

Follow their journey as they navigate through bizarre alien customs, evade a crime syndicate with a score to settle, and match wits with a galactic government that refuses to recognize humanity as a sentient species.

Fans of Galaxy Quest and The Orville will love this story of a ragtag band of misfits discovering just how strange the universe really is.

Featured Fantasy: Adventures of a Vegan Vamp (Vegan Vamp Mysteries Book 1) by Cate Lawley

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FREE as of September 23, 2025
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Undead and vegan? Not the afterlife this girl had planned.

Waking up thin is one thing. But waking up gaunt, hangry, and undead makes for a very bad day. Mallory’s killer better hide, because she’s just discovered blood, meat, and dairy don’t agree with her, and a future with no cheese is grim indeed. She’s out to find her killer…and maybe a vegan cheese that doesn’t melt her nose hairs.

Click to see how Mallory conquers a killer hunger while hunting a deadly vampire.

Featured Sci-Fantasy: Reachers Series by L.E. Fitzpatrick

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Featured Sci-fantasy: Reachers Series by L.E. Fitzpatrick

START THE SERIES FREE—Books 2 – 4 only $2.99 Each as of September 20, 2025
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Rachel’s father called it the running game. Count the exits, calculate the routes, and always be ready to run. She is a Reacher, wanted by the government and the criminal underworld for her psionic powers.

Charlie and his brother John have a reputation for accomplishing the impossible. But after losing his family, Charlie is a broken mess and John is barely keeping him afloat. In desperation, they take a job from a ruthless crime lord, only to discover the girl they are hunting is a Reacher. One of their own kind.

With the help of dangerous and dubious allies, can Rachel turn the game around and save herself?

Praise:

★★★★★ – “This dystopian, paranormal thriller provides plenty of action, mystery and entertainment with deft storytelling. Wonderfully written.

★★★★★ – “Kept me captivated and wanting more. A great read.”

Featured Sci-fi: Recursion by Blake Crouch

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Featured Sci-fi: Recursion by Blake Crouch

$2.99 US, CA, DE / Less in UK as of September 20, 2025
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix film.

“Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel.”—The New York Times Book Review

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • BookRiot

Reality is broken.
 
At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself.
 
In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back.
 
Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: The Martian by Andy Weir

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Featured Sci-fi: The Martian by Andy Weir

$2.99 as of September 18, 2025
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A survival story for the 21st century and the international bestseller behind the major film from Ridley Scott, starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.

I’m stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.

I’m in a habitat designed to last 31 days.

If the oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

So yeah. I’m screwed.

Featured Sci-fi: Shakedowners by Justin Wooley

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Featured Sci-fi: Shakedowners by Justin Wooley

FREE as of September 18, 2025
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To boldly go where no losers have gone before…

Some starship captains explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilisations. Some lead missions of discovery through wormholes to the other side of the galaxy. Then there’s Captain Iridius B. Franklin, someone who spent too long seeking out strange new bars and new alien cocktails.

After graduating bottom of his class at Space Command Academy Iridius Franklin hasn’t had the glamorous career he envisioned, instead he hauls cargo ships full of mining waste, alien land whale dung, and artificially intelligent toy dogs across the stars.

Iridius does have talent though – he is exceptionally good at breaking starships. So, when not hauling freight, he is captain of a shakedown crew, a skeleton crew used to test newly constructed ships for faults before the real crew takes over.

While on a routine shakedown mission aboard the FSC Gallaway, soon to be pride of the Federation Fleet, Earth is attacked by an unknown alien life-form. With the galaxy in chaos, Captain Iridius B. Franklin finds himself, unqualified, understaffed and completely unprepared, in command of the most advanced starship in the galaxy.

Now, he just needs to not break it.