C Gockel Writes

Featured Sci-fi: Spacebar (Books 1–6) by John Walker

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Spacebar: The Complete Series by John Walker

99¢ Amazon only
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Carson Flint left the Commonwealth’s wars behind for the quiet life of running a saloon on the edge of nowhere.

The Bulwark sits on Castus, the last neutral ground in a galaxy that tore itself apart. Smugglers, refugees, and war-weary soldiers drift through its doors, and Carson keeps his corner of it calm by staying out of everyone else’s business.

Then a dying man stumbles in carrying a secret worth killing for.

The stranger came out of Commonwealth service, hunted across the stars, holding something the Thortan warlords will level a settlement to reclaim. When their guns reach Castus, neutrality means nothing, and the Bulwark stands between a ruthless militia and a discovery that could reshape a galaxy.

Carson only wanted a quiet life. But some doors, once opened, pull you toward the adventure of a lifetime.

Includes Books 1–6.

Featured Fantasy: Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy Book 1) by Robin Hobb

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Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

$1.99 Most Vendors
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A gorgeously illustrated anniversary edition of the book that launched the epic Farseer Trilogy, praised by George R. R. Martin as “fantasy as it ought to be written” and Lin-Manuel Miranda as “an incredible series,” featuring a new foreword by Robin Hobb and ten illustrations.

Twenty-five years ago, Robin Hobb’s first novel featuring FitzChivalry Farseer and his mysterious, often maddening friend the Fool struck like a bolt of brilliant lightning. Thus began a beloved saga spanning multiple series, full of adventure, magic, and sinister plots. To celebrate a quarter-century of wonder, this special edition presents a modern classic as it’s never been seen before, with ten beautiful illustrations by Magali Villeneuve.

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

[Read more…]

Featured Sci-fi: Starship Express (Starship Express Book 1) by John Walker and Ethan Kramer

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Starship Express by John Walker and Ethan Kramer

99¢ on Amazon
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Nelson Tuckey tells the best stories in Sunningdale Psychiatric.

Alien worlds. Impossible deliveries. A ship he calls The Lost Princess. Reed is just an orderly, but he listens anyway. The stories keep the old man calm. And besides, everyone knows they’re not true. A space courier locked away on the fourth floor? Please.

Then the old man dies. And leaves Reed a shoebox.

Inside: pages of coded notes written on napkins and torn menus, addressed to “the boy.” Suddenly, the memory games Tuckey made him play don’t feel like games anymore. And buried in the mess of scribbles is a set of coordinates pointing to a clearing in the middle of nowhere. Reed should throw the box in the trash and go back to his shift. Instead, he gets in his car.

Some stories are just stories.

This one turns into the adventure of a lifetime.

Featured Sci-fi: Portals (Into the Galaxy Book 1) by Ann Christy

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Portals by Ann Christy

99¢ only on Amazon
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The world sees the portals as an invasion. For Lysa, they’re an invitation.

The portals appeared without warning. Every thirteen minutes they take a thousand humans, leaving exact duplicates in their place. Now, chaos reigns and no one is sure anyone is still the person they knew. Whoever is sending the portals has destroyed human society without firing a shot.

Not everyone thinks the portals are a prelude to invasion. Lysa, a student far too bright for her own good, believes the portals might even be something wonderful. There must be a logical reason for the portals, and that means something alive and thinking on the other side of those shimmering holes in our reality. Her burning curiosity leads her to do the unthinkable; she leaps through a portal meant for another.

What she finds is a galaxy teeming with life, worlds beyond imagining, and two terrible truths: Earth is in danger, and the portals are a one-way trip. Stranded in an alien civilization, Lysa will have to use her ingenuity to find a way home and warn Earth before it’s too late.

Portals is book one of the Into The Galaxy Duology, an exciting action-packed adventure suitable for all readers.

Featured Fantasy: Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries by Byrd Nash

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Featured Fantasy: Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries by Byrd Nash

FREE Series Starter, Book 2 only $2.99
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Apple, Nook, Kobo, Author Store

Elinor Chalamet’s talent to speak with the dead may have landed her in the soup.

Witty and clever, Elinor uses her mediumship skills to hunt for her father’s killer. So when a body in the canal brings her to the morgue, she’s happy to help until Tristan Fontaine, the Duke de Archambeau, takes over the case and places her under house arrest.

Between possessions and poltergeists, she’ll solve the case even if it means putting the duke in his place. Actually, that part of the investigation may be a pleasure!

Welcome to Alenbonné, a coastal city with picturesque promenades along the canals and where the ghosts never sleep. A country where spirits and murder are just a breath away.

The first of a six-part Gaslamp fantasy ghost mystery series featuring a strong-minded female Sherlock Holmes-like character in a slow burn romance

Featured Fantasy: Disappearing Nightly (An Esther Diamond Novel) by Laura Resnick

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99¢ as of October 20, 2026
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(Full-price: Apple, Kobo, Nook GooglePlay)

The first novel in this hilarious urban fantasy series introduces Esther Diamond, a struggling New York actress who can’t stop attracting supernatural mayhem.

“A paranormal screwball comedy adventure. Light, happy, fantastically funny!” —Jennifer Crusie, New York Times bestselling author of Bet Me

Bizarre magical disappearances are disrupting shows around the city, and Esther receives a mysterious warning not to go on at her off-Broadway show. Since she’d rather stay on stage than resort to waiting tables, Esther turns to her new BFF, Dr. Maximillian Zadok, a 350-year-old mage whose day job is protecting New York from Evil.

The show must go on, and the astronomical rent must be paid, so Esther and Max team up with a conjuring cowboy, a banker with stage aspirations, and a flock of fearless drag queens to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Also on the case is Detective Connor Lopez, a sexy cop who has a thing for Esther, but he may be drawing the conclusion that she and Max are the real problem rather than the vanishing performers.

Boldly facing down an enraged producer, a hungry tiger, and other deadly obstacles, Esther, Max, and their friends pursue Evil to its lair in order to find the missing performers and restore harmony to the city that never sleeps.

“Celebrate! Disappearing Nightly is the start of a new urban fantasy series that is smart, cool and wicked funny.”  —Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author