C Gockel Writes

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.

Featured Fantasy: Heritage of Power the Complete Series by Lindsay Buroker

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Featured Fantasy: Heritage of Power the Complete Series by Lindsay Buroker

99¢ as of September 18, 2025
Click for current price: Amazon US, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia

Kobo, GooglePlay, Apple, Nook

Dragons have returned to the world, and they’re wreaking havoc on human civilizations.

Only one man has the power to stop them.

Born an outcast who’s never fit in, Telryn “Trip” Yert has spent his entire life hiding a secret that could get him killed:

In a world where magic is forbidden, the ancient blood of dragons flows through his veins.

Joined by a snarky sentient sword, a band of equally snarky allies, and the smart scholarly woman he longs to impress, Trip must master his powers, learn the secrets of his heritage, and go on a quest to save mankind. If he fails, dragons may take over the world and enslave all of humanity.

This is the complete five-novel Heritage of Power series, full of adventure, romance, and fast-paced page turning fun.

It includes:

1. Dragon Storm
2. Revelations
3. Origins
4. Unraveled
5. Gold Dragon

Featured Fantasy: The Ash Moon (The Ariane Trilogy Book 1) by Michelle Dare

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FREE as of September 18, 2025
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A kept secret. A life altered. A new journey.

Ariane lived her life one book at a time. She would never have guessed those books were about to change everything.

They led her to Orion.

Tall, dark, with eyes only for her. The rest of the world ceased to exist when Orion was around. But during a fateful ash moon, he shifted into a wolf. Ari thought she was dreaming, but she’d recognize those eyes anywhere.

Fiction became reality. Fantasy was actually history. And soon, Ari would learn her role in it.

A pack war was on the horizon, and she was the only one who could stop it.

Nothing would ever be as it once was, because Ariane was now part of the Avynwood Pack.

Featured Sci-Fi: Galaxy Bridge Series by Daniel Gibbs

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Featured Sci-Fi: Galaxy Bridge (6 book series) by Daniel Gibbs

START THE SERIES FREE WITH BOOKS 1 – 3
Books 4 – 6 just 9¢ Each
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An all-new galaxy. A terrifying new enemy.

Exploration of Sextans B is underway via the first stable trans-galactic wormhole in recorded history. Colonel Mateo Larra takes command of Joint Base Sagittarius Arch, the visionary new space station housing diplomats, merchants, and military personnel eager to make their mark.

But with every opportunity comes opposition.

[Read more…]

Featured Fantasy: Cloak Games by Jonathan Moeller

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Featured Fantasy: Cloak Games by Jonathan Moeller

START THE SERIES FREE—Book 2 only 99 ¢, Book 3 only $2.99
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Apple, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay

The High Queen of the Elves has conquered Earth, but I don’t care about that.

I don’t care about the High Queen, or the Rebels seeking to overthrow her. All I care about is getting my baby brother the treatments he needs to recover from his potentially fatal disease…and those treatments have a steep price.

Fortunately, I have magic of my own, and I’m a very, very good thief.

Unfortunately, the powerful Elven lord Morvilind has a hold over me. If I don’t follow his commands, my brother is going to die.

Of course, given how dangerous Morvilind’s missions are, I might not live long enough to see my brother’s death…

Featured Sci-fi: The Expanding Universe by Multiple Authors

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Featured Sci-fi: The Expanding Universe by Multiple Authors

New Release
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Available for a limited time, this collection includes my novella, Situation Normal All Furballed Up—an adventure with 6T9, Volka, Carl, and Sundancer. It doesn’t require any familiarity with these characters, but it takes place between Starship Waking and Darkness Rising for those familiar.

6T9, Volka, and Carl are back in this hilarious sci-fi rescue mission… with extra glitter, gladiators, and one grumpy telepathic furball.

Android 6T9 was designed for pleasure—not prison breaks, gladiator death matches, or interstellar diplomacy gone sideways. But when his mission to retrieve a stranded scientist on the patriarchal desert colony of Exeter 389 goes spectacularly wrong, he does what any self-respecting former sexbot would do: improvise with glitter, charm, and masochism settings dialed to maximum.

Now trapped in a gladiator barracks, wearing a glorified diaper, and surrounded by musclebound morons, Sixty’s only backup is an artistic wolf-girl, a sentient starship with communication issues, and Carl—a venomous, telepathic space-weasel who’d rather nap than save the galaxy.

The locals are bloodthirsty, the rescue window is closing, and a six-legged monster is about to enter stage left.

For Sixty and his crew, it’s Situation Normal, All Furballed Up!

Besides Situation Normal there are twenty-two other short stories by such indie author luminaries as Craig Martelle, Lawrence M. Shoen, Rick Paltrow, Rachel Aukes, Daniel Gibbs, and many more!