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Kate Rauner, Hanover, New Mexico, USA I write science fiction novels and science poetry, and serve as a volunteer firefighter. Also a retired engineer and Cold War Warrior (honestly, that's what Congress called us) because I worked in America's nuclear weapons complex. Now living on the edge of the southwest's Gila National Forest with my husband, cats, llamas, and dog, I'm well on my way to achieving my life-goal of becoming an eccentric old woman. Visit me at katerauner.wordpress.com

Join an international crew as they ferry their commercial space station to an enigmatic anomaly in Mars' orbit. Here our solar system touches the Helios star system, a portal that was discovered decades ago and may be lost. Harry joined the mission to escape loneliness on Earth and to indulge his obsession for gardening in space. He finds relationships grow like gardens, though not always as expected. Tensions flare among the crew, threatening their mission. Along their journey, they mine a dangerous comet and visit the small colony on Mars. Things don’t go as planned and the crew must act to save their mission and their lives. A story combining adventure with life aboard a space station.

Kindle Price: $2.99

Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Self-driving cars, glasses to ward off jetlag, asteroid mining, rewilding the America west, a private space industry and the backlash against it. Kate Rauner's vision of our future permeates this story set in Spaceport America. Rob Shay is mission controller for a spacecraft headed to Jupiter. During routine calibrations along the way, Rob discovers an anomaly, a glitch in space that opens the way to another star system. Buffeted by events he can't control, Rob and his friends carve out their lives and frustrations abound. At least he gets sympathy from his ex-girl friend. Too bad she's in Australia. Follow Rob to a future you'll live to see.

Kindle Price: $2.99

Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

A one-way journey to Mars may be a mistake. Welcome to the first book of the On Mars series, a story of our near-future. Before you volunteer to settle on Mars, read Emma's struggle to slip the bonds of Earth and survive on a hostile planet. There are eight settlers on Mars until the colony's psychologist walks out an airlock to die on the cold, airless sands. Emma and her crewmates, the next mission of settlers, launch from Spaceport America despite the tragedy and despite their own misgivings. They take a tabby kitten with them, as requested by the survivors on Mars, and hope to revive the shocked colony. Emma leaves everything she knows behind, including a sometimes-boyfriend who's dropped from the next mission - all for a chance to explore the Martian surface in her robotic walkabout suit. Her arrival on Mars isn't welcomed by all the colonists, and the mission loses more lives and vital supplies in a crash landing that may not be an accident. Crippled by an inexplicable sense of desolation, they face an unforgiving planet and even Earth may hold danger. The question isn't if the colonists will explore, but if they'll survive at all.

Kindle Price: $3.99

Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

It's bad luck to be born on Mars. Welcome to the second book of the On Mars series, a story of our near-future. Journey with Jake, born in the first Martian colony, as he seeks help from the only other humans on Mars. But Earthers are as dangerous as the hostile planet. The colonists need resources - metals and minerals - to survive, but their prospecting efforts have failed. A second generation Mars-born, Jake's lucky to avoid the sicknesses that plague the settlement, but refuses to father any children in the doomed colony. He joins a team to explore beyond the Tharsis Plain, but his first trip ends in near-disaster. Half a planet away, new-comers from Earth start a second colony, but refuse all attempts at communication. Jake, with his friend Martha, plots a way to contact them and perhaps find help for his family and friends. He continues to prospect despite the risk on Mars' hostile surface, and waits for the enigmatic Sino-African colony to respond. But greater dangers await if they do. Read this book to discover if humans can claim Mars as home.

Kindle Price: $3.99

Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy