A voice familiar to most sports fans in Pittsburgh is Rob King.

As the voice of the Steeles and face of the Pirates pre- and post-game coverage, he's told the story of Pittsburgh sports for decades. Storytelling is a skill and a passion for King. An English Literature major in college, he's always loved digging into a book and writing.

"It's so funny. You hear authors talk about their characters like they are real people, and you're like, 'Come on, man.' Then you find yourself thinking about them in the same terms," King said.

He's currently writing the second of a trilogy of fantasy novels. The first one, "The Door in the Stone," came out last November.

King said in all, the first book took a decade to come together. He chalks that up to figuring out how to create a novel and get it on shelves. Since then, he's had people recognize his work and tell him about their love for it.

"That to me is more gratifying than actually having it on a bookshelf," King said.

One of the challenges was switching gears from the concise writing of sports journalism to the elaborate, detailed writing needed to take readers on a journey.

"Once you get the hang of it, you get better at it. But it's also scrubbing the memory of what you have done for a couple decades as a journalist," King said.

Where most writers set a window each day to work on their craft, it's not that easy for King. Between traveling with the Steelers and doing Pirates games, finding a window to escape into another world can be a conflict. But when he gets that time, it can disappear quickly.

"It happens all the time. It's a fun place to get lost," King said.

Just like characters in his novels, King says people are complex. To him, it's not about being the voice of the Steelers or the author. It's about doing what he loves.

"If I come across something else I love doing, I love playing golf, but nobody is going to know me as Rob King the golfer. I promise you that," King said.

If there's a resolution to King's work, it's to have kids get lost in a book like he did years ago.

"If a kid ever picked up this book and 30 years from now still remembered this book the same way I remember the books that I picked up when I was a kid, then mission accomplished," he said.

King's second book comes out in January. He hopes to have his third come out within a year of that.