Story Behind THE LAST KEY

Published: April 13, 2010 / Updated: November 8, 2010 Rob Steiner Kindle, THE LAST KEY

I finished THE LAST KEY in 2003 and found an agent for it in 2005 (Dr. Uwe Stender). Over the next five years my agent sent it to almost every fantasy editor in the business. We got lots of “positive rejections,” but no bites.

So after five years of shopping it around, I had decision to make — continue sending it to smaller and smaller publishers, which could mean several more years of waiting…or make it an e-book, publish it to Kindle and Smashwords, and see what happens.

I chose the e-book route. I’m a pretty patient guy, but after five years even I was getting antsy to get my book into the hands of readers.

So THE LAST KEY is now available on Amazon Kindle. And no, you don’t need a Kindle to buy or read the book. You can easily download a free Kindle Reader for your PC, iPhone, or Blackberry. It only takes a minute to set up.

Or you can go to Smashwords.com and download the book in an electronic format you prefer.

My goal is to (hopefully) give readers a rollicking good adventure story at a cheap price. I don’t plan on pursuing a print edition, but I’d certainly love to hear any offers from a print publisher.

So I hope you enjoy the book. If you read it, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear what you think. Better yet, leave a review on Amazon or Smashwords, but be honest – point out the stuff you liked and the stuff you didn’t like. Honest criticism will help me become a better writer, write better books, and maybe someday make a living in this business.

Life is chess

Published: April 1, 2010 / Updated: April 8, 2010 Rob Steiner chess

Ken glanced at me from across the board. He said nothing, nor was there a hint of gloating on his face. But he knew I was beaten. And he knew I knew.

Right from the start, he had me on the run. His knights and pawns had set up an impenetrable wall from which his bishops were free to snipe at my defenses. He soon had complete control over the center of the battlefield. Any piece that ventured out there would be slaughtered in a ghastly crossfire from his bishops and rooks.

My soldiers did not have the strength to mount a strike into his heartland. After some blundering on my part, my king stood quivering in the right corner protected by a beleaguered knight, a trapped bishop, and three pawns waiting to die. My queen was off harrying his back ranks, but making no real threat. My lone, surviving rook stood next to the king in a feeble attempt to protect him from the inevitable. All my other men were gone.

Ken was only down a couple of pawns and a single knight.

Surrender crossed my mind again. Never! my stubborn will screamed. I had lost the previous game, and I wasn’t going to lose this one. At least not with a surrender.

I suddenly spied a weakness in his defenses. I ordered my queen back to the perch on which she held a few moves ago, directly attacking the pawn in front of his king. It was my only chance. Maybe he won’t see it…

He didn’t. He sent his rook to greedily take of one of the pawns surrounding my king. A loss of a man for me…and a loss of the war for him. My queen attacked the pawn in front of his king. Protected by the rook defending my king on the other side of the battlefield, my queen had him in checkmate.

He stared at the board a moment. His mouth fell open, then he shook his head.

I learned two things from that game. First, no matter how good things look for you, never start rehearsing your victory dance until the game is won. Second, no matter how bad things look for you, never give up until you’ve been checkmated.

I love how principles learned in chess transfer to real life.