Orb and The Arrow

Orb and The Arrow

What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? For some people, it's swapping a bottle for a book and pouring that restless energy into whole new worlds. That's the kind of creative journey this conversation shares. Fantasy author V.L. Stewart (known as Tori) sits down with host Jim Hirtle to chat about her epic trilogy *Orb and the Arrow* and how a quiet, bookish life in Costa Rica turned into sweeping, character-driven sagas.

She talks about being “enchanted” by an online role‑playing game, then suddenly sitting down in 2019 and, as she puts it, getting up “23 days later, having written 90,000 words.” If you've ever wondered whether you could write a book, you'll probably feel a nudge here.

Tori explains how her stories lean less on dragons and more on the messy, complicated human spirit: the pull toward evil, the stubborn push towards good, and the way faith and inner journeys shape an epic fantasy plot.

One reviewer praised her for an idea “never seen before,” and Jim raves about the gut‑punch opening of book three, describing it as so vivid he felt like “a spectator on the hill… doing nothing about it.” There’s plenty for creative, sober‑curious types too. Tori and Jim get honest about indie publishing: the cost of editors, the shark‑filled pool of book marketing, and why meeting readers in person at markets or fairs can matter more than fancy ads.

Tori even shares how she uses tools like ChatGPT strictly for critique, insisting “this has to be a human‑authored book.” If you're rebuilding your life and wondering what to do with all those new hours and feelings, this chat shows how storytelling, reading, and stubborn creativity can fill that space with purpose instead of old habits. What kind of world might you create if you gave yourself permission to start?