Phoebe Hinkle's Blog: Chronicler's Corner, page 2
August 23, 2025
An Interview with Savannah Jane McCrary (Author of Trains and Tulips)
Hello friends! I’ve been looking forward to this post for a long time. Today I’m trading interviews with the lovely Savannah Jane McCrary of History Redeemed. She’s interviewing me about We Gave Our Tomorrows on her blog and I’m interviewing her about her upcoming WWII book, Trains and Tulips. I got the chance to be a beta reader for Trains and Tulips (and yes, you’ll probably be hearing more about that as it gets closer to publication!)
My questions are in bold, and Savannah’s answers a...
August 21, 2025
A Book Rec for You!
Hello friends! You know how a while back I complained that there aren’t many good WWII books out there? Well, not too long after I posted that, I got the chance to beta read a novel about the Dutch Resistance in WWII – Trains and Tulips by Savannah Jane McCrary. Guys, it was SO GOOD! I’ve never read about the Dutch Resistance before, and Savannah is a really good writer. It definitely hit ALL the right notes for what I want to see in a Christian WWII novel.
So, all this to say that Trains a...
August 19, 2025
My Top 10 Fictional Heroes
Hi, peeps! (I love saying that, lol. I'm a mother hen so y'all are my peeps 
) Annnyway, I've promised this post to someone for a while - and keep forgetting it - so I'm finally gonna do it!
Not gonna lie, I find it easier to look up to male characters than female ones in fiction. Idk why, really? Maybe because I'm a girl, or maybe because guys get to do all the fun and epic stuff. (Okay, and not so fun stuff . . . like getting shot every other episode, and beaten up by their author . . . b...
July 28, 2025
My Favorite Things
Inspired by this post from Miss Special @SheKindaWrites, I decided to share a list of 30 things that make me happy! (Some of them are copied from my response to her post.) Be warned that a lot of these are really random 
)my orange cat sleeping with me at nightwatching a new episode of Combat! (as long as it doesn’t end up being a stupid one )guns (random fact: the Tomm...
July 21, 2025
The Goodreads Tag + Something Special!
Morning, folks . . . *yawns* . . . ‘scuse me, I need more sleep. But anyway, I have a couple things for you this morning . . . the first is a short story about Sgt. Parker from We Gave Our Tomorrows (contains spoilers, though, so be warned!) and that’s on the WGOT website (I’ll probably put it on here too at some point).
Second thing is the Goodreads Tag, which I stole from Katja Labonté @ Little Blossoms for Jesus! My answers probably won’t be very long, since I don’t have as many books l...
July 14, 2025
Thoughts on War Stories
There’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard to find good war stories, especially any set in modern conflicts. Oh, I know there are PLENTY of WWII books out there – but most of them are romance, and those that aren’t are probably full of gore, language, and *ahem* other stuff that I don’t want to be filling my head with. This makes it really hard for Christian history nerds like me, who just want a good soldier story without the ugliness. (Yes, I ...
July 4, 2025
Happy Independence Day!
Happy 4th of July, friends! 
After Christmas, this is probably my favorite holiday. I love our great country and I’m so thankful to God for preserving her all these years. Don’t be afraid to speak up and express your patriotism – America needs it! We must keep her free for the sake of the next generations, and make sure they know of the sacrifices that generations past made to protect her.
(And to all my non-American readers – I definitely appreciate you, so know that I am an outspoken pa...
July 1, 2025
“What Makes Heroes, Lieutenant?”
At the end of the Combat! episode "The Medal", Saunders asks a very important question: "What makes heroes, Lieutenant?" (the title of this post). Lieutenant Hanley's answer, I'm sure, is meant to get the audience thinking: "You tell me, Sergeant."
Now I'm sure Hanley realizes he's talking to a living embodiment of heroism at the moment - because Saunders is a great example of a hero - but let's back up for a minute. What, exactly, does make heroes? It's something I've considered many tim...
June 23, 2025
Movie Review: Divisione Folgore (1954)
Genre: War movie
Run Time: 1:24
Rating: T (Tutti, Italian for ‘everyone’)
I don’t even remember what prompted us to watch this movie. I know my dad came across it while doing an internet search, but I don’t remember why he was looking up Folgore paratroopers . . . pretty sure, though, that it had something to do with the research we were doing on the Italian army for one of our game projects. Also, my brother is super interested in paratroopers, especially the Italian and German ones.
Oh, and did I mention? This movie is entirely in Italian, all except for the 3 or so lines spoken by the British (I think they’re likely New Zealanders, actually). Yes, I watched it without subtitles. 
I probably would’ve understood a few things better if I’d had subtitles, but I was able to pick things up well enough, despite the rapid-fire dialogue, thanks to the smattering of French I’ve retained.
Anyway! The movie follows the paratroopers of the Folgore Division in WWII. It starts out in the desert of North Africa, then goes back to their training and preparation for the intended paradrop on British-occupied Malta. Things don’t go as planned, though, and the paracudisti find themselves instead taken to North Africa, unable to use all the cool drop training they got. 
The climax of the film is the lengthy tank-busting section at El Alamein, where the soldiers are doing Hollywood-worthy but 100% accurate cool stuff, like ducking under driving tanks to stick mines on them (ala the movie poster), jumping on them to blow the turret with dynamite, epic stuff like that. No spoilers here if you know the history, but despite their heroics things don’t go well for the paratroopers, and the last scene is of rows of white crosses out in the desert. 
(The Italians got destroyed at Alamein – though they inflicted terrible losses on the British – and had to retreat, many of them on foot, across the desert.)
(I love that picture of the paratroopers marching out to their planes before the trip to Africa! It’s one of my favorite desktop backgrounds. #nerd 
)
The writers didn’t spend a whole lot of time developing the characters, which is understandable – it’s a history film, not a character-focused one. But there are a few that I liked:
Delavigne, with his unruly hair and his dog Micci This young man is afraid of heights – likely he didn’t realize it when he signed up, but being up on a 70-foot jump tower is enough to make anyone have second thoughts! He almost didn’t make it as a paratrooper, but the Colonello (more on him in a minute) gave him another chance.
Oh, and he does get to keep Micci, even though technically dogs were forbidden . . . she comes with him on jumps and carries a first-aid pack.
Gabriele, a former monk or friar – I’m not sure which. Religion was highly important in the Italian army, and each unit had their own chaplain. Gabriele doesn’t care much for heights either. 
He frequently helps the medics.
I love his face – he looks so warm and friendly, like the kind of guy I could trust right away.
Colonello Cecchi, the one who gives Delavigne a second chance. And no, this is not just because I like blond guys, though I think that perfect, no-hair-out-of-place style is probably natural. I like him because he looks like a very professional soldier, yet also very understanding. He obviously cares about his men, given all the encouragement he offers Delavigne.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
*takes a deep breath*
Okay, I REALLY dislike how they killed off Delavigne in practically the first action in North Africa. Not only is it sad, it’s also not great from a storytelling perspective (and it made me sad for the rest of the movie). He’s pretty much the only character they spent much time developing, only to get rid of him halfway through the movie. 
You don’t just do that to your kid characters! If he had to die, it should have been something epic at the end, not a stupid machine gun on a stupid night patrol.
It is impactful in a way, though, in that it gets across the complete impartiality and tragedy of war. I wouldn’t have killed him off, but war is not an author; young lives like his can get snuffed out at once, and the world goes on except for a few broken hearts at home. Delavigne represents all those seemingly useless sacrifices made by soldiers whose deaths don’t lead to anything of military value. 
(Enough of me being depressing. As usual when I’m mad about stuff like that, I have it as headcanon that he wasn’t killed, just badly wounded and captured by the British, and he survived in the end. )
(Honestly, though – how can you kill off a face like that?!)
Family Friendly?Depends on your family. It’s black and white, so that always makes things better. And it’s from the 50s, when movies were still kept pretty clean. As far as I know, there’s no language; but then, I don’t speak Italian (yet). There’s nothing gory, and while it’s implied that some nasty fates befall some of the guys in the tank-busting scenes, it’s never shown. Several guys are bandaged, and you can tell when there’s blood, but it’s nothing too bad. So, it’s up to you, but given the intensity of war, I wouldn’t watch it with young kids or sensitive folks (like my mom).
This is the version we watched. Only the first hour-thirty or so is the film; the rest is all scenes from the film that got repeated, for whatever reason? This version doesn’t have subtitles, so if you want to follow what they’re saying, you may want to find another version. I don’t suggest the color one; it was automatically colored and the filter has a lot of issues. Delavigne got a blue ear at one point.
Overall, despite my sadness over Delavigne, I really enjoyed this! I found it all fascinating, since I didn’t know anything about the Folgore before. This movie is going to live on in our crazy alternate universe for a while, as we have a few Legos named after the characters, and I wrote a few ridiculous fanfics about them on my typewriter. (It also gave me some *ideas* . . . *cough cough* )
June 11, 2025
An Interview With Katja H. Labonté (Author of A Noble Comfort)
Hello everyone! Today I’m bringing you an interview with a special guest – the lovely Katja Labonté from Canada. This should have been posted a long time ago, but I wanted to update my website and read her book A Noble Comfort first. (You can read my review here.)
So . . . without further ado, let’s get started. My questions will be in bold and her answers in purple.
Hi, Katja, and welcome to the blog! First of all, can you tell us what made you decide to sign up for the Cornerstone Series?
Hello, Phoebe! Thank you so much for having me; I really appreciate it. 
You know what’s funny is, I didn’t intend to sign up at all at first. I thought of it but decided against it at once, and it wasn’t until a few days or even weeks in that I changed my mind. I was really struggling with a lot of perfection paralysis and self-doubt, and I was afraid that if I did wrote a novella for the series, people would hate it and tear it to shreds. It was during a conversation with Madisyn Carlin, my friend who was co-organizer for the series, that she heard I’d always wanted to write a fairytale retelling and insisted that I should write one for the series—that I shouldn’t let fear hold me back, and so forth. Being someone who’s easily convinced (and, let’s be honest, has FOMO), I gave in and signed up… and here we are! 
I saw on another interview that you took inspiration from a lot of historical eras. Would you say that one era inspired you more than the others?
Well, let’s see. I was heavily inspired by 16th and 17th century France—Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII, religious persecutions, war-torn lands, brilliant courts, political struggles… I think that probably played the heaviest role in creating Tokulniòs and the world in A Noble Comfort.
What do you think was your biggest challenge in writing ANC?
Self-doubt/fear, 100%. I was so worried that it was a pointless, silly story; that nobody would like it; that it wouldn’t do any good, or be taken seriously, or even be considered good. I was terrified that people would despise or reject me over it. It sounds dramatic, but it’s true. I was so sure I’d be shown up as a fake, a phony writer, a hypocrite who critiqued books but couldn’t write them. That fear made me wait till the last minute to write and prepare it, which put a whole bunch of unnecessary stress and expense on me, and had me take publishing choices that I wish I hadn’t.
(Ngl, I have a LOT of trouble with imposter syndrome. On bad days I sometimes ask myself why in the world I ever thought I could write. 
)
Did you have any initial plans that ended up taking a wildly different direction?
Well, I wrote out the plot of ANC fairly early on, after reading The Blue Bird. I basically just copied TBB’s plot and then added changes that came to me, inspired by The Three Musketeers or my own imagination. I don’t usually write plots, or plot at all, but for this retelling I decided to, and I think when I actually wrote the story I stayed pretty true to my original idea. The main bones did, anyhow. Small variations happened; but the biggest changes, I think, were that K & C ended up having way less interaction than planned (because #wordcountissues) and didn’t have the courtship I intended them to have; Constanza was to be crowned queen much earlier on because of a revolt and with no help from the Inseparables; and Kenneth + Constanza fought and almost didn’t make up. (Yes, I, who despise misunderstanding tropes, nearly wrote one. The horror!). Oh, and originally, Alexios and Thalassa were to end up as a couple, too.
Do you have a favorite memory associated with writing ANC?
Do I? *scans memory doubtfully* I remember when I actually sat down and wrote the first chapter, I was absolutely enchanted and adored it. It was my first inkling that maybe this would end up okay overall. I also remember having such fun researching the tiger scene (it’s a lot harder to find information on how to fight a tiger than you’d think). Mostly I enjoyed everything after writing, though. I can’t really remember much about the writing process—I was so fearfully busy and stressed.
(If I ever need to write a tiger fight I know who to call now. )
Do you have a favorite scene or snippet that you’d like to share?
I would love to! Oh, dear, it’s so hard to pick (I almost went with the fight between Lord Frédéric and Lord Stéfanos, because I love it SO MUCH), but here’s one scene I really enjoy.
Azaziah reached across for Kenneth ’ s reins. “ I ’ ll keep the horses; you investigate.”
“ Why?” demanded the other, eyeing the thick snow with disfavour.
“ You ’ re younger.”
“ Only by three years. And I ’ m also a king.”
“I could be one too; you don’t know.”
“I beg pardon for contradicting, your presumed majesty, but there are no other kingdoms lying about here with missing monarchs—”
“ Besides, we agreed not to stand upon any rank if you joined us, and you agreed to consider me your leader.”
“Exactly. Leaders should lead. It’s in the name itself, O king.”
“Hurry and go, before it gets dark, Bluebird,” retorted Azaziah, ending the matter as he snatched the reins from Kenneth’s unresisting hand.
The younger man grimaced but dismounted agilely and marched down the hill without a shred of caution. Azaziah’s fingers pricked. The boy was surely not trying to remain unseen, was he? Wariness was simply not his strong suit; perhaps Azaziah should have gone himself instead…
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Kenneth bellowed a resounding, “ Halloo-oo-oo!”
Azaziah groaned.
But no gruff, weapon-laden man-at-arms appeared. Perfect silence reigned. Azaziah shifted uneasily in the saddle. This boded ill for their chances of finding the princess. If she were here, she was incapacitated in some way. Or the adversary was lying in ambush while that fool of a Kenneth circled the old ruin, peering up at the windows that stretched above his head and occasionally letting loose a piercing whistle that would have summoned the deafest of pots.
Suddenly he stopped and craned his neck back, staring fixedly at a second-storey window. Then he caught up a handful of snow and hurtled it towards the pane. Azaziah jumped to the ground and threw the reins over a tree limb, hastily securing them before hurrying after his friend. “ What is it?” he called as he drew near.
“ Don ’ t know. It ’ s a woman, but she doesn ’ t seem dark.” Kenneth readied another snowball, but the window swung open and the lady-in-waiting ’ s golden head appeared.
“ What is it?” she asked unenthusiastically.
Her flat voice staggered both men. Kenneth found his words first and retorted bluntly, “ Well, I don ’ t know; perhaps I might interest you in a rescue operation?”
Was there any music or songs that really inspired you?
The short answer is no. xD But there was some music I played over and over as I wrote… [link] And there are two songs that I connect very much to the MCs. This one for Thalassa, and this one for Azaziah.
(I love all those choices! I’ll have to remember that ambient one next time I write. )
I know it’s unfair to make an author choose a favorite character, so I won’t ask you that. But did you have any characters that you especially related to or enjoyed writing?
Well, Thalassa was—is—essentially me, so I definitely related to her. There is very little we differ in, if anything. Penuel was not someone I related to but he was quite fun to write—except for when he wasn’t because I felt insecure writing him, haha. There were some minor characters I enjoyed writing too, like Korinna, and Lord Nicholas…
I know the Inseparables were based on the Three Musketeers, and Penuel was inspired by Brian Jacques’ Long Patrol hares (Redwall forever!). Did any of the other characters have special inspiration behind them?
Oh, yes, so many! Constanza is inspired by Queen Anne and Constance Bonacieux from The Three Musketeers. Fiorella is inspired by Milady de Winter from TTM. Cellach de Quottine is inspired partly by Cardinal Richelieu of France, partly by Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and partly by Citoyen Chauvelin from the Scarlet Pimpernel books. Lord Arnault is inspired by Lord Anthony from the Scarlet Pimpernel books too, while Lord Frédéric is inspired by d’Artagnan and Frederick the Great. Lord Stéfanos is inspired by Mr. Havisham from Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Lord Cornelius is inspired by Cornelius the elephant advisor in “Babar.” Old Tadhg is inspired by Malachi Bone from The Settlers in Canada. Duchess Evanthia is based partly on Miss Lavendar from Anne of Avonlea, Grandmaman from Heidi, and a dear family friend of mine… and believe it or not, I’ve left out some folks!
(Wow, that’s a lot! You took inspo from Babar?! I love that 
)
Do you plan on writing more stories about the characters from ANC?
Oh, don’t I! I have two sequels vaguely planned (tentatively called An Honourable Assistance, which will cover religious persecution, set in Eatié, and retell The Wild Swans + Dumas’ Marguerite of Valois, and A Gentle Solace, which will retell both Musketeers and Marguerite—because they’re big and I definitely have elements I didn’t touch on—as well as a French fairytale called La Biche au bois, and will be about Tokulniòs being invaded by the “Vikings”), and I’d love to write them ASAP. It’s a toss-up between them and my WWII novel, Something Bright in All. I suspect I’ll either write both at once, or whichever one my audience wants most (aka whichever one I can convince someone to brainstorm with me and read along as I write).
(Ooh, I can’t wait!)
*****
Well, folks, that’s all! Hope you enjoyed it (and I REALLY hope y’all go check out ANC, ’cause you should. You really should ). Thank you, Katja, for dropping in!
