More on Pronoun Abuse

 

Three Reales & Cousin Lionel rooting for Argentina at The Capital Room Bar. Why Argentina? Both Mike and Lionel were born there, brought here as babies. (They are always quick to point out their families emigrated through proper application & approval.)

Susie, Hailey, Lionel, Riley

 

 

Storm over Sanibel Island.  Photo by Jorge Perez

Cape Coral, FL.  Photo by Ed Saternus

  

Last but not least - our Cassidy, exiling herself to the staircase due to a strep throat -  watching her mother open birthday presents. (That's the top of my head at the dining room table below.)

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MORE THOUGHTS ON PRONOUN ABUSE

 Since my blog on "Pronoun Abuse" proved to be so popular, I thought I should dredge up a few more words on the subject. And "dredge" is the apt word, as I find examples really hard to create! 

When I say that Pronoun Abuse is a product of the 21st century, I can safely state that I know what I'm talking about, for I remember well over half of the Twentieth Century, and we did not talk like that. (At least not in New England, Nebraska, or the West Coast of Florida where I spent my 20th c.) Nor will I attempt to speculate on how Pronouns began to be mangled since the turn of the 21st c. All I'm attempting to do is make people aware that it's happened and that I hope more than we "oldsters" find it abhorrent. This is a deviance from American English that needs to be rooted out before it changes our language forever.

In this follow-up post I want to show examples of how correct use often deviates from a simple substitution of  "she" for "her" or "he" for "him." The way we said the same idea in the 20th c. might be quite different from the phrase in Pronoun-abuse English. For example . . .

It's them.

There they are. They're here.

 

Him and Me

He and I.  Bill and I 

 

Ben and her

Ben and Betty

 

Them's the right words! (Both "them" & singular verb incorrect)

You got it! You said it! 

 

It's me.*

It's me.

 

*The exception to every rule. This expression has been around so long it's definitely here to stay, although I do recall, "It is I" being used as an intentional "hi-falutin'" joke.

 

Below, examples of the CORRECT use of "him," "her," and "them." As OBJECTS of the verb.

 

I like him.

 

He ran past her.

 

The careless driver hit them with his car. 

 

SUMMARY.

Yes, as seen in the gallery pic above, language usage changes, but Pronoun Abuse is such a huge deterioration of American English that I'd really like to see it nipped in the bub. Crying in the wilderness? Very likely. But please, pretty please, think about it and, hopefully, catch yourself before you say, "Me and him" or "I can ski better than her." (Groan.) Please . . . . . . 

 

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 Books of the Week

Many books in my Regency Warrior series and in my Regency Gothic series feature heroes devoted to their country. I managed to pare the choices down to two for this weekend's celebration of our 250th Anniversary. Both feature soldiers who truly sacrificed for their country—one, a leg; the other, the noble life he was born into.  

 Major Courtland Randolph, after losing a leg at Waterloo, abandons the world of his birth for a hops farm in Kent. He is not pleased when his former commanding officer maneuvers him into returning to society as protector of a lady who once termed him, "The Abominable Major." Yet in the course of dealing with a dashing Russian countess, political unrest, his ex-fiancée, an importunate prince, a mysterious young man from the London slums, a high-born runaway, and a dramatic change in his private life, Court finally accepts that he is still a man. Man enough to love and be loved.

Author's Note: Each book in the Regency Warrior series is a stand-alone story, but The Abominable Major has so many cross-over characters from The Lady Takes a Risk that you might want to read Lady  first. There is also a spin-off series—the three novellas about the adventures of Matthew Wolfe (mysterious young man from the London slums). 

 

 When the uncle of a six-year-old marquess threatens to take him from his widowed mother, as well as urge her to marry his rakish son, Victoire, Marchioness of Brynthorpe, hires a war-weary band of ex-soldiers as bodyguards. The resulting clash reverberates from Wiltshire to London as Captain Fox, the Stone Soldier, turns out to be far more than his military rank implies.
Violent conflict, an unexpected and rocky romance, close-held secrets—all to the tune of comments and advice from five resident phantoms. Yet even when our hero and heroine see sunny skies at last, one more problem rears its ugly head. 

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Pronoun Abuse

 

Flag Day in Venice, FL, a little city that truly appreciates the meaning of June 14. 

 

Venice, FL - June 14, 2026

Also from Venice, a storm surge pole measuring how high the water came with two very nasty and memorable hurricanes, Helene and Milton. (Why pics from Venice? I spent my first 25 years in Florida in Venice, an absolutely delightful mini-city on the Gulf of Mexico.)

 

 Talk about Punctuation/Composition problems . . .

From Facebook, no attribution 

 

A Michael Boor photo, posted to FB by Mary Balogh

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PRONOUN ABUSE 

Let me state up front:  this is likely a useless cause. But as someone who learned proper English from teachers who really knew their stuff, I feel I have to point out the constant pronoun errors I am finding in so many books, particularly books written in the last decade.

I'm talking about "he, she, they" becoming "him, her, them," which is only a slight step up from "dese, dose, dem."

Below are examples of what I mean, followed by the correct English.

. . . more time on her hands than me.

. . . more time on her hands than I have.

 

. . . the same hunch as me.

. . . the same hunch as I have. Or "the same hunch I have."

 

I'm smarter than him.

I'm smarter than he is.

 

I want to eat ice cream like them.

I want to eat ice cream like they are. 

I want to eat ice cream like they're doing. 

Below, an example copied from this week's local TV news. A good example of why the "wrong" pronouns are taking over. Often, they're faster, simpler. "Not surprisingly, it's he" just doesn't work well. Below, see a better way to express that sentence's intention. A sentence I consider much stronger, by the way.

Not surprisingly, it's him.

Not surprisingly, he's the one. 

Special Note:  I hasten to admit that if you're writing a novel set in the contemporary U.S., proper pronoun use could come across as "stilted." Horrible but true.

BUT . . .

If you are writing an historical novel—Medieval, Renaissance, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, the Twentieth century.—and you use modern "abused" pronouns, for shame! I know it would knock me right out of the story. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong! Educated people of those periods did not mangle their pronouns. Yes, there's a certain "slang" or "cant" for each period, and only diligent research will give you that. But modern-day misused pronouns, no way, no how. You just can't do that and hope for credibility with serious readers—the ones you hope will keep buying every book you write. (And, yes, I've seen examples of wrongly used "him, her, and them" in recently written historical novels.)

 

Book of the Week

Way back at the beginning of my writing career, I wrote two Contemporary romances. This one was for Kensington. (Published as He Said, She Said, a title I hated. For some reason the marketing department didn't think "risk" would play well in the hinterland.) I changed back to the original title when I got my rights back and published it to Kindle many years later.)  The setting is the Cape Cod I knew - living there for a year at age four and returning every summer for umpteen years after.      

 Following a tough trial, all defense attorney Vicki Kent wants is a few days of peace and quiet at her parents' cottage on Cape Cod. Instead, she finds a man challenging her with a 9mm in his hand. John Paollilo is an angry, burned-out homicide detective from New Haven, exiled by his boss to an enforced vacation on the Cape. Needless to say, conflicts abound—from a clash of professional viewpoints to the odoriferous retaliations of a family of skunks—as Vicki and John reluctantly share the cottage, exploring the Cape and each other, and in the end discovering that opposites really do attract.

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Comments on Two Outstanding "Action" Authors

 

A raccoon has joined Susan Coventry's menagerie.

 

 

This stunning photo was taken at 

Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach, FL

(no attribution) 

 

Title:  Still Water

 

Posted to Facebook by Regency author, Mary Balogh

 

Last-minute pic addition. Riley and Donald went kayaking on the Indian River  near New Smyrna Friday afternoon, getting to meet a manatee up close and personal. It swam under their kayak, also pushed it a ways. Thank goodness manatees are gentle sea cows that wouldn't think of rearing up and swamping the boat. (Although Riley states she had a few doubts about that before the manatees proved their peaceful ways.) There were also dolphins in the area. All on an absolutely perfect Florida afternoon. Cloudless skies, temp in the mid 80s. 

 

 

Manatee, Donald & Riley

 

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 I planned this blog somewhere around four weeks ago, before realizing my oldest grandchild was actually graduating from college, thus setting off four weeks of the "most read" blogs in the history of Grace's Mosaic Moments. (See below "Book of the Week" for statistics.) A big thank-you to all those around the world who took time out from all the bad news to read a few moments of "what's happening" to a family in Florida.

 

TWO OUTSTANDING "ACTION" AUTHORS 

As most of my readers know, I seldom name names, as I don't want to upset the applecart with my many Regency-author friends. But the two authors named today are so far from Regency norm—one the author of Fantasy SciFi; the other, writing Regency-set mysteries totally divergent from almost allother  novels in the field that I decided to ignore the "Regency" setting.

The idea for this blog first popped into my mind while I was re-reading Lindsay Buroker's series, The Emperor's Edge. I remembered only that I loved the characters; alas, not that it is page after page of dire events and extreme action—so much so, even though I like "action" and this was a second reading, I still squirmed and winced as I read through the lengthy series. Wow! Yet, action-oriented or not, every character is magnificently drawn, from the members of The Emperor's Edge to the villains, right down to the least significant characters in the story. A true tour de force of characterization.

But yes, the action is non-stop. Over the top. Definitely requiring "suspended disbelief." There are moments so claustrophobic I could barely get through them. A happy ending seemingly impossible. And yet Ms Buroker pulls it off. If you have a strong stomach, I cannot recommend this series too highly.

But, let's face it, most people prefer less intense plots and action. It is noticeable that after The Emperor's Edge, Ms Buroker's series toned down a bit. Plenty of action, but with not quite so much intensity; definitely more humor, a gentler touch. Among my favorite series, the ones featuring an irascible dragon and one where the hero is more robot than human. 

 

During the four weeks of "grad" blogs, I began to read two series by Andrea Penrose. (Still working my way through.) But what instantly popped into my mind was a remark by an agent I was querying way back when, who told me:  "Clearly, you write for the top two percent of the market."  Well, if that's true, Andrea Penrose writes for the top one percent, or maybe half a percent. Her mysteries are hard-bitten, filled with intellectual-style information, chilling action, and truly twisted mysteries. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea. You may learn more than you ever wanted to know about chocolate, but she does translate the many Latin phrases in her second series, and has given us two of the toughest, most independent, most intriguing heroines ever found in novels set in the Regency era. Her portrayal of two young urchins taken in by the heroine of the Wrexford series is a true tug to the heart. Nonetheless, her two Regency-set series are only for those who enjoy a challenge to the intellect.

Summary

If you want your action "off page," as in Cozy Mysteries . . .

If you want your books spiced with hot sex . . .

If you want a tranquil peek into a world of glamour and romance . . .

The above two authors are not for you. But . . .

If you want (or don't cringe at) LOTS of action, often violent . . .

If you want unusually well-drawn characterizations . . .

If you want narration and dialogue that challenge the mind . . .

Take a peek at the works of Lindsay Buroker and/or Andrea Penrose.  

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 Featured Book of the Week

 Limbo Man is as close to an Action tale as I've ever written. Sadly, it's probably the least read of all my books—possibly because so many of my readers are Regency-lovers, and this one is not only contemporary, but the hero is Russian. Oops. The setting ranges from New York City to Florida to Siberia to Iran, with a few other settings in between, including the islands off the coast I could see from my 1830 house in Connecticut. 

 A lost Russian nuke plunges FBI Special Agent Veen Frost into a world-wide chase, from the East Coast to the Mid-West, from Florida to Siberia, on to Iran, and back again. Her only companion, an amnesiac Russian who may have the key to the location of the lost bomb locked in his head.

Author's Note: During the chaos of the break-up of the Soviet Union (c. 1990), ten nuclear bombs went missing. Limbo Man is a tale of "what might have been." 

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The four-week total for the two "Grad" blogs:  51,676 views over 28 days

The viewers of the two blogs came from countries around the world. Listed below in the order of the number of viewers.

US, Germany, Netherlands, Iraq, Brazil, Vietnam, Bangladesh, France, Argentina, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Tunisia, Mexico, Colombia, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Russia, Other (3,000).  

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Post Grad Travel Tale

 

Putting off " Grace's reading" blog yet again to talk about what happened directly after graduation . . .

Early on the morning after Hailey's graduation, the five Reales took off on a ten-day trip to the great Southwest—Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. My husband and I did a 5,000-mile RV trip with our three children way back when, visiting many of our most outstanding national parks. And, finally, Susie was able to plot out a trip for her girls, even if it was confined to a smaller area. The highlights: Sedona, including a very fancy observatory, a spectacular "slot canyon," Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas. (Where, I'm told, our math-minded new grad reveled in the "slots.") Interestingly, all three girls walked away with money.

I'm so glad they were also able to tour inside Hoover Dam, the surrounding area now much fancier than it was when I was there. Built about the time I was born, Hoover Dam is one of the great wonders of the world*, and a chance to go inside and see how it works, hear the hum of the giant generators, peer down at the immense incline on the back side . . . Wow! Add that to the incredible beauty of the mountains, the towering cliffs, the giant rift, the glitter and glitz of Vegas . . .

Needless to say, everybody had a great time, although Hailey reports she came back to the reality of her work not changing from intern days, except for longer hours. (And, of course, more money.)

*Russians brag that Bratsk Dam in Siberia is bigger, but I've seen it, and it is only WIDER, not nearly as tall or as impressive as Hoover Dam.

Last night—Thursday, May 21—Mike and Riley prepared a "Late Mother's Day Dinner." (Mother's Day missed as the Reales flew to Phoenix.) Thank goodness we have so many good cooks in the family! Evening complete with cards and flowers and beautifully bagged-up leftovers. Thank you, Mike and Riley! (Cassidy, also an excellent cook, is summering in Melbourne to get in more flying time.) No photos from last night, so I am posting our family photo from Thanksgiving 2025. And giving thanks for the close-knit Kone-Reale family.

And, yes, our Michael "Stewart" was pushing the season a bit.

 The highly dangerous lack of a comma . . .

 

 Regular readers may recall we have a family friend who works for Disney. Photo below from an event this week in Virginia. Way to go, Teddy!

 The photographer swears the following pic was not photo-shopped or AI generated. Just a very special moment on Florida's Gulf Coast.

 When I moved to Venice (FL) in 1982, there was nothing from Venice Beach all the way down to Caspersen Beach except a Coast Guard station, a tiny hot dog stand and, as I recall, a single port-a-potty. Below, a recent pic of the area—first came a modest-sized Sharky's restaurant—now a vast complex of two-story restaurant, shops, and giant pier. FYI, I understand the road south, leading to Caspersen Beach, has not been repaired since Hurricane Milton, making Sharky's almost the end of a road that once led down to a fossil-loaded beach, a couple of large parking lots, plus a 2-story building with restrooms and changing rooms (also, no longer available, sigh). 

Sharky's restaurant complex and fishing pier

 

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. Both pics from Facebook:

  

 

For my foreign readers and younger Americans: Drawing depicts the U.S. Supreme Court raising the Confederate flag in a mock portrait of the U.S. Marines raising the flag on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.

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Book of the Week - choosing one of my 12 Regency Gothics at random:

 Independent and capable Prudence Wedderburn, daughter of a vicar, is a woman before her time. She not only manages the parish duties usually performed by a vicar's wife, she has learned the art of healing, and during her father's final illness, she also assumes some of his religious duties—all actions welcomed by her village until her father's death abruptly ends her life as First Lady of Kenner's Cove, Kent.

Well aware she must curb her independence—even learn to practice subservience, a quality entirely unknown to her—Prudence accepts a position as governess to a five-year-old girl in Cornwall. Where, alas, rumors of her activities in Kent plunge her into difficulties with the church, she clashes with her pupil's father (an earl), finds herself hip-deep in smugglers and Cornish legends, is befriended by a 500-year-old cat, and discovers that someone—several someones?—want to kill her. Finding a happy ending in a deluge of disasters will be the vicar's daughter's greatest challenge.

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Aerospace Engineer in the Family. WOW!

 

I would like to thank the 16,405 people who have viewed Grace's Mosaic Moments since midnight, Saturday, May 11. Definitely an all-time record since this blog was established in 2011. Which goes to show that people around the world are delighted by a pretty girl earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering. (As well as getting a peek at her accomplished and good-looking younger sisters!) And making us realize that the many gifted graduates out there give us all hope for the future. I am, therefore, leaving the "graduate" blog up for another week. I mean, proud Gramma wouldn't want anyone to miss it!

  

 

I had a topic planned for this week, until I realized this was College Graduation week for my oldest grandgirl, Hailey Hays Reale. The name of her degree, after five long years of really hard work. . . Ta da! . . . AEROSPACE ENGINEERING. (Even in her freshman year she was dealing with equations that blew my mind.) She has been interning with Lockheed Martin for some time, doing work that comes under "If I told you, I'd have to kill you," and is already contracted to LM after she graduates. The painting her artistically talented cousin Lionel did on her graduation cap will, however, give you a hint.

GO, HAILEY! WE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU! 

Special Gesture from UCF: 

Since UCF is something like the second largest college in the country, with 1500 in the Engineering Department alone, UCF arranges "photo ops" for its graduates. For Hailey, it was this past Thursday. Girls arrive in white dresses, plus cap & gown. Professional photographers take individual pics, record each grad's "walkover" ceremony, where they shake hands with a VIP, receive fake diplomas, pose for yet another pic before walking off. This is an all afternoon come-when-you-want-to event, so parents get up-front seats, their cheers easily heard. What a wonderful way to make graduation personal for each student. A hearty thank-you to whoever thought that one up!

Below Susie's words with the pics she posted to Facebook, plus a selection from "photo op" day. 

******

 After 5 long years in the UCF College of Engineering, Hailey is finally graduating! We are so proud of her self discipline, tenacity, and dedication to get to this point, graduating with a major in Aerospace Engineering. Beautiful and intelligent! She's grown into a fabulous young lady. Hailey has accepted a great job offer with Lockheed Martin in Orlando. She also paid off her car and got her 1st apartment! So proud of our 1st born baby girl!!    (Susie Kone Reale)

  

With Riley

 

 

Cassidy missed out as she was at a Flight-related conference in Los Angeles most of the week. One of their special treats, a visit to Edwards Air Force base where they saw the launch of the super-secret X59 (no photos allowed) and Cassidy got to sit in the cockpit of an F-18 (at least I think that's what she said it was).

Correction (Monday): First pic below is an F-18 Simulator. Second pic, Cassidy in rear seat of real F-18. 

F-18, Edwards Air Force Base

 

SpaceX Falcon Heavy, posted by City of Cape Canaveral

Note the reflection. (4/28/26) 

 

 *****

A memorable week in the Kone/Reale Family! 

~ * ~

 

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