response 59 of 195:

Jan 28 07:11 UTC 1999

  OK, this isn't quite the quote I was looking for but it displays some
  of the most readily identifiable aspects of this author's writing..
  It's part of a longer section which I'll post if this is not quickly 
  identified.  I'm not sure how to guage the likelihood of a quick guess
  with this author -- certainly not as widely read by Grexers as the last
  but not likely to be unknown, either..  Anyways, on with the quote..


        "Our good wishes to you, sir" said A__.  "Our business
        here is ordinary: we seek food and shelter during this
        stormy night for which we will pay in suitable degree."

        "I can provide shelter," said the crofter, "as for
        payment, 'suitable' for me might be 'unsuitable'
        for you.  Sometimes those misunderstandings put people
        at the outs."

        A__ searched the contents of his wallet.  "Here is
        a silver half-florin.  If this will suffice, we have
        eliminated the problem."

        "Well spoken!" declared the crofter.  "The times of
        the world would flow in halcyon joy if everyone were so
        open-hearted and forthright as you!  Give me the coin."

response 61 of 195:

Jan 28 18:18 UTC 1999

  Simon is absolutely correct that this was not excerpted from "Black Beauty"
  or any other work of Anna Sewell.  I did toy with the idea of repeating a
  previous writer just to see if anyone was paying attention but to my
  knowledge this person has not been used before.

response 63 of 195:

Jan 29 05:06 UTC 1999

  Nope.

response 65 of 195:

Jan 29 16:31 UTC 1999

  We're venturing fairly far afield here.  I'll post the continuation of
  the quote after I get back from class..

response 67 of 195:

Jan 30 05:51 UTC 1999

  as far as I know the half-florin has never been a scottish coin
  denomination.  whether it has or not you may safely assume that
  this tale is not set in Scotland...

  continuing with the quote, we'll give a longer passage this time
  and highlight the writer's distinctive and sardonic style of dialog:  


        "Well spoken!" declared the crofter.  "The times of the
        world would flow in halcyon joy, if everyone were so
        open-hearted and forthright as you!  Give me the coin."

        A___ tendered the half-florin piece.  "Whom do I address?"

        "You may know me as Cwyd.  And you, sir, and your
        mistress?"

        "I am A___, and this is T___."

        "She seems somewhat morose and out of sorts.  Do you
        beat her often?"

        "I must admit that I do not."

        "There is the answer!  Beat her well, beat her often!
        It will bring the roses to her cheeks!  There is
        nothing better to induce good cheer in a woman
        than a fine constitutional beating, since they are
        exceptionally jolly during the intervals in an effort
        to postpone the next of the series."

        A woman came to join them.  "Cwyd speaks the truth!
        When he raises his fist to me I laugh and smile,
        with all the good humour in the world, for my head is
        full of merry thoughts.  Cwyd's beating has served
        its purpose.  Nevertheless Cwyd himself becomes
        gloomy, through bafflement.  How did the roaches find
        their way into his pudding?  Where except in Cwyd's
        small-clothes are household nettles known to grow?
        Sometimes as Cwyd dozes in the sunlight a sheep
        wanders by and urinates in his face.  Ghosts have
        even been known to skulk up behind Cwyd in the dark
        and beat him mercilessly with mallets and cudgels."

        Cwyd nodded.  "Admittedly when Threlka is beaten
        for her faults there is often a peculiar aftermath.
        Nonetheless the basic concept is sound.  Your mistress
        has the look of costive asthenia, as if she were an
        arsenic eater."

        "I think not," said A___.

        "In that case, a thrashing or two might well release
        the bile into her blood and soon she would be skipping
        and singing and larking about with the rest of us.
        Threlka, what is your opinion?"

response 69 of 195:

Jan 30 22:57 UTC 1999

Hi Brenda!  Long time no see.

response 71 of 195:

Jan 31 10:07 UTC 1999

ah, oops, i see, yes, a modern tongue-in-cheek tone to it... now i feel 
comfortably stupid...  definitely not someone i've read and or know, 
but i like the tone, so i shall sit back and look forward to finding 
out who it is, so i can go and get a copy...:)

response 73 of 195:

Jan 31 22:32 UTC 1999

  All interested parties are encouraged to keep guessing..

response 75 of 195:

Feb 1 16:19 UTC 1999

  Nope..  Recent guesses have at least been in the right genre, though,
  and are correct on several other counts (writer is male and currently
  living.)

response 77 of 195:

Feb 3 05:51 UTC 1999

  Nope.  

  I'd actually picked this one because I wanted something that would be 
  easy to guess:  I thought that between the number of science fiction and
  fantasy fans on Grex and the distinctive flavor of this writer's dialog
  that someone would quickly identify him.

  Perhaps we need more quote, I'll enter a bit more in a bit..

response 79 of 195:

Feb 3 12:25 UTC 1999

Hmm.  I've lost track of the quotes themselves.

response 81 of 195:

Feb 3 16:26 UTC 1999

  Not Michael Moorcock or Stanislaw Lem (though I highly recommend Lem.)
  The quotes are in responses #59, #67, and possibly not-yet-numbered
  responses to be enterered soon..  :-)  You can see the currently entered
  ones by typing "only 59; only 67" at the "Respond, pass, forget, quit?"
  prompt.

response 83 of 195:

Feb 3 18:20 UTC 1999

(For purposes of this game, you don't have to identify the work, just 
the author.)