Wow! Re: Writers, woodwork, coming out of

Pass the smelling salts. By midnight Tuesday I had 50 emails about The Phantom Prof's Online Writing Workshop (see below for details). By noon today, there were more than 50 more.

Amazing, y'all. This will be quite a class. As I envision it, you can take it at your own pace, with only a few hard deadlines to meet between the start of the workshop August 16 and the end of the semester in mid-December.

To take part, all you have to do is come back to the blog regularly. I'll post assignments, quizzes and other lessons. You read them and do the work on your own. I'm still working out details of how your output will be evaluated -- so if you have suggestions or ideas about it, let me know. If you crave anonymity, that's fine. But I may ask you to post your work in "comments" using the same nickname every time. That way we'll get to know your "writer's voice" and we will become familiar with everyone who's in the process.

Mostly, you'll be writing there in your garret or dorm room or lavishly chandeliered wood-paneled rumpus room. And judging from the timestamps on your emails, you'll be writing in the middle of the night. Quiet then, isn't it? Even the dog is asleep.

To answer another question, yes, I'll keep writing stories about college. Can't stop doing that! Too many good new stories keep coming in. Just recently I heard about the quaint sorority ritual known as "fat circling." And then there's the swimteam's annual LAGNAF get-together, as in let's-all-get-naked-and-f***. Good stuff to come about that.

So you can come here for entertainment or education. Sharpen your pencils and clear off the dining table. Class starts Tuesday, August 16.