She was witty, sexually adventurous and intimate with her readers, sharing photos of her travels and exchanging private e-mails and instant messages with fans. She posted messages to other people’s Web logs and created personal profiles at social networking sites. Many readers felt deeply connected to her.

Then, three weeks ago, the “Plain Layne” Web log mysteriously disappeared from the Internet, sending her fans into a tizzy.

Now the person behind Layne has come forward and admitted that it was all an elaborate hoax. —Michael Bazeley —Net fans jolted by man’s blog hoax (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)