Ego boost

Had a fun day with Ashlei. We got to the writers workshop early so we walked around and looked at the art horses before going in. There were close to 30 Utah YA and childrens book writers and illustrators there. Shannon Hale was an awesome emcee. There was a 45 min. opening of them answering questions, a quick break for a snack and then split into groups. Our Q and A session was with Ann Dee Ellis, Jessica Day George and Chris Crowe. After that we split into groups for critiquing. We ended up in Ann Dee's. There were 5 wannabe-authors who shared a page of their work (first page), myself included. I got a lot of positive feedback. Afterward, Ann Dee took the time to come up to me and express interest in my story and told me to email her when it's getting published...and the first page is nothing compared to where the story ends up. :)
We then ate lunch and got some books signed...hit Shannon Hale first before her line got too long and then Ashlei went to Brandon Mull's line while I collected signatures on our program from all of the other authors and illustrators (wish we had thought to have Shannon Hale sign when she signed our books). Chatted with James Dashner for a few minutes...he remembered us from a previous book signing a couple weeks ago. He asked if I had shared my work in the critiquing portion and gave me a fist bump when I told him I was the only one Ann Dee bothered to come up to after. (That top's Ashlei's high-5 from Brandon Mull)
So...back to querying...