Yay, I'm really glad to hear that it's going well and that you've had some great feedback! I'll be interested to hear more detail on the week once you get back but I can only imagine that it's both really informative and really overwhelming right now!
It's definitely exciting to hear that you're being encouraged to submit that story. I enjoyed the part of it that I read as you posted it here.

Also, feel free to tell Paul that I really enjoyed Captain Fancyknickers & that entire collection. I'm amused that he turned out to be your roommate! I have no idea if he's a cool person or not but at least he puts out a mean anthology, which counts for something! =)