Publishing news du jour

I really ought to come up with more creative titles for these posts where I just include news bits and such... anyway, here are some things Publishers Marketplace had to report recently. I also added a bunch of new links to blogs I've been following (on the sidebar).

Harry Turtledove's THE BATTLE OF TEUTOBERG FOREST, about one of the most important battles in history, in which German tribes repelled the Roman legions; it was Rome's Vietnam and marked the limits of their expansion, sold to Marc Resnick at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Russell Galen at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (NA).
[Someone posted on the HNS list last year, asking for books about this battle; I wasn't able to find many. I bet this one'll be popular.]

Journalist Vanora Bennett's PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN WOMAN, the story of Sir Thomas More's ward, a woman torn between Hans Holbein, who arrives to paint the More family's portrait, and her former tutor, with the shadow of More hanging over all of their lives as the Reformation sweeps into full swing and King Henry VIII contemplates a rift from the Catholic Church as Protestant heretics grow increasingly bold, sold to Laurie Chittenden at William Morrow, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2007, by Eric Simonoff of Janklow & Nesbit.
[Wow, that's all one sentence]

Ildefonso Falcones's THE CATHEDRAL OF THE SEA, set in 14th century Barcelona, telling the lives of the citizens caught up in the 80-year construction of the Church of Santa Maria - those who devoted their lives to building it, or who sheltered there as political or religious refugees, to Jane Lawson at Doubleday UK, in a nice deal, by Sandra Bruna Literary Agency.

Finally, although you won't see anything about this on Publishers Marketplace, my editor's been asking me about a 2nd edition of Historical Fiction: A Guide to the Genre, since the field's been so hot lately. Looks like I'll probably be starting work on it this fall... most likely a supplement rather than a full-fledged 2nd edition, though, so it doesn't end up being 800+ pages like the previous one. I better get my typing gloves ready...