A little history/archaeology news before we move on to the publishing links.  A dig in Coventry has uncovered a 13th Century copper badge displaying the three lions of the English Coat of Arms.

This is particularly intriguing to me, as the intertwined history of badges and heraldic symbols (particularly animals) is central to the Observer Tales.

Now, on to the links!

♣ First and foremost, Eric at Pimp My Novel outlines his disagreement with agent Nathan Bransford about the meaning of internet free-for-all economics.  (Full disclosure: I am more with Eric on this one.)

♣ Moonrat at Editorial Ass shares a live-blogging anecdote about why you should not just show up at a publisher with your manuscript.

♣ Carla Nayland provides writers of historical fiction a realistic idea of the numbers of medieval armies.

At Magical Words:
♣ David B. Coe reminds us that finishing the novel is only the beginning,
♣ Misty Massey talks about finding the perfect place to write, and
♣ AJ Hartley discusses judging a book by its cover.

At Murder By 4:
♣ Barbara Levinson discusses how to write a legal thriller, and
♣ S. W. Vaughn has an epiphany about online reviews.

♣ Finally, the Redlines & Deadlines blog was nice enough to point the way to Terry Odell‘s recap of Linda Howard‘s presentation on writing sex into your novel.