Brad Watson, who teaches creative writing at Harvard and whose story collection Last Days of the Dog Men won a first fiction award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters five years ago, has a new two-book deal with Norton for a novel and a new story collection; meanwhile, his first novel, The Heaven of Mercury, is set for publication in August. Editor Alane Mason bought world rights for a solid six figures from Peter Steinberg at JCA Literary. The new novel, Jane, is based on a true story, that of a deformed Mississippi woman and her struggle to live with dignity nearly a century ago; the story collection is untitled so far.