When is a book finished?

I mentally wrote ‘The End’ under a short novel, my third book, some months ago. I left it to mature – some would say fester – and read it through and edited it for the first time over Easter. I put it to one side again, thinking it just needed another pair of eyes or two to see whether I’d said anything silly. I can, you know.

A couple of nights ago, I was walking along the raised bank of the River Hull near the village of Tickton in that state some people call daydreaming and some call nodding off. It occurred to me that at the end of that book I could bring back something which came into the story much earlier. It would tie things up. It would bring things full circle. I was already happy with the ending which hasn’t changed. The new couple of sentences make it more satisfying though.

If I hadn’t put the book aside and started to write another, I might have published this and then missed a nice little twist. I hope it’s finished now!