What was I thinking?

I've stressed myself out with things that don't have to be done!

For Pete's sake. Short story submissions seemed like a real possibility, until I tried to work it into my schedule. I'd already shoved in researching marketing and markets for the mystery. Which ate up some of my writing time, so my final (hopefully) revisions got stalled. And of course there's those other things like grocery shopping, cooking, weeding... I don't know why I do this to myself.

I need to finish the mystery and lay it to rest so I can tackle the tome without distraction. I thought I had already laid it to rest, but the group wanted a better ending. Part of me says to just shelve it and another part of me can't bear to not finish it in the best possible way. But to what point?

Self satisfaction is one point, I guess. I want to feel proud of it, regardless of where it goes. Even into the closet. I also want to know that I have finished a polished and publishable manuscript. That's a giddy feeling. And I feel a bit pompous saying it. But if I think it's ready to be submitted to an agent, or editor, then it should be polished and publishable.

Just finishing a project I have set myself is important, too. I have a lot of manuscripts lying around. They could all be something, if I sat down and worked at it. But they aren't. They are just gathering dust on the shelf.

Maybe that's what drove me into thinking about submissions again. It would be really nice to have a few more sales. A bit more proof that I have the chops. It's going to be months before the tome is edited down into book one and ready to go out the door. And sometimes you just need a little more carrot and a little less stick.