Unfinished novel: Gong Ringer's Last Thirty Days (8)
I believe the answer is:
november
'thirty days' is the definition.
(month with 30 days)
'unfinished novel gong ringer's last' is the wordplay.
'unfinished' means to remove the last letter.
'gong' becomes 'MBE' (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
'last' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'ringer' is 'r'.
'novel' with its final letter taken away is 'nove'.
'nove'+'mbe'+'r'='NOVEMBER'
(Other definitions for november that I've seen before include "Mob nerve is bad this winter month" , "Several days" , "Taunt, food in trap" , "Never mob (anag.)" , "Some weeks" .)