10th July – 561,454.

Well, news reports last night confirmed the partner of the woman stabbed to death just round the corner from here, has been charged with murder. My heart goes out to her family and the people who knew her, that’s a shocking way to die - not that there is a good way.

After the highs of yesterday’s birthday celebrations you’d expect a low, but at least in writing terms today hasn’t been that, hitting 3,584 words before lunch and I’ve got another couple of ideas floating around in my head. The next few days will be a test of my writing resolve too – the cricket starts in earnest today with the first day of the first Ashes test, being played at my local ground about 8 miles away. I guess I’ll have to continue getting up early and writing before breakfast if I’m going to consign myself to being a couch potato for the rest of the day, watching and listening to the cricket. 

Still the pauses between overs and the drinks breaks will give me time to flesh out these couple of ideas I’ve got floating around in my head and they may well appear as first scene treatments in a few days – we’ll see.

Ah, Wimbledon, Tour De France, Lions tour and now Ashes Test cricket, who said a summer of sport couldn’t match the Olympics? This time we even have sunshine.