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Laura Duthie

@darkonelf.bsky.social
1.9K followers 444 following 2.2K posts

Just another Twitter peasant trying to survive the attention economy. First book in draft. Shorts published in Divinations Magazine and Underbelly Press. Cycling. All views my own. Sapere aude.

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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 2h
Starting October with a hill, a fox and a torrential downpour on the way back.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For the birds. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Autumn, at last.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I have written a story about being a teenager in care and what having a job meant in a world that was anything but normal. #writing substack.com/@darkonelf/n...
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Get on the road and ride to you. music.apple.com/gb/album/get...
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Today has been amazing, so special for my old man. I swear, this city has the kindest people & I’m proud it’s in my blood. Love the north.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Metallica mood for this stretch. Roaring @ 8am.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In the van heading north, never going to tire of this. The solitude, the space, the dark. Love it.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This pair were absolutely full of themselves yesterday after snagging an entire carriage just for them. Seriously, can’t leave them alone for five minutes.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Sprinter day.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Well, hello Bluesky friends. Thanks for the shares on that photo last night etc. Feels a bit weird after sitting in a corner talking to myself on Substack lol. Anyway, been out in the rain this morning & came back with a new QOM (improved time, I now hold it solo). The one I really wanted, boom.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Silent waves, collective strength.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
For the train people. This came through Clarby the other day, how beautiful.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A day in Hill Hell. #cycling lauraduthie.substack.com/p/a-day-in-h...
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Not even going to correct the typos in the post below because it shows the day. Hill hell.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We've been lost for hours, went for a trip around hill hell (the bike computer lied), ended up in an herd of cows and only now have we found where we are.Oh, and the train is delayed. Really delayed. This day on the road is a story in itself.
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Reposted by Laura Duthie
Frostbitten Flamingo @flemtheparrot.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Regular tired does not compare to teacher tired. I said what I said.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
For all who didn’t fit.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Back on the draft, early birds. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Fifty two miles.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Windswept.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Fred’s summer was everyone else’s winter. Dark, endless, at times painful and almost always endured by the hope of something different to come. No matter what the cost. (If you like summer and dislike swearing, this probably isn’t for you.) #reading lauraduthie.substack.com/p/freds-summ...
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Insomnia.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Love this trail, it’s been like a true mate this summer. Consistent.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The story I’ve just finished this morning will forever be remembered as the one I edited during a 5am insomnia haze (PMDD), while dosed up on anxiety meds. A beautiful mind, I think not. But never stop writing, whatever the weather. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Rode out in the rain, got drenched, stayed in Z2 for the duration, so much fun. #cycling
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The gentle shift, the lowering of the tone, dark mornings, quiet nights. Love it.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Many have something thoughtful, impactive or inherently creative to say first thing in the morning, and I’m just sat here in a draft looking at cheap boxes of wine to add to this story. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
How am I only just reading this for the first time? Evidently something was wrong with me. Addicted.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Sun, sea, screaming legs.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Was supposed to be a rain day so spent the afternoon editing a short, but this morning’s early ride unveiled a ruin. We’ve been riding this road for years and have never come across it until now.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Roads we ride. #scape
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My son has absolutely smashed his first set of GCSEs. So proud today.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Proper headwind blast tonight. The leaves are coming down, the season is on the shift. So refreshing. #cycling
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Sweet little burn on a Monday night.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I’ve got my ending. It’s so different to how I imagined this story would conclude since I started drafting a year ago, but as I’ve reached this point it has revealed itself naturally. Now to draft those final chapters. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
20 mile blast on the trail. Felt a bit like Speed (film) as couldn’t stop properly (in case the flies came), but that resulted in a PB so there are some advantages to this newfound allergy. #cycling
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Bandages and dressings removed, leg is free. A bit off my face on the antihistamines though so off to get a few drowsy cycle path miles.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Everything changed that year. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Guess who has had another allergic reaction to yet another insect with yet another big infection. This time the ankle. Honestly, I’m so fucking done with summer.
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
That was perfect.
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Reposted by Laura Duthie
Goz @gozzilla.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Sometimes is good to look back
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Memories bleed into sleep. #writing
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Laura Duthie @darkonelf.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Montrose, Scotland.
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Reposted by Laura Duthie
Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
50 Reasons to Live by Emyr Payne available to preorder now, releasing 22.09.26! @emyrpayne.bsky.social Preorders close 16.08: www.barnardpublishing.co.uk/books/50-rea... A story of loss and hope, 50 Reasons to Live is a call to arms for anyone who is struggling and looking for a reason to go on.
50 Reasons to Live by Emyr Payne available to preorder now from @barnardpublishing, releasing 22 September 2026! 

Preorders close 16 August: https://www.barnardpublishing.co.uk/books/50-reasons-to-live-pre-order/

In sixteen-year-old Jason Stone’s world, there is death, self-harm and infidelity, but there are also 50 reasons to live. His girlfriend Lucy commits suicide and leaves him a collection of letters. In these letters he finds out why she died and why he should survive. Through Jason’s diary entries spanning the summer of 2023, he gives us a different reason to live each day. 

A story of loss and hope, 50 Reasons to Live is a call to arms for anyone who is struggling and looking for a reason to go on.

‘Jason starts reading a stack of letters she wrote to him. In them, he finds 1 reason to die and 50 reasons to live.’

About Author:
I’m a nurse by day, writer by night and everything else in between. I harboured dreams of being a rock star in my teens, then, when I was twenty-two, I had an epiphany and decided to write instead. I went through a lot as a teenager, as we all do, and spent about twelve years trying to write about it. Then, during a period of chronic stress, depression and anxiety I went into therapy, finished, and wrote 50 Reasons to Live in a three-week furore. What emerged was a book exploring who I was as a sixteen-year-old and who I am now. I then spent three years editing and re-writing to make it what it is today.
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