0
Skip to Content
Kate Sjostrand | Author
Home
About
Writing
ThrottleThread (Blog)
Contact
Kate Sjostrand | Author
Home
About
Writing
ThrottleThread (Blog)
Contact
Home
About
Writing
ThrottleThread (Blog)
Contact
Thunder Therapy
Motorcycles & Mayhem, Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 5/16/26 Motorcycles & Mayhem, Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 5/16/26

Thunder Therapy

There’s a moment when a motorcycle stops being transportation and becomes therapy. The rumble settles your nervous system. The throttle clears your mind. And for a few perfect hours on a New Mexico morning, nothing exists except speed, sunrise, and the violent reassurance that you’re still alive.

Read More
Where Are You?
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 5/15/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 5/15/26

Where Are You?

Somewhere between memory and dream, between longing and hope, I find myself asking the darkness a simple question: Where are you? A deeply personal reflection on loneliness, intimacy, human touch, and the quiet ache of wanting to be truly seen by another soul.

Read More
The Ones Who Find You Again
Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 5/12/26 Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 5/12/26

The Ones Who Find You Again

Sometimes the people who matter most aren’t the ones who are always there. They’re the ones who disappear for years and still find their way back. The ones who check in without being asked. The ones who remind you that you were never as alone as you thought.

Read More
Undertow
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 5/12/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 5/12/26

Undertow

These stories aren’t just fiction. They’re built from memory. Real moments, real damage, reshaped into something that can actually be read. Something that doesn’t just tell you what happened, but makes you feel it.

Read More
Chasing the Horizon
Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 5/11/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 5/11/26

Chasing the Horizon

We all want the same thing. Not control. Not obligation. Not someone to consume our time or reshape our lives. Just someone who shows up. Someone who sees you, knows you, and chooses to be there when they’re there. And somehow, in a world full of people looking for that exact thing… nobody seems to find it.

Read More
They Should Walk Away Knowing They Mattered
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 5/2/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 5/2/26

They Should Walk Away Knowing They Mattered

There’s a moment in every project when it stops being an idea and becomes real. Not in some abstract way, but in that gut-level, holy shit this is actually happening way. That moment hit me this week when I opened the first full proof of A Survivor’s Guide to Survival.

Read More
The Survivor’s Club
Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 5/1/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 5/1/26

The Survivor’s Club

There’s a moment when you realize the scars aren’t random. They tell a story … of holding on, of not letting go, of surviving something that was trying to end you. And when you meet others who carry the same marks, you recognize it immediately. You’re part of something now.

Read More
Friendship Is the Front Edge of Romance
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/29/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/29/26

Friendship Is the Front Edge of Romance

Friendship, for me, isn’t light. It’s not small talk or shared drinks or passing time. It’s standing at the edge of someone’s soul and choosing to stay. And that’s exactly why I can’t tell where friendship ends and romance begins.

Read More
On Fear
Personal Essays & Reflections, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/27/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/27/26

On Fear

Somewhere along the way, fear stopped showing up the way it used to. Not because I conquered it, but because I’m starting to realize it might not have been real in the first place.

Read More
Tonight, That Is Enough
Personal Essays & Reflections, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 4/24/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 4/24/26

Tonight, That Is Enough

For years, I was overlooked. But not now. And maybe that timing wasn’t a mistake. Maybe I was meant to be here, with these people, at this exact moment.

Read More
The Sting of “Sir”
Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/24/26 Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/24/26

The Sting of “Sir”

I pretend it doesn’t bother me. I’ve learned to pick my battles. But every “sir” lands, and over time, those moments add up in ways people don’t see.

Read More
The Ones Who Get It
Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/22/26 Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/22/26

The Ones Who Get It

Some people don’t do small talk. They don’t skim the surface or fill silence with noise. They go straight to the things that matter. When you find one of those people… you know.

Read More
The Edge of the Tear
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/19/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/19/26

The Edge of the Tear

I don’t write to decorate ideas. I write to catch the moment before they break, the edge of the tear, suspended between control and release.

Read More
Closer to Closure?
Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/19/26 Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/19/26

Closer to Closure?

I didn’t call her for revenge. I called because I wanted to finish something. To look her in the eye and say the words that would finally let me walk away.

Read More
Where the Quiet Lives
Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 4/17/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Motorcycles & Mayhem Kate Sjostrand 4/17/26

Where the Quiet Lives

The world goes quiet in the middle of the night. No noise. No demands. Just space to think, to create, to exist. Maybe that’s what I’m chasing on two wheels during the day, finding stillness inside the chaos.

Read More
Rolling Forward
Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/13/26 Personal Essays & Reflections Kate Sjostrand 4/13/26

Rolling Forward

What started as a quiet curiosity turned into something louder, something undeniable. A cold morning ride, a nervous first step into a new world, and a reminder that it’s never too late to chase the things that have always called your name.

Read More
1:00 a.m. Courage
Personal Essays & Reflections, Rants & Raves, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 4/13/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Rants & Raves, Leadership Kate Sjostrand 4/13/26

1:00 a.m. Courage

There’s a certain kind of courage that only shows up at 1:00 a.m., usually soaked in alcohol and aimed in the wrong direction. This is a story about commitment, accountability, and what actually matters when your life is on the line.

Read More
I Got It Right
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/11/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/11/26

I Got It Right

I’m not smiling because I wrote a book. That’s just mile marker one. You don’t celebrate at mile marker one, you keep walking. You build strength. You send a signal to the universe that you’re not done. I’m smiling because I got the message right… and it’s landing.

Read More
Pollen, Pain, and a Published Book
Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/5/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Writing Life Kate Sjostrand 4/5/26

Pollen, Pain, and a Published Book

I can’t breathe. Not metaphorically, literally. My nose is wrecked, my face is stitched back together, and Albuquerque pollen decided to show up like it had a personal grudge. But somewhere between the pain, the irritation, and the sheer stubbornness of it all… my book went live. And honestly? I’ll take that win.

Read More
Pain, But Progress
Personal Essays & Reflections, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/4/26 Personal Essays & Reflections, Freedom & Fire Kate Sjostrand 4/4/26

Pain, But Progress

They fixed it. That’s the truth. Nerve endings waking back up, sensation returning to places that have been dead since October. That part is a win. But healing isn’t clean. It’s not gentle. It’s sharp, throbbing, and relentless. This is what progress actually feels like.

Read More
Newer Posts
Older Posts

Words forged in fire, ink, and steel.
© Kate Sjostrand

Email me: katelynsjostrand@gmail.com
Instagram:
@katelynsjostrand