About Me
Abuse. Mental illness. Faith.
When I had just been released from the psych ward--a hospitalization for a manic episode triggered by the realization that I had been sexually abused as a child--these were the topics I wanted to read about. I wanted to find stories from people who had been there: people who had been abused, whose past abuse had caused significant mental health challenges, and who were trying to figure out where God was in the midst of it all.
I couldn't find any.
Maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places, or maybe the books I needed to read hadn't been written yet (if you're looking for those books, too, you might start with Alia Joy's Glorious Weakness or Jennifer Michelle Grenberg's Not Forsaken, which both released in 2019). But at the time, I decided that I needed to write the book I wanted to read myself.
Fast forward seven years, during which time I got an MFA in creative writing and wrote what felt like 5,000 drafts of my own story. Through a random Internet search, I stumbled on a memoir that centered around sexual abuse, mental health symptoms, and faith, and had actually been around for a while. Since 1796. And it was written by my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother.
In fact, I learned that my direct ancestor's book, The Memoirs of Mrs. Abigail Abbot Bailey, is considered by historians to be the very first autobiographical account of incest ever written in America.
The book I thought I was writing took a turn. Now, my book is not just my story. It's also the story of some very brave women who lived seven generations before me. It's the story of my quest to understand more about the past: my own past, and the far distant past.
If you're interested in receiving updates on the status of this book as I journey from writing to publishing, please join my email list and I'll keep you updated.
Here's some more biographical information about me:
Sarah Sanderson writes and speaks about faith, mental illness, abuse recovery, parenting, and everyday life. She holds an English and Philosophy degree from Wheaton College, IL, a Master in Teaching degree from Seattle University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University. Sarah and her husband, Jeremy, parent their four children in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, where Jeremy pastors Oak Hills Church. She is on a lifelong quest to achieve two things: the perfect sunny powder ski day, and an error-free Sunday New York Times crossword (in pen). That second goal is harder, but considerably cheaper, than the first.
When I had just been released from the psych ward--a hospitalization for a manic episode triggered by the realization that I had been sexually abused as a child--these were the topics I wanted to read about. I wanted to find stories from people who had been there: people who had been abused, whose past abuse had caused significant mental health challenges, and who were trying to figure out where God was in the midst of it all.
I couldn't find any.
Maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places, or maybe the books I needed to read hadn't been written yet (if you're looking for those books, too, you might start with Alia Joy's Glorious Weakness or Jennifer Michelle Grenberg's Not Forsaken, which both released in 2019). But at the time, I decided that I needed to write the book I wanted to read myself.
Fast forward seven years, during which time I got an MFA in creative writing and wrote what felt like 5,000 drafts of my own story. Through a random Internet search, I stumbled on a memoir that centered around sexual abuse, mental health symptoms, and faith, and had actually been around for a while. Since 1796. And it was written by my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother.
In fact, I learned that my direct ancestor's book, The Memoirs of Mrs. Abigail Abbot Bailey, is considered by historians to be the very first autobiographical account of incest ever written in America.
The book I thought I was writing took a turn. Now, my book is not just my story. It's also the story of some very brave women who lived seven generations before me. It's the story of my quest to understand more about the past: my own past, and the far distant past.
If you're interested in receiving updates on the status of this book as I journey from writing to publishing, please join my email list and I'll keep you updated.
Here's some more biographical information about me:
Sarah Sanderson writes and speaks about faith, mental illness, abuse recovery, parenting, and everyday life. She holds an English and Philosophy degree from Wheaton College, IL, a Master in Teaching degree from Seattle University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University. Sarah and her husband, Jeremy, parent their four children in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, where Jeremy pastors Oak Hills Church. She is on a lifelong quest to achieve two things: the perfect sunny powder ski day, and an error-free Sunday New York Times crossword (in pen). That second goal is harder, but considerably cheaper, than the first.