From the Ashes, a Debut Novel by Sara McGee

By her super proud former teacher, K. Coats

Writing to decompress is a common activity. People have journals and blogs aplenty these days. But for local author Sara McGee, it became a way of survival and healing. In her debut novel, From the Ashes, McGee explores the dynamics of breaking the cycle of domestic violence through her character Jordan Collins. Jordan struggles against her abusive ex-boyfriend while also fighting her own personal demons of alcoholism and suicide only to learn the relationship has resulted in a pregnancy. As she journeys through the loneliness and terror of domestic abuse and learns to navigate her new role as an expectant mother, Jordan shows all of us a resilience that can only be forged through fire. And from the ashes, she gains a strength that changes all those around her.

Sara McGee graduated from South Gwinnett High School in 2009. Her teachers remember her wry humor fondly. She would go on to Gwinnett Tech where she focused on English and Business Management. And even though her debut novel is this year, McGee has been writing for most of her life. “I wrote my very first book a little over ten years ago,” she explains. “I never thought to publish it. The publishing industry was so different back then. For now it’ll just sit on my laptop.” But now that she’s gotten started, McGee has big plans to keep up the momentum. “Well, I have five more books outlined,” she says, “so I plan to publish two more novels this year and hope I can keep the pace of at least three novels a year.” But the role her writing will play has to change when it comes to long-term plans. “With my debut series, I never set out to make a living off of it,” she explains. “I wrote them to help fellow domestic violence victims know that they’re not alone, but also so that their families and friends can better understand the situation they’d found themselves in.” She then adds, “The rest of my books need to pay some bills, though.”

For her first publication, McGee dug deep into her own personal experiences. “From the Ashes is mostly based on my past experiences,” she remembers. “Last year, I was once again entering into a depressive episode triggered by a trauma anniversary. I found that writing everything down rather than bottling it all up was for the best.” But she did more than write it down. In her struggles, McGee decided to reach out to others through her writing. And while it was difficult having to revisit her trauma, McGee focused on her goal – letting other domestic violence victims know they weren’t alone. She explains, “My hope is that my book will help anyone in the same or escalating situation leave. It never gets better. The ‘sorrys’ aren’t sincere, and situations like that don’t have an end.” She adds, “Most domestic violence victims don’t leave until it’s scarier to stay than it is to leave, especially when you don’t have a strong support system. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to see that it’s already more dangerous to stay because a part of you still believes the person you love is still there.”

And in her writing, it’s clear that it could only have been written by someone who has lived that reality. McGee hits chords in her story that echo many other victims’ experiences. She understands and connects that back to her own growth in a way that is both sympathetic yet resilient. “It’s hard to comprehend that the person you love didn’t actually love you back; it’s just something no one wants to face,” she says. And in that experience, McGee touches a nerve that many find all too relatable.

But putting so much of oneself in one’s writing can be daunting,