Podcasts & Radio

Interviews

#73 The Magnification of One Memory in Memoir: BELONGING MATTERS by Julie McGue, December 2023

ALL Author: Julie Ryan McGue Inteview, July 12, 2023

Featured Interview: Julie Ryan McGue, author of Twice a Daughter on The Writing Family History Newsletter by Barbara Krasne

Interview with Suburban Life Newspapers, ran 4/15/21

Interview with author and writing coach Sara Connell, May 3, 2021.

“Literary Scene: Twice a Daughter“, Sarasota Scene Magazine, May 4,2021

IndieView, author interview, http://www.theindieview.com/, 5/15/21

Book Q&A with Deborah Kalb, interview, http://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/

Hasty Book List, interview, https://www.hastybooklist.com/

Women’s Writers Women’s Books, 5/11/21 interview, http://booksbywomen.org/, 5/11/21

Fab After Fifty, Midlife Reinvention, interview

Julie Ryan McGue in conversation with Susan Conner, “Twice A Daughter”, June 8, 2021

IAJW ZoomChat with Julia McGue, September 8, 2021

Events

• April 20, 2021 Author Learning Center Webinar, Two Paths: Fiction or Memoir, 1:30 PM ET
• April 21, 2021 Story Circle Workshop, virtual event: How do you decide between Fiction or Memoir https://youtu.be/m-07fzh0rIo
• May 4, 2021 “Making Peace With Our Mothers,” A virtual conversation with Julie McGue and Judy Rabinor, moderated by Susan Conner. 
• May 6, 2021 National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW) Member Teleseminar: Conversation with Linda Joy Myers, and memoirist Julie McGue & novelist Barbara Probst WATCH HERE
• May 10, 2021 Private Virtual Book Launch Event, 8PM ET
• May 11, 2021 Author Learning Center Webinar, Two Paths: Fiction or Memoir, 1:30 PM 
• May 11, 2021 Private Book Launch & Signing Party, Sarasota, Florida 7PM ET
• May 14, 2021 Local Author Event, Longboat Key ClubTennis Gardens, Florida 3-6PM ET, book signing and conversation
• May 14, 2021 Adoption Happy Hour, virtual, 7PM ET, https://naapunited.org/
• June 9, 2021 Virtual Book Event, The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL 8 PM ET: WATCH HERE
• June 10, 2021: Author Conversation with Susan Conner at Anderson’s Bookstores, 8 PM ET
• June 11, 2021 Dropping In With Diane, podcast, 11AM ET: LISTEN HERE
• June 17, 2021  Hinsdale Book Group Discussion, 7PM CDT
• June 25, 2021 Adoptee Panel Discussion with Diane Dewey, 11 AM ET
• June 28, 2021 Michiana Book Group, in-person, 6:30 PM CDT
• August 2, Julie will participate in the SunCoast Book Fair at Sarasota One Bookstore in Sarasota, FL. Stop by from 11-12 ET to get your book signed.
• August 3 nuWriter podcast hosts Annie & Stacy discuss Twice a Daughter
• August 4 Julie shares her story on the Sex, Lies & The Truth Podcast: LISTEN HERE
• August 5  nuWriter podcast hosts Annie & Stacy interview Julie about her memoir Twice a Daughter
• August 9 Julie is the guest on Courage Wolf Podcast with host Terry Oliver
• August 10 Julie’s interview with Forward Reviews runs in the e-magazine: VIEW HERE
• August 11 Julie presents Session 1 webinar: How To Write Memoir That Reads Like Fiction through the Author Learning Center. Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/65094803228043787
• August 19 Julie will discuss Twice a Daughter with Susan Conner for the Virtual Theta Network at 8:30PM ET
• August 12 Julie will discuss Twice a Daughter with Selma’s Book Club in Oak Brook Terrace, IL
• August 26 Julie to discuss how a lifelong commitment to journalling impacted Twice a Daughter. Guest on IAJW with Lynda Monk at 6PM CDT: JOIN ZOOM HERE
• August 31 Julie presents Session 2 webinar: How To Write Memoir That Reads Like Fiction through the Author Learning Center. Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/65094803228043787
• September 9: MJ’s Shining Stars Book Club in Riverside, IL
• September 10-11: NAAPunited (National Association of Adoptees and Parents) Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN
• September 16: Pam K’s Book Club in Hinsdale, IL
• September 16: record The Honestly Adoption Podcast with Mike and Kristin Berry
• September 17: Twice a Daughter will be the Book of the Day for the Online Book Club for Readers
• September 20: Private Book Event in Lake Forest, IL
• September 21-22: National Council for Adoption (NCFA) annual conference- virtual.
• September 23: Mr. Brown’s Benet Alumni Book Club– virtual discussion with moderator Susan Conner
• November 2: (Rescheduled event) Mr. Brown’s Benet Alumni Book Club, 5PM CDT, moderated by fellow alum Susan Conner (’77).
• November 7: Union Church Women’s Group: Women of a Certain Age, 11:15 AM, Rowell Hall. Contact Melissa Mann.
• November 8: Guest speaker at Benet Academy, Lisle, IL: Mrs. Alcorn’s Creative Writing Class, and the creative writers at MUSE Literary Magazine. 
• November 9: 25th Anniversary Hybrid Books & Brunch! with The Assistance League of Chicagoland West live at The Abbington in Glen Ellyn (doors open at 10a) or virtually (live stream begins at 12:30p). RSVP HERE

• November 11: Erika’s Book Club, Seattle, WA, 6PM

• January 26 at 6PM CDT Julie will be speaking to a group of birthmothers organized by Catholic Charities Post Adoption Services in Chicago.
• January 28 at 10AM ET Julie will join Marcie Keithley (NAAPunited) on a panel about adoption and identity with Voice America radio show host Diane Dewey
• February 2 at 6PM Cathy Brennan will host Julie for a book discussion of Twice a Daughter in Chicago.
• February 3 at 7PM Julie will speak to Booked on Friday Book Club (Cathy Daly) in Hinsdale about Twice a Daughter.
• February 7 at 6PM Julie will discuss Twice a Daughter with the Danene’s Longboat Key Book Club.

Articles

“Caught in the Middle” by Guest Blogger, Julie Ryan McGue, Lynn Grub – a blog about adoption, Feb 8, 2024

Julie’s Adoption Story Posted by elainepinkerton in Adoption, Dealing with Adoption, Guest posting, Feb, 5, 2024

“The Adopted Writer” by Daniel P. Smith of the Graham School at The University of Chicago, Aug 7, 2023

“Meet the Author Monday: Julie McGue” by Kelly Schuknecht, Jan 30, 2023

“McGue Finds More Than She Searched For” by Pamela Lannon on The Hinsdalean, Feb. 10, 2022

“Does Social Media Sell Books?” by Dan Blank on WeGrowMedia, Dec. 10, 2021

“When I Adopted Them” by Julie McGue posted on LifetimeAdoption.com and OpenAdoption.com, November 2021.

Case study: Adopted twin sister Julie Ryan McGue on penning her family search memoir Twice a Daughter on Forever Young Autobiographies, October 2021.

“Twice a Daughter” Author, Julie McGue speaks about adoption, identity, family, and belonging by Kidsave

Book Award Winner: Twice A Daughter: A search for Identity, Family & Belonging by Non-Fiction Author Association, July 20, 2021

“Michigan City author describes complex, frustrating search for birth parents in new memoir,” La Porte County Herald Dispatch, June 18, 2021

“Closed Adoption: A Legal Magic Eraser,” The Imprint, June 9, 2021

“Julie McGue Searches for Identity, Family, & Belonging in Her New Memoir,” Lavender Luz

“Why Now, Why Wait, and Why Not?” by Adoption.com, May 7, 2021

“Author Interview – Julie Ryan McGue,” Hasty Book List, May 2021

“Authors Interviewing Characters: Julie Ryan McGue,” By Women Writers Women Books, May 9, 2021

“Longboat author finds her family closer than she could have imagined,” YourObserver.com, May 7, 2021

Mention & Quote by Julie in the Indiana University Writers’ Conference Newsletter, May 13, 2021

“From Abandonment and Betrayal To Acceptance and Forgiveness: The Gifts of Memoir,” Adoption & Beyond, April 2021

“My Adoption Experience Includes Being a Twin,” Lifetime Adoption, Adoptive Families Blog, March 17, 2021

“The Day My Life Began,” GenTwenty.com, https://gentwenty.com

“A Breast Biopsy Led To Personal Discovery,” National Council For Adoption, https://adoptioncouncil.org/

An excerpt from “Twice a Daughter” will run in Severance Magazine, May 2021

“Why Now, Why Wait, and Why Not? Questions surrounding the decision to search for birth relatives,” Adoption.com,  https://adoption.com/

“The Only Thing My Father Gave Me,” Brevity Non-fiction Blog, Nov. 11, 2020

“How Closed Adoption Impacted Birth Mothers & Adoptees,” Lifetime Adoption, Adoptive Families Blog, Nov. 11, 2020

Reviews

The Book Commentary: “When Julie finds herself facing several health issues at the age of forty-eight, she must take a deep look into her past to find out her true family history. Julie and her sister are adopted twins and lack a proper health history and adoption documentation. This proves to become a huge problem for Julie who has serious medical issues. Together with her sister, Julie decides to locate her birth parents. When the sisters approach their adoptive parents with questions, they aren’t enthusiastic about their kids wanting to look for their birth parents. This is the first of many obstacles Julie faces as she spends eight long years with a search agency, a private investigator, an adoption agency, a genealogist, and a judge to uncover the secret behind her biological parents. Julie’s journey leads her to the medical history she sought and gives her answers to questions about her past that leave her astonished and floored!

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging is a marvelous book about a woman seeking answers and struggling on the path of self-discovery. With courage, strength and never-ending compassion, this personal story about an adopted pair of sisters is told with grace. From wrestling with heartbreak, pain, rejection, and acceptance within oneself and the outside world, the book demonstrates the harsh realities faced by adoptees of a closed adoption. This memoir will take you on an emotional rollercoaster and move you to tears. A page-turning read that is as affecting as it is superbly written, this memoir is a page-turner. If you are looking for a warm and emotional holiday read, Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging is just the book for you!”

Kirkus: “An engaging and endearing chronicle of a woman’s quest to find her origins.” 

Story Circle: “Twice a Daughter is a testament to evolving social norms, eradicating the former shame of illicit pregnancy, and a recognition of family bonds.”

Reedsy Discovery: “The heartwarming and intricate story of one woman’s journey to find her and her twin sister’s birth parents several decades later.”

Review from onlinebookclub.org: “This was a riveting read… I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading a nonfiction book because the memoir felt like a creative account with nicely crafted twists and turns at times.”

Twice a Daughter has been placed on the Adoptee Reading List: www.adopteereading.com, a catalog of books written by adoptees along with other adoption-related books recommended by adoptees.