Today Is an Extraordinary Day!

Light the candles, drumroll please… 

My memoir, Twice a Daughter, turns one-year-old today!!!!

One year ago today, a good friend in Sarasota generously offered to host a Book Launch party for me in her home. The thrill of having friends and community members gather around and toast my first publishing effort is something I will never, never forget.

Twice a Daughter was a five year personal journey that took ten years to write and find its way into readers’ hands. I get goosebumps looking at the picture shared below. Writing and publishing my adoption search and reunion story is a lifelong dream come true!

On top of my friends show of support on the evening of May 11, 2021, my memoir hit its first Amazon first: Hot New Release and #1 Best Seller in several categories like: Sibling Relationships, Family & Personal Growth, Parent & Adult Child Relationships. 

Little did I know then, but Twice a Daughter would continue to garner similar accolades over the ensuing year. The book’s consistent success has surpassed all my expectations. An anonymous source states this feeling so well: 

“The harder you work for something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it.” 

Since its debut Twice a Daughter has received numerous book awards. To me, these recognitions are not just a validation of my writing. They’re a testament to the power of a story, one which has a universal message: we all seek to know ourselves better, struggle to determine with whom and where we belong, and to make sense of our lived experiences. 

• 2022 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
• 2021 CIBA Nellie Bly Book Awards Finalist
• 2021 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Personal Growth
• 2021 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
• 2021 Living Now Awards Gold Winner in Memoir—Female
• 2021 Nonfiction Book Awards Silver Winner in Biography & Memoir—General
• 2021 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction: Relationships
• 2022 Indiana Press Women Award Winner in Memoir

Since my book launched, I have had the privilege of speaking about Twice a Daughter and the topic of adoption with numerous independent bookstores, private local Book Clubs, adoption and author panels, podcasts, radio shows, and at large events like Books & Brunch sponsored by the Assistance League of Chicagoland West. 

Going forward, I’m eager to continue to involve myself in these opportunities! Each engagement gives me the platform to discuss the need for better communication between those of us entangled in the adoption experience, as well as, to discuss how imperative it is that more states enact legislation to release sealed birth records to adult adoptees. For I believe that:

Every person has the right to information that concerns them.

Last, but not least, reader reviews and comments are what keep writers like me engaged in our craft. The overwhelming show of support for my writing, and the multitude of private email exchanges with readers has gratified and healed me in a way I could not have expected:

“I admire the sensitivity with which Julie describes everyone involved in the intricate dynamics of the adoption process, from herself and her twin, her adopted parents, her birth mother, to the larger family beyond. But as her subtitle indicates it is also a story for all of us: she calls it A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging.” – Gabrielle Robinson

Twelve months after launch, I’m thrilled to report that Twice a Daughter recently hit another #1 on Amazon in Family & Personal Growth (Kindle). To date, my memoir has 740 ratings with 4.5/5 stars. Based on published responses the book has resonated with adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents, family members of adoptees, and those curious to understand an adult adoptee’s struggle to access a hidden past. 

It’s especially gratifying that even a year after its launch, many independent bookstores like Anderson’s Bookshops in Naperville, continue to stock Twice a Daughter on their shelves. Such support for a first-time author is soul lifting, and the validation is what gets me up before sunrise to craft the chapters of my next book, the prequel to Twice a Daughter. She Writes Press plans to release it (no title yet!) in May 2024. If you’d like a sneak peek into early drafts, email me at julie@juliemcgueauthor.com.

Looking Ahead

On May 14th, I will be in Indianapolis, IN for the Women’s Press Club of Indiana Awards & Luncheon. I will be receiving awards for my memoir and several columns I wrote for The Beacher Newspapers under the byline, That Girl This Life.

On May 17th, I will speak to the Lake Forest, IL St. Gerard’s Guild about my book. This guild is named after Saint Magellan Gerard, the patron saint of children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, and motherhood. 

On May 24th, I’m recording a podcast with Jo Blackwell at the Midlife Movement about my book, its afterlife, and all things related to writing and publishing in the middle of my life. 

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