Two Books, Two Publishers,
One Exciting Year
Julie McGue
Author
In 2027, two books close to my heart will begin new chapters. One returning with a deeper understanding of belonging, and the other inviting young readers into a tender adventure about family and courage.
My collection of essays, Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship (Muse, 2023) will be republished in November 2027 by She Writes Press, the publisher of my two memoirs: Twice a Daughter (2021), and Twice the Family (2025). It feels right to bring these three books together under one publishing roof. This new edition gives me the chance to revisit the collection, bring it up to date, and work with a publisher that understands the questions at the heart of my writing: Who are we? What makes a family? What does it mean to belong?
I am also thrilled to announce that Lulu and DJ Go to the Car Wash, the next children’s book in my Let’s Go with Lulu series, has a new home with Atmosphere Press. Atmosphere Press brings children’s book expertise and a successful publishing platform to the series. I’m excited to place Lulu and DJ under this new publishing umbrella and to share their next adventure with young readers and their families. The book will release the spring of 2027.
Written for children ages four to seven, Lulu and DJ Go to the Car Wash, is based on real-life experiences with my oldest grandson. The Friday adventures that Lulu and DJ share began when the world grew quiet during the pandemic lockdown, a time when families stayed close to home. As Lulu and DJ spend more time together, ordinary errands and events become small adventures that deepen their relationship.
On one of their Fridays together, Lulu and DJ stop for a cake pop, mail letters, fill the car with gas, and head to the car wash. DJ likes the car wash but the thundering water, swirling brushes, rainbow-colored soap, and roaring dryers are louder and scarier than he expected. With his favorite stuffed bear against his cheek and Lulu’s reassuring hand in his, DJ discovers the essence of bravery.
So, why republish Belonging Matters?
The essays were written between 2016 and 2022, at a time when I was searching for my biological family, entering reunion (with those willing to do so), and rethinking my ideas about identity, family, and kinship. Reading those pieces now, I meet an earlier version of myself: earnest, curious, sometimes wounded, often righteous, and always seeking to understand the adoption world.
Time has not answered every question for which I sought answers, but it has changed how I understand the experiences that shaped those essays. Some essays focus directly on adoption, while others explore motherhood, marriage, friendship grief, memory, and aging. Together they trace how my understanding of belonging expanded beyond my given and found families, to include the family my husband and I created, friendships I carefully curated, and connections made within the adoption circle.
For this revamped edition, I plan to preserve the essays as reflections of the years in which they were written while adding the perspective I have gained since. I once searched for belonging as though it were a destination. Today, I see it as an ongoing practice of knowing, claiming, grieving, welcoming, and making room.
I’m delighted that 2027 will bring both a renewed edition of Belonging Matters from She Writes Press and a new Let’s Go with Lulu adventure from Atmosphere Press. Two very different books, each very close to my heart, are beginning exciting new chapters in my life.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Follow Me Here
October 7 & 27: I’m co-teaching two webinars for the Author Learning Center at 1:30-2:30 ET with author Jennifer Briggs, titled: Memoir or Fiction: Choosing the Right Path.
October 9-11: Find me at the She Writes Press author retreat at the Westin Rancho Mirage Resort in Palm Springs, CA. Thrilled to be selected as a presenter for the panel, “Marketing for Memoirists,” and can’t wait to see my She Writes sisters.
October 23-25: I’ll be joining fellow writers at Florida WritersCon in Orlando, Florida. The FWA Collection, Volume18: Fragments anthology will be released during the conference. I’m proud to have one of my essays included in the collection.
March 8 – 12, 2027: I will attend the Her Spirit women’s writing retreat put on by Story Summit in Tucson, Arizona at El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort.
Atmosphere Press will release the second book in my Let’s Go with Lulu children’s book series, DJ and Lulu Go to the Car Wash, in spring of 2027. It’s based on the real-life story about adventures with my oldest grandson during the COVID era.
Follow Julie by visiting her website, subscribe to her bimonthly newsletters, and listen to previous podcast recordings where she discusses topics like adoption, identity, family relationships, sisterhood and belonging.
“I’m delighted that 2027 will bring both a renewed edition of Belonging Matters from She Writes Press and a new Let’s Go with Lulu adventure from Atmosphere Press. Two very different books, each very close to my heart, are beginning exciting new chapters in my life.”
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