Author Archives: Jennifer Kaplan

Griffith Park

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Photo Post: San Diego

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Old Home Movies

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One More Shot & Making a Play by Victoria Denault

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Do you remember when I posted about my friend Laura Stone and her wonderful book The Bones of You? This time I’m proud to introduce you to another one of my talented friends, Victoria Denault. I can’t even remember how many years I’ve known Victoria, but I know it’s more than I can count on my fingers. Victoria is fabulously talented and has started publishing romance novels. (Bad Jen for not posting about this sooner!)

If you’re like me, you’re a little hesitant when it comes to novels about romance. Too many of them tell stories where all a woman needs to find true happiness is a man to acknowledge that she has worth. Or sometimes all a man needs to overcome massive commitment issues is a woman good enough for him. Gag. (Honey, if he’s scared of commitment he’s not going to invest in the relationship no matter how “good” you are, and if you can’t find happiness inside yourself no man is going to be able to give it to you!) But I’m getting off topic… The stories Victoria tells are not that at all. Don’t let the classic cheesy romance novel covers fool you, Victoria’s characters feel like real people. Real people who, like most of us, are trying to successfully navigate this often frustrating thing called ‘life.’ Ideally with a best friend/lover/companion by our side.

IMG_6901(Click image to go to Victoria’s author page on Amazon)

You can read an excerpt from One More Shot here. The second book in the trilogy, Making a Play, was just released. Excerpt here. Look for the final installment, The Final Move, in December of this year.

Buy One More Shot on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, or BAM.

Buy Making a Play on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, or BAM.

Pre-order The Final Move on Amazon.

IMG_6902(Click image to go to Victoria’s website)

Victoria Denault loves long walks on the beach, cinnamon dolce lattes and writing angst-filled romance. She lives in LA but grew up in Montreal, which is why she is fluent in English, French and hockey.

Still not convinced? Here are One More Shot reviews from around the web:

Overall this was a really fabulous read and I must say I was shocked how well written it was for it being the debut novel for this author. It is a beautifully written story that is sweet and funny, it’s hot and very sexy but it’s also at times it has just the right amount of drama. Jessie and Jordan’s story was a really great and I immediately felt the connection they shared and the chemistry between them when they got together was electric. This was my first read by the author but it definitely won’t be my last and I will be adding her to my list of authors to keep an eye on for sure.
BethyMac76 on Amazon

One More Shot is the first book I have read by Victoria Denault, and as a debut novel it was a pretty stellar start to the Hometown Players series. … This is a book that jumps back to Jordan and Jessie as teenagers and for the first 50% or so the story is giving you the reasons as to why they have spent the last 6 years apart, and the beginnings of their reconnection. It was well paced; the developments and revelations from them both were spaced perfectly. … I often get to a point where the drama being added to drama just for the sake of more drama just bores me. Victoria worked the drama and angst between this couple perfectly, I felt a little frustration, a little empathy, and understood where both of them were coming from at points, I think the dual POV gave the depth to them, as you were given their reasons for what they did in the past, as well as their motivations for everything that went down with them as the story moved on.
Miss Claire L. Robinson on Amazon

I love second chance romances!!! One More Shot was a great combination of sweet, angst, steam and still managed to pull on my heartstrings. It was the first book in a new series and I have to say I cannot wait for the second book (about another couple coming out Sept. 2015)!! I loved Jordan and Jessie and really hope will get more of them in future books :). Steph and I both agree One More Shot is a 4.5 star book and want to thank Victoria Denault for introducing us to the town and people of Silver Bay!
Stephanie and Christin’s Reviews on Good Reads

I fell in love with this story very early on. … I really enjoyed this book more than I expected to and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good semi-steamy, super sexy, second chance romance.
Jaime Fiction Fangirl’s Reviews on Good Reads

My Photos On Pretty Little Liars!

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Do you guys remember when my pictures were used on The Fosters in an episode directed by Norman Buckley? (Click the link if you don’t remember what I’m talking about.) Well, Norman also directed the two most recent episodes of Pretty Little Liars and lo and behold, my photography showed up on TV again!

My photos were in episode 2 of this season for half of a split second when Aria has her camera up to her eye.

Episode 3 of this season had a few seconds of Aria going through her computer looking at photos she’d taken. (Not all of “Aria’s” photos were mine.)

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So there you have it, a handful of “blink and you miss it” moments that total my 15 minutes of fame. I’ve never felt so cool! 😉

I Am Big Bird

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If you know who Big Bird is, you might be interested in this post. If you don’t know who Big Bird is I’d really like to ask you about what it’s like to live on a distant planet, totally isolated from the rest of the human race. (And how it is that you have an internet connection!)

Watch the trailer below:

Did you watch it? If you’re anything like me, just the image of Big Bird brings out feelings of love and happiness, innocence, nostalgia, and childhood. Like a lot of people, I grew up on Sesame Street. It’s not something I think about a lot, I don’t have kids so I don’t watch Sesame Street anymore. Probably the only time I consciously think about Sesame Street is when I’m listening to my music on ‘shuffle’ and a song from Sesame Street comes up in the rotation. Considering the amount of music in my library that’s not often.

In the summer of 2012 someone told me about a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary about Caroll Spinney, the man behind Big Bird. After watching a short video and seeing what the filmmakers were trying to do, I was “in.” I made my donation to the campaign and, other than the occasional e-mail updating me on the status of the project, sort of forgot all about it.

Well, it’s been a while but I Am Big Bird is now playing in theaters and available to stream at home. I finally saw it, and totally loved it. I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional while watching it, but I was. Truly a wonderful documentary telling a wonderful story. If the trailer above didn’t do anything to catch your interest then maybe your reaction will be different than mine was, but if you can’t help but smile when you see Big Bird, give this film a chance!

Halfway Back in the Rear View Mirror

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I was 18 years and 4 1/2 (ish) months old when my Mom died. I am 36 years and 9 months (ish) old right now. In case you don’t have enough fingers and toes to do the math, that means my mom died half my life ago. Half of my life.

I can’t wrap my brain around that. It’s been way more than 18 years since I’ve hugged her or told her about my day or heard her tell me she loved me. It’s been a hundred years at least. It feels closer to a thousand years…

On the flip side, she’s here with me constantly. Not just in photos around my apartment or genetics, but in who I am, the things I think or do or say. (Who remembers my mother after a delicious meal sitting back from the table and exclaiming “my seatbelt is too tight!” That’s something I do too.) So much of who I am is from my mother that it’s never felt like she was gone, maybe just away for a long while. Every time I eat at The Bear Pit, Mom is with me. Whenever I go to the cemetery and leave jelly beans instead of rocks, Mom is with me. (There’s no deep philosophical meaning to jelly beans in regards to death, don’t look for one. Once when I was a kid we couldn’t find any stones or rocks to put on the headstones we were visiting, but in a flash of brilliance Mom remembered we had jelly beans in the car so we used those instead. We laughed so hard we cried!)

I guess there’s no real point to this post except to acknowledge the passing of time. It’s been half my life, but she’s here in me every day.

Thanks Mom.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls at the California Science Center

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Every time I visit the California Science Center I love it just a little bit more…

The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition is currently at the Science Center…

There was no photography allowed inside the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking this one. The is me touching a three-ton stone from Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Not even close to the same as being there of course, but an emotional moment all the same.

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