jennifer as publicity maven

Highly marketable and media savvy, Jennifer has appeared to promote her books on The Today Show, Montel, The Other Half, ABC's World News Now, as well as local network affiliates. She has done two television satellite tours, radio phoners nationwide (including NPR's All Things Considered), and been interviewed for Cosmopolitan (ten times, no less!), Allure, Seventeen, the Los Angeles Times, The Detroit Free Press, the New York Post, USA Today Weekend magazine, Teen People, Glamour (U.K. version), Men's Health, and the Washington Post, among others. She brings her media contacts and creative marketing concepts to every one of her projects, and she can always be counted on to provide an insightful, inspiring, and/or side-splitting interview.

bust previews prairie

Check out page 25 of the October/November 2007 issue of Bust to learn how to make your very own rag rug, one of the 50 skills featured in The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life!

craftzine.com interview

October 18, 2007

Craft magazine's online blog has featured a Q&A with me about The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life, and is sponsoring a contest to boot. Submit your most creative handmade apron; five winners will be sent a copy of Prairie Girl. Check out the interview, where I share my thoughts on everything from modern design to the importance of undergarments to how downright crafty Laura Ingalls Wilder was.

hip tranquil chick podcast interview

Kimberly Wilson, aka Hip Tranquil Chick, featured an interview with me on her October 21 podcast. We cover how to have a fun spa evening with the girls, my writing process (or lack thereof!), and The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life and Backcountry Betty.

allure

November 2003

In The Action Heroine's Handbook (Quirk Books), Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht give a new twist to all those wilderness survival guides, trading Swiss Army knives for slit skirts and stilettos. "Any woman can be a heroine," coauthor Worick says.

What will readers get out of this book? There are practical tricks, like learning how to own the dance floor, do a striptease, and win a catfight.

Where do you get these ideas? They parallel things women have done in TV and movies. "How to Choke a Man With Your Bare Thighs" is from Blade Runner. "How to Win a High-speed Chase in High Heels and a Bustier" is from Charlie's Angels.

Are any of these tricks ever necessary? What woman hasn't had to run in Jimmy Choos and a skimpy top? ("Bend from the waist…[and run] on the balls of your feet," page 15.) "How to Improvise with Items from Your Handbag" teaches you to sterilize a wound with perfume.

Which stunt do you like most? "How to Turn a Man into a Sex Pawn" has obvious appeal.

Would you rather seduce your enemy or choke him with your bare thighs? Choke him with my bare thighs—I'd be exercising at the same time. —Erin Quinn

contra costa times

June 10, 2007

A Sleuth for the Ages

By Jackie Burrell

RIVER HEIGHTS, fancy frocks and a gleaming blue roadster—the very words conjure up images of days gone by, when Nancy Drew zipped around town catching crooks and thrilling young readers with her adventures.

More than 75 years later, Nancy's still at it, solving fictitious crimes and winning fans from college campuses to the Senate floor. Now, one can buy Nancy Drew pajamas, video games and manga comic books, too. The titian-haired sleuth drives a hybrid and chats by cell phone in the newest mysteries—and she hits the silver screen this Friday in "Nancy Drew" the movie.

But Nancy Drew is more than a fictional character, says Drew expert Jennifer Worick, who wrote the pint-sized "Nancy Drew's Guide to Life." She's an icon whose appeal crosses generations and builds connections.

"Women feel connected to each other and the story," says Worick. "I can talk to my mom about things because she read those books as well. It's a common currency among women of certain ages. (Nancy Drew) kind of transcends trends, in the same way that 'Little House on the Prairie' does."

fred flare

Secret Agent Woman

Need advice? Ask Jennifer Worick. She knows everything! As author of Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life and co-author of a whole host of hilarious how-to’s like The Rebound Journal: Breaking Up and Bouncing Back with Style, she’s a great friend to turn to with a question. We did so recently on the eve of the reprint of her latest title, The Action Heroine's Handbook. Watch this space for the back-to-school release of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College which she researched and wrote in only three weeks. She’s quite the action heroine herself!

o, the oprah magazine

January 2006

How to Start…a Fire

Somewhere between the advent of central heating and the invention of the Duraflame log, the ability to create a genuine, built-from-scratch fire became a rare skill. Jennifer Worick, coauthor of The Action Heroine's Handbook, gives us a crash course.

Set the stage. For outdoor adventures: Dig a circular pit (about four inches deep and two feet across), and remove any flammable materials (twigs, leaves, etc.) nearby. If you're inside: Sweep out old ashes and charred wood from the fireplace and open the flue.

Arrange the tinder and kindling. Place tinder (twigs, wood shavings, twisted newspaper or tissue) in a small pile in the center of the pit. Angle kindling (chopstick-size) against it—either by forming a tepee structure or layering it loosely on top. Make sure there's plenty of ventilation space between the tinder and the kindling. In a fireplace, amass the tinder beneath the grate and lay the kindling on top of the grate…

cosmopolitan uk

May 2007

How to Get Cohabiting-Happy

Make the transition from 'myspace' to 'ourspace' hassle-free with three-step guide to move in with your man

"Whether you're at the toothbrush-at-his-place stage or you already live together, sharing space with your man isn't always easy," says Jennifer Worick, author of How to Live With a Man. "But identifying the three stages of cohabitation is the first step to making domestic bliss happen."

Stage 1: Your toothbrush/his underwear

We all love that honeymoon stage of intense back-to-back nights where you sleep in his boxers and he has to use your toothbrush. But when he leaves his underwear on your floor or his beard in your sink for the third day running, tension can brew. "Claustrophobia sets in when you're cocooned together like this," warns Worick. "Making sure you spend at least two nights a week apart means you will retain a sense of your own personal space. And making sure you both see your friends means neither of you will feel like the other's ball and chain."…

cosmopolitan uk

March 2005

Love Rituals That Beat the Routine Trap

When you start feeling relationship deja vu, it's time to shake things up

Been together a few months and beginning to feel stuck in a rut? You're not alone. "Eighty per cent of couples say they're in a monotonous routine after the honeymoon high," says Jennifer Worick, author of How to Live With a man…and Love It! "Outsmart the trap with these diary must-dos to keep the zing in your relationship."

Boredom-Blasting Ritual #1: Good Clean Fun

"Drag him to the bath, then give him an all-over body lather and head massage, making small circles with your fingertips. Ask him to return the favour for a delicious mutual tingle."

Why it works: "It deepens your physical intimacy. Normally, you only touch each other for sexual pleasure but, here, it's to clean each other, although it may turn sexy. Ask him any big questions now—his guard is down and he's more likely to be honest." …

metro

The '50s Housewife Returns

Apply the wisdom of your grandmother's generation to modern relationships

"Let your man know that he wears the proverbial pants in your twosome." "Send him off to work with an appealing image that he can't wait to rush home to." "Make him feel like a man." At first glance, Jennifer Worick's advice book "How to Live With a Man" is a feminist's nightmare, a throwback to a time when women spent their days in the kitchen, baking cakes and serving drinks. But look closer—like, much closer—and you'll find a good-natured, cheeky book about communicating with your mate. Jennifer explained the fine balance to Metro.

You know, at first, it's hard to tell if this is a joke or not.

[Laughs] This was a challenge for me—I tried to write it with a "Far from Heaven" tone, you know, 1950s housewife. But there's still information in it that's fresh and relevant to a modern woman with modern sensibilities. I'm trying to impart actual, helpful advice but the tone is cheeky.

Are there woman hungry to live that 1950s life?

I don't know. Retro things do seem to be making a comeback—they've been popular for quite a while now. I have a friend who collects vintage aprons and, not that she fancies herself as Harriet Nelson or Donna Reed, but there's this thread of trying to hang on to traditions that the women before us imparted to us.

natural health

May 2005

Take the Spa Home

Monthly visits to your favorite healing retreat would be wonderful, but often are not economically or logistically feasible. Instead, bring the spa atmosphere to you, suggests Jennifer Worick, author of Girls' Night In: Spa Treatments at Home. Here, eight blissful spa techniques you can do at your place—each for less than the cost of a spa cuisine lunch.

1. Bathe. Add to your bath water 1/4 cup powdered milk, 1/4 cup honey, and 5 to 10 drops of essential oil (lavender to relax, peppermint to rev up).

2. Exfoliate. Mix 2 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon oatmeal into a paste. Rub it on, wait 10 minutes, then rinse with warm water.

3. Soak. Fill a foot bath with hot water. Add 1/4 teaspoon of pine essential oil, diluted with 1 tablespoon olive oil.…