Jill Simonian offers FAB tips to new moms

Jill Simonian, the Sanger High School graduate who has hosted a number of TV shows and appeared on a variety of news programs to offer insight from a mom’s point of view on everything from food to fashion, can now add published author to her credentials.

“The FAB Mom’s Guide: How to Get Over the Bump & Bounce Back After Baby” (Skyhorse Publishing, $19.99) will be available in stores and online starting Tuesday. The book by the Fresno native focuses first-time mothers.

“It’s unlike any pregnancy book on the market. I wrote it because this was the book I needed when I was expecting for the first time,” Simonian, the mother of two, says.

Simonian’s book is designed to celebrate and motivate first-time motherhood with over 50 simple things to do including:

▪ Why walking around and tending to baby in your underwear the first month makes you feel more in-control and more fit.

▪ When opting out of breastfeeding might really be best for you and your baby.

▪ Why making your bed is a major springboard to feeling like a boss during those often-isolating new mom weeks at home.

▪ How talking out loud to your infant and telling yourself important things in your mirror combats isolation and loneliness.

“I’ve wanted to write a book since I was in my 20s. But I never knew what it’d be about until I became a mom twice within two years. After my second daughter was born, I found myself feeling more focused and confident and I thought ‘Aha! This is my book … how to bounce back in mind and spirit!’ ” Simonian says. “Last year, I connected with a literary agent, put together a proposal and started shopping it around to publishers. I got lots of no’s but one yes – so I figured it was ‘do it now’ or ‘never do it at all.’ ”

Simonian got some help putting the book together. Celebrity parents Ali Landry, Ian Ziering and Debbie Matenopoulos contributed to the book. She also got some parenting advice from Eva Mendes, who told Simonian to be more respectful of pregnancy and how Matt Damon convinced her to leave her first child.

The biggest hurdle was finding the time to write the book while making TV appearances and being a mom. She was able to work after her children went to bed and on the weekends.

She got her publishing deal in in February 2016, just weeks after landing a regular job doing parenting segments for the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. That meant she had five months to write the book while also writing, producing and appearing on camera for the TV segments.

“I remember taking care of all my ‘mom’ responsibilities and then drinking coffee at 7 p.m. so that I could stay up until 1 a.m. writing sometimes. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t easy, but I just kept thinking, ‘If I make every minute count, those minutes will add up.’” Simonian says.

Before becoming a published writer, Simonian’s TV work included co-hosting the Travel Channel series “America’s Worst Driver” and as an expert on anything that has to do with motherhood on the Hallmark Channel daytime show “Home and Family.”

Her website, TheFabMom.com, offers opinions from a mom’s point of view.

She is working on a date to do a book signing in Fresno.

Getting high

Gene Rose’s “High Odyssey” (Linrose Pub Co, $24.99) tells the story of Orland Bartholomew’s ascent of Mt. Whitney in the winter of 1928 . The adventurer’s son, Phil Bartholomew, will be at the Oakhurst Branch Library starting at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8, to talk about his father’s accomplishments along with a photo presentation.

According to Bartholomew, his dad left Lone Pine on Christmas day in 1928 to climb Mt. Whitney. He would spend 32 nights above 10,000 feet while traveling 300 miles.

“He then proceeded to travel in the High Sierras alone and unaided for about three months until he reached the Yosemite Valley in April 1929,” says Bartholomew in a press release from the library. “My dad also kept a day-by-day diary and took photographs of his experience during that three-month period with a small Kodak camera,.

The event will be held in the Oakhurst Library’s Community Room, 49044 Civic Circle, Oakhurst.

Other books of local interest include:

“C-Lager: Stalig Luft IV & the 86-Day Hunger March” (self published, $19.95): David Dorfmeier, a retired Army sergeant major, has written a book about the service history of his father, former Fresno resident Sgt. Donald Dorfmeier. His father, members of the 398th Bomb Group and other allied POWs participated in the longest forced march across northern Germany during the winter of 1945.

“Life After Lust: Stories & Strategies for Sex & Pornography Addiction” (Visionary Books, $15.88): Fresno therapist Forest Benedict’s book looks at how recovery from sexual addiction is difficult but worth the effort. The author knows this because he has personally dealt with the addiction. The book is a candid accounting of his battle and a guide for those ready to find help.

“Tennis Hobo: A Derailed Memoir” (Inventor Press, $14.95): Former Fresno City tennis champion John Gruberg has been writing this book for 15 years. He offers a look at the world from the viewpoint of a tennis coach.

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Jill Simonian offers FAB tips to new moms."