Dear Ann,

I am thinking of you. May your darling Angel Mother watch over you and protect you and everyone in your circle. May she be mighty, happy and beautiful forevermore.

00:01 – 01:53 October 9, 2025 Teresa Jade LeYung, San Francisco, California; added more photos, links and tags 16:55 October 9, 2025

Author Ann Tashi Slater says:

“I’m a writer and speaker exploring how our personal histories and cultural roots shape us and how we find meaning in a world where everything—including we ourselves—changes and ends. My new book, TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World (Sept. 2025, Balance/Hachette), interweaves explorations of impermanence in relation to marriage and friendship, parents and children, and work and creativity with stories of my Tibetan ancestors and Buddhist perspectives on the fleeting nature of existence, offering a new way to navigate change and live life fully.”

TRAVELING IN BARDO is available in hardcover edition, Kindle e-book, and audio book format.

Please support your local booksellers and public libraries.

Ann Tashi Slater’s website: https://www.anntashislater.com/

Ann Tashi Slater's poignant memoir TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World. Ann Tashi Slater in conversation with Sylvia Boorstein - photo by LeYung

Ann Tashi Slater reads the opening lines of her book TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World.

https://youtu.be/kAj-jkRT-8c   56 seconds filmed by LeYung

Ann Tashi Slater in conversation with Sylvia Boorstein at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California

Sylvia Boorstein , Ph.D. and Ann Tashi Slater at Book Passage, Corte Madera, California - photo by LeYung

With a foreword by NYT best-selling author Dani Shapiro and praise from Elizabeth Gilbert, Melissa Febos, Sharon Salzberg, and others, Ann Tashi Slater’s book has been named a Next Big Idea Club “Must-Read” for September 2025. Publishers Weekly calls it a “rich and freewheeling meditation on life, death, and impermanence.”

photo: author Ann Tashi Slater and adoring family members, Book Passage, photo by LeYung

Publishers Weekly calls it a “rich and freewheeling meditation on life, death, and impermanence.”

Ann Tashi Slater autographing her compelling memoir TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World - photo by LeYung

TRAVELING IN BARDO is available in hardcover edition, Kindle e-book,

and audio book format

TRAVELING IN BARDO - book front cover and back cover

Cheers to author Ann Tashi Slater and her poignant memoir TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World

Please write your reviews for Ann’s compelling book

https://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Bardo-Living-Impermanent-World/dp/0306835215

Ann Tashi Slater with new fans - photo by DS at Book Passage, Corte Madera, California

Ann Tashi Slater dedicates her book - TRAVELING IN BARDO: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World - to her husband David

Ann Tashi Slater’s website: https://www.anntashislater.com/

audience at Book Passage cheering for Ann Tashi Slater in conversation with Sylvia Boorstein - photo by LeYung 2025.09.27

I wish everyone vibrant health, peace and happiness always!

Sincerely,

Teresa Jade LeYung

Author / Blogger / Story-Theme Consultant / Photo Historian

https://m.youtube.com/@teresajadeleyung/videos

https://LoveMadeOfHeart.com/blog/  goes to Teresa Jade LeYung’s Blog on Wellness, Story Themes, Archetypes

Love Made Of Heart ®

Dear Readers / Writers

I am visiting brilliant Olga Malyj in Oregon… enjoying her beautiful energy, her sweet home and garden.

Two evenings ago, I had a delightful conversation with Kristiane McKee Maas whom I met through author / teacher / The Plot Whisper Martha Alderson https://marthaalderson.com/ close to 19 years ago at a writers’ conference hosted by the South Bay Branch of the California Writers Club https://southbaywriters.com/.

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Kristiane McKee Maas is a writer, artist, and the owner of Bar 46 Ranch and breeder of Longhorn cattle.

She says:

“My paternal grandmother homesteaded Bar 46 Ranch in 1899 and is a continuing source of inspiration for me.”

https://bar46ranchlonghorns.com/about-bar-46-ranch-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF6pLi8kAWE

Kristiane McKee Maas is author of Table Affairs, contributing author of Seasons of our Lives: Spring

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Through Kristiane, I met  Matilda Butler – Author/Memoir Coach/Social Psychologist

Matilda Butler  is the award-winning author of Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story, Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep, and a collection of award-winning anthologies: Tales of our Lives.

https://womensmemoirs.com/contact/about-the-two-women/

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Also through Kristiane, I met  artist and author Gale Henshel

Gale’s beautiful book:  Dyslexia, My Gift, My Story

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145870337197

https://www.abebooks.com/9781611702392/Dyslexia-Gift-Story-Henshel-Gale-1611702399/plp

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Teresa Jade LeYung thanks Olga Malyj, Martha Alderson, Kristiane McKee Maas, Matilda Butler, and Gale Henshel.

Sincerely,

Story Theme Consultant Teresa Jade LeYung wishes Everyone – Beauty, Total Wellness, Peace and Joy!

—   photo by Nan and MEK

Published author, blogger, lover of Paris, FRANCE, photo historian, Writing Coach Teresa Jade LeYung says:

“I love helping writers identify the themes in their manuscripts to hook readers, and, build and fortify their platforms before and after publication. Reach out, not stress out.”
https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

Love Made Of Heart ®

Writing Coach Teresa asks: “How do you hook your reader at the middle of your book?”

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here . . . recording notes . . .  energized from co-teaching with Mary E. Knippel today – Day 2 of “For Theme’s Sake: Edit Your Own Manuscript Before Pitching or Self-Publishing”.

Our students / hardworking authors supplied plenty of inspiration for their own protagonists as well as for fellow-classmates.

Today we focused on the middle of everyone’s manuscripts. Why the middle?

Before I take on the role of the writer, I put on my reader’s hat.  For me, reading a book is like going for a hike on a trail that I’ve never been on before.  By looking at the signs at the trailhead, I know how long I would have to walk in order to get to the end . . .  just as I know how many hours it would take to read a book by seeing the page count.

That hike I’ve started – the sign posts on the first half of the trail are clear and helpful. I know that if I follow the arrows, I will reach the end, and feel great as I always do after a “good” long walk.

I’ve started reading a book. The author hooks me from page one – sometimes that hook is the narrator’s voice/language, other times it’s the subject matter (a topic that I do relate to or one that I would like to know more about).  By page 5 (oftentimes, even sooner) I know what the main character/protagonist wants or needs, and, I want to see what’s going to happen next. So I turn the page.  I am in the story world.

The author had planted “sign posts” to guide me. Those sign posts are called “themes”.

By the middle of the book, that core theme/sign post better be there.  If the story has stopped hooking me, I will put the book down and probably not open it again.  (On my hike, if at midpoint the trail seems to have disappeared, the marker has fallen off its post, and I’m all alone  . . .  do I continue on? By the way, I am not interested in getting lost today. My dinner awaits me at home.)

Such is the task for an author – how to guide the reader with that core theme, scene after scene.

To the dear authors in our class,

That big sheet of paper that Mary gave you today?  Tape the class handouts from Day 1 and Day 2 onto that sheet. Look at those aids every time you meet with your protagonist.  And, ask your protagonist these questions:   “Where are you today on your Hero’s Journey?”  “What do you want ? … in this scene.”

Speaking of “scene” –

Writing Coach Teresa says: “A scene is a compilation of paragraphs that creates a “movie” in the Reader’s mind.  Which means:  action, dialogue, sensory details, and authentic details.

A sequence of scenes guides the Reader in your Story World, and, is a vehicle to show the Hero’s/Protagonist’s transformation.  Go into scene whenever you want to show us what your protagonist is made of.

In real life, if someone says “I’ve changed. Take my word for it.”  . . .  wouldn’t you be thinking . . .  Hmm….    I’ll believe it when I see it.  Instead of telling us how your protagonist has grown, show us through scene, not through summaries.

Summary cannot spark the same emotional responses as a scene would . . . because summary either recaps what has happened or jumps over time in order to get to the next scene.

I recommend:

* Martha Engber’s book on how to write scenes

* Christopher Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey (about Hero’s Journey and Archetypes)

* all books by Martha Alderson on plotting

* your rereading your favorite book and studying that author’s techniques

The fabulous authors in our class have mighty themes:

* make my own decisions and change my circumstances (author of YA science fiction)

* move on with my life in spite of unanswered questions and a broken heart (author of women’s fiction)

* speaking my truth transforms shame into courage and forgiveness (author of memoir)

* embracing my past and loving myself feed my spirit as well as my marriage’s spirit (Diana Lynn, author of women’s fiction)

Their readers will surely stick by their protagonists and be there at the end of the book.

Cheering for YOU!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

on behalf of

“For Theme’s Sake” teachers Teresa LeYung-Ryan & Mary E. Knippel

May 2, 2015 Teresa LeYung-Ryan ( Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days – workbook; Love Made of Heart: a Daughter, a Mother, a Journey Through Mental Illness – novel) celebrates Independent Bookstore Day / California Bookstore Day  with other local authors at Laurel Book Store, Oakland, CA  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  and http://www.laurelbookstore.com

Saturday June 6
Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Fanbase-Building Coach and “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” sponsor) joins California Writers Club colleagues for Writing Contest Awards Ceremony and Writers Helping Writers Through Mentoring;

June 13, 2015  for Authors Day

June 6 and June 13, 2015  at Literary Stage, Fine Arts Galleria, San Mateo County Fair (Cheers to Bardi Rosman Koodrin, Boris Koodrin, Laurel Anne Hill, David Hirzel, Margie Yee Webb, Wini McCaffrey, et al)  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com http://cwc-peninsula.org/fair.html

Writers,

Here are opportunities for you to continue polishing your writing and building your platform and fanbase. I will be updating my events page

http://lovemadeofheart.com/Teresa-LeYung-Ryan%27s-Events.html

Thanks to Literary Director Bardi Rosman Koodrin and Fine Arts Director Boris Koodrin at San Mateo County Fair and members of California Writers Club, a variety of programs for writers and readers will be presented before and during fair dates June 6 – 14, 2015 at the Literary  Stage.

Author and Manuscript Consultant/Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is proud to sponsor her writing contest:

DIVISION 332 – THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: NOVEL, MEMOIR, BIOGRAPHY, SHORT STORY, ESSAY OR MONOLOGUE

Contest deadline is April 1, 2015.  Submission guidelines for Teresa’s contest and other writing contests will soon be posted on https://sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts  and http://carrythelight2013.wordpress.com

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 Teresa LeYung-Ryan is a perennial presenter at the

San Francisco Writers Conference

February 12-15, 2015; plus pre-conference classes on Feb. 12 and post-conference classes on Feb. 16, 2015

http://sfwriters.org

Coach Teresa says: “I cheer for Co-Founders & Co-Directors Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada, entire SFWC Team, and everyone associated with the conference that celebrates craft, commerce and community.”

Thursday February 12, 2015 at SFWC

4:45-5:45pm

MAKING YOUR WORK REJECTION PROOF: Advice from Freelance Editors         

Nina Amir, David Colin Carr, Tanya Egan Gibson, Stuart Horwitz, David Landau, Heather Lazare, Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Mary Rakow, Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, Annie Tucker, Ricky Weisbroth. Moderator: Mary E. Knippel                                                

(At the end of the session, you can sign up for a free consultation.)

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 Sunday, March 22 (NOT March 28), 2015, 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Marin Branch of California Writers Club meets at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera, CA    $5 members; $10 nonmembers. All are welcome.

  http://www.cwcmarinwriters.com  

Interactive presentation for fiction and nonfiction authors; for before and after publication

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out.”

Subscribe to Coach Teresa’s blog now. Watch her interview on CBS “Bay Sunday” Show. Start by going to http://writingcoachTeresa.com

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Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s 2015 New Year Wishes for Writers,

May you have nourishing foods, clean and safe environment, and abundant energy for whatever creative and joyful work you do to make this world a nice place.

**

Teresa LeYung-Ryan is “Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa” and Manuscript Consultant and  . . .

author of:

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (workbook)

Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby (novel used by college professors)

Coach Teresa’s Blog at http://writingcoachTeresa.com  and

creator of:

“Talking to My Dead Mom” (monologues)

“Immigrant Experience Writing Contest”  and

past officer of Women’s National Book Association-SF Chapter

past president of California Writers Club-SF Peninsula Branch

recipient of the Jack London Award for outstanding service

Writing Teacher Martha Alderson aka the Plot Whisperer in San Francisco February 13, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014  6:30 to 9:30 pm

Click here to register

PLOT FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT STORIES:   –  Fee: $99
Plot Your Story Scene by Scene to Move Your Readers

This class will enable middle grade and young adult fiction writers to use their plots to keep their readers engaged. Every scene has to deliver on many levels at once. Compelling characters; exciting dramatic action; meaning, emotion, and depth are essential. You will learn how many subplots is too many and how many characters you need.

You will also learn:

• Strategies to give your scenes the greatest impact
• How to turn episodic events into cause and effect
• Foolproof techniques for developing complex characters
• What makes for compelling action
• How to keep the tension constantly rising

Martha Alderson, author of The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, is known as “The Plot Whisperer” for the help she offers writers worldwide. She is the founder of the award-winning blog The Plot Whisperer; the vlog: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?; and the International PlotWriMo. Her books include The Plot Whisperer series. She has been teaching for SCBWI members for ten years.

For an additional $30, you may sign up for a 15-minute plot consultation with Martha during the conference.

For a list of all the classes on Feb. 13, 2014 and Feb. 17, 2014 (pre and post San Francisco Writers Conference), click here.  All classes will have handouts.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, Coach Teresa helps clients identify their themes and archetypes.

http://writingcoachTeresa.com   Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”

Pitch your novel, memoir, biography, autobiography, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, graphic novel, romance, how to, children’s book, etc.

April 13, 2013 morning in San Francisco “Pitch-O-Rama: Meet the Agents, Editors, and Publishers” – register through Women’s National Book Association (Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Mary E. Knippel and Catharine Bramkamp will be coaching attendees before and after they pitch)

Peter Beren

Nancy Fish

Tory Hartmann

Brenda Knight

Michael Larsen

Linda Joy Myers

Elizabeth Pomada

Lara Perkins

Alan Rinzler

Andy Ross

Brooke Warner

Erin Wiegand

**

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Hook attention with your themes, the four Ws (what, who, when, where) and who YOU are . . . when you pitch to agents, acquisition editors, and publishers."

**

Coach Mary E. Knippel says: "If you're given only 6 minutes with an agent, use your time wisely. Save 3 minutes for the agent to give you advice."

**

**April 13, 2013 in San Francisco “Small Press Publishers Panel & Luncheon” – register through Women’s National Book Association (must also register for “Pitch-O-Rama” in order to attend luncheon)

Brooke Warner of She Writes Press and Brenda Knight of Cleis Press & Viva Editions

Featured Authors: Betsy Graziani Fasbinder and Maggie Oman Shannon

In both her works of memoir and fiction, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder explores the unending complications of people living, working, and loving one another. Her debut novel is a dark love story, lightened with the balm of humor and tempered with the comfort of deep and true friendship. Fire & Water (She Writes Press, March 2013) is Kate Murphy’s story of navigating the treacherous territory of passionate love with friendship and family devotion as the only anchor that can keep her from losing all. Betsy will have her book for sale and signing.

Maggie Oman Shannon is an interfaith minister, spiritual director, and workshop and retreat facilitator. She is the author of five books, including Prayers for Healing. She is serving as the spiritual director of the Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco. In Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation, a D.I.Y. guide to peace of mind, Maggie Oman Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a spiritual practice providing enormous benefits. Shannon takes a rich “potpourri approach” that weaves together interviews, historical facts, “Soul Craft” projects for readers, quotations, and suggested resources with a broad assortment of spiritual practices gathered from crafts communities around the world, as well as from everyday people who have adopted creative forms of spiritual practice.

* * * * * * *

**Many thanks to Committee Co-Chair Kate Farrell (WNBA-SF Chapter VP) and Committee Members Linda Lee (WNBA-SF Chapter Co-President), Linda Joy Myers (WNBA-SF Chapter Co-President), Betsy Fasbinder,  Jane Glendinning, Sherry Nadworny, Susan Pace-Kochand, Catharine Bramkamp, and Mary E. Knippel (Past President) ! Many thanks to WNBA-SF Chapter Membership Chair Ana Manwaring,  Blog Editor Patricia V. Davis,  Social Media Manager Frances Caballo, Secretary Teresa LeYung-Ryan, and Immediate-Past-President Lynn Henriksen too!

See you there!
Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cares about helping fiction and nonfiction writers build their platforms and work on their craft simultaneously with ease.  She says: “Wear the dual hats as promoter and writer and be happily published. Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

I remember feeling hopeful when I entered the first five pages of my novel to the Jack London Writers Conference Writing Contest 1997 and the thrill when I heard my name announced as a winner. That recognition gave me confidence when I wrote query letters to literary agents. That manuscript became Love Made of Heart (published in October 2002).

So, when Bardi Rosman Koodrin (Literary Director of the Fine Arts Galleria at San Mateo County Fair) asked me to sponsor a writing contest, I had to say “Yes!”

Other sponsors said “Yes!” too.  For information about all the contests, please click on the headline below for my March 7, 2013 post:

Writing Contests – Novel, Memoir, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story, Mystery, Essay, Poetry, Monologue, Children’s Novel, and More !

The deadline for all literary contests, including the NDNU scholarship opportunity as well as the two book cover art contests, is Monday April 1, 2013 at 5:00pm California time, no exceptions. $10 per entry.

* * * * * * * *

Writing Contests – Novel, Memoir, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story, Mystery, Essay, Poetry, Monologue, Children’s Novel, and more !

Hi everyone,

The deadline for all literary contests, including the NDNU scholarship opportunity as well as the two book cover art contests, is Monday April 1, 2013 at 5:00pm California time, no exceptions.  ALERT:  Ignore the deadline date of May 8 on the entry form; all literary contests are due APRIL 1!

List and descriptions of contests and rules: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2013/literary_13.pdf

How to submit your entries: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2013/literary_submit.pdf

We’re offering several new contests, and the NDNU scholarship opportunity is now open to any full-time student, so make sure you read all the material.  Just like last year, we require a two-step entry process:

1)   you must register and pay for each entry through the online process www.sanmateocountyfair.com Click on [Contests] tab, then click on Entry form. $10 per entry.  April 1st (not May 8th) for Literary Arts Contests.

2)   email each submission separately to literary@smeventcenter.com so we can publish our second volume of the Carry the Light anthology.  You can also send questions to that email address.

We look forward to receiving your literary submissions to the 2013 San Mateo County Fair.  Check back soon to see all of our free “events within the event” that will be offered on the literary stage throughout the fair June 8-16, 2013 at www.sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts

Good luck with the contests and I look forward to seeing all of you at the 2013 Fair!

Best,

Bardi Rosman Koodrin

Literary Director of the Fine Arts Galleria

San Mateo County Fair

Yours truly is sponsoring:

Thank you, Bardi Rosman Koodrin, all sponsors, members of California Writers Club, and, of course the folks at San Mateo County Fair! Good luck to all contestants!

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cheering for you!

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cares about helping fiction and nonfiction writers build their platforms and work on their craft simultaneously with ease.  She says: “Wear the dual hats as promoter and writer and be happily published. Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Book Launch PARTY

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Cheers to The Plot Whisperer aka The Plot Guru aka The Martha Alderson!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”   http://writingcoachteresa.com

As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW , Teresa says: “Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”

As author of Love Made of Heart, creator of Love Made of Heart gift items and the Talking to My Dead Mom Monologues, Teresa encourages writers to speak out (in print) for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Author Donna Rankin Love says:

“September 21, 2012, 6:30-8:00pm at Gallery Bookstore in Mendocino, CA, I will present Walking for Our Lives, my memoir of the 3700 mile peace walk in 1986 from Los Angeles to New York City to Washington, DC.  My Great Peace March tent-mate, Connie Fledderjohann, who lives in Fort Bragg, has arranged the book-signing event. She emailed recently to tell me that her Quaker community is planning a peace meditation and that perhaps the activist group Women in Black will hold a silent demonstration for peace at the Gallery Bookstore.

A celebration of Peace Day and, incidentally, my 85^th birthday!  What a gift to be a part of  peaceful consciousness. A day on which I can figuratively light candles of  hope,  blow out the birthday cake candles and wish those near and far”

Books by Donna Rankin Love:

Walking for Our Lives

To Make the House Complete

Tell Me a Story

I celebrate Donna Rankin Love (who is Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson’s beloved aunt) and all her work to promote peace.

We know what Donna cares about. 

What do you care about?  Tell us by submitting a comment to this post.  Click on the blue header of this post, scroll down to get the boxes, fill in the boxes and press [submit comment] button.  Consider keeping a copy of your comment (before pressing submit-comment button) and use it in your own email signature-block and on other blogs.

Sincerely,

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”
http://writingcoachteresa.com

Please click here to see Coach Teresa interviewed by Frank Mallicoat on Channel 5 Bay Sunday - the show was aired on September 9, 2012, 5:30am.