Deryka is new to the Bay Area, hailing from New York City. She is full-time writer and college writing professor, but she has undergone vocal, acting, and dance training with various Broadway professionals from SIX, Hamilton, Once, and Prospect Theater Company. She has written and directed five stage plays that have been produced in New York, and is currently working on her sixth script. She has experience both onstage and backstage, playing the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2018), and working as a stage manager for the New York premiere of Charles Strouse’s musical A Pound in Your Pocket. She currently lives with her husband Elton in San Jose with two bunnies, Spoons and Drums.