Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author Michelle Cornish.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author Michelle Cornish.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author Michelle Cornish.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author Michelle Cornish.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author Michelle Cornish.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with movement and nutrition coach Tyler Hammett.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author, editor, and book coach Susan Crossman.

Host Kevin T. Johns speaks with author, editor, and book coach Susan Crossman.

In episode #113 of The Writing Coach podcast, host Kevin T. Johns speaks with Cassandra Lane, award-winning memoirist and editor-in-chief of LA Parent magazine.

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #112 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Deryn Van Der Tang.

Deryn is a writer and exploration geological cartographer who worked in the mining and oil industry before retraining as a housing manager and working with the elderly. Her life has taken her through divorce and widowhood, and around the world to multiple countries and continents.

A descendent of the 1820 settlers in South Africa, she has spent most of her life trying to find her voice and expression of her faith through writing, art, and photography. Her words and photographs have been published in a variety of places, and she has been selected for Senior Travel Writer competitions. Her blog Crossing My Bridges covers her soulful adventures through life and is interspersed with her love of poetry and art.

Through her writing, photography, and fine art, Deryn seeks to transform both positive and negative experiences into something spiritual and beautiful. She is inspired by nature and the natural processes of life, growth, and death — finding meaning in their metaphors and seasons.

During our discussion, Deryn describes:

Why she volunteers to beta read and review other authors’ work

The impact both mentorship and self-education played in her development

What it was like being displaced from her home country of Rhodesia-Zimbabwe

The importance of resilience for writers

The relationship between biology, the natural world, and art

The value of being exposed to diversity in both the natural world and human cultures

And much more!

Listen to the full podcast episode:

Watch the video of the conversation here.

The Writing Coach Episode #112 Show Notes

Here is where to find Deryn on the web:

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/dvandertangFB Group: https://www.facebook.com/Derynsbridge/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deryn-van-der-tang-6117b91a/Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07TKDCCWVInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/derynvan/Twitter: https://twitter.com/dvdtang1

Episode Transcript

Welcome to the show.

Thank you very much, Kevin.

Could you tell the listeners a little bit about who you are and what you have going on in the world of writing as well as in helping authors?

I started writing a little while back. I started doing church newsletters, but I’d always wanted to do writing and art. And, uh, so I took a writer’s bureau course and I started that way. And it’s been a long slow journey because obviously these things take time and you can’t always just get to do what you want to do. You also have to earn a living at the same time, but when I retired,