Meet Dienece Darling

1. You grew up a Georgia Belle and now call Melbourne home. How has that big life shift influenced your writing and your walk with God?

Moving to Australia is probably the reason I write Georgian/Pre-Regency romance. England influences a lot of Australian cultural. Although, they probably don’t feel that way, as we’ve got our own style of English. 😉

As for how the move influenced my faith, I felt a lot of pressure to be perfect all the time in America since my dad was a missionary. When I got to Australia, the Aussies were laid back, and I learned the difference between putting on a good Christian front and actually being one on the inside. I love my Australian church. I’ve grown so much here.

2. You write first-person inspirational historical romance — what made you fall in love with that particular style?

I honestly didn’t notice I wrote in first person until a friend pointed it out. I was a teenager at the time, and it just came naturally to me. I’ve tried third person a few times, but I get so stuck. It feels less real to me, and I can’t crawl into my character’s skin like I can in first person. First-person makes my characters come alive to me.

3. What first sparked the idea for your Searching Hearts series?

Believe it or not, it was a literary agent. I’d been pitching another series to agents, but I wanted to give my subscribers something to read while they waited. I had planned on releasing a prequel novella to that series. I’d even told people I was going to release it the next year, but the agent advised me to save that story for the publishers, in case they wanted it.

I didn’t end up signing with an agent and went indie-published instead, but I still felt like I needed to hold onto that other story. So, what was I going to release now?

As I brainstormed ideas, a whole new series came to life!

4. Your newest release, A Heart to Treasure, came out in 2025. Without spoilers, what’s the heart of this story?

Healing broken relationships.

When your world and your relationships explode, you don’t always handle it well. In fact, I’d say the majority of us don’t handle it at all, but how do you heal and move forward? Should you even try to heal? That’s A Heart to Treasure.

5. You blog about devotions as well as books. Do those quiet devotional reflections ever find their way into your fiction?

Yes and no.

My actual devotionals don’t appear in my books, but my characters often wrestle with matters of faith I’ve personally grappled with. Things that I’ve struggled to understand for years, digging deep into the Word for answers. So, my devotional blogs don’t end up in my books, but my personal devotions often do! 😊

6. You’ve been a finalist in several respected writing contests. Did those moments feel validating, stretching, or a bit of both?

Definitely a bit of both!

It takes bravery to let people read your work. If they like it, you get a real confidence boost, but even as a finalist, I still got negative feedback. I’ll be honest, I didn’t always take that graciously, but the negative feedback made me a better writer. I still refer to some of that negative advice because it was good advice, while I’ve mostly forgotten the positive ones.

7. You’re currently researching South Africa for The Enemy’s Sister in the Our House on Jakaranda Laan series. What has surprised you most about what you’ve discovered so far?

How little I knew about South Africa!

It has such a rich, complex history, and the geography of the region where Cedarfontein is set is nothing like I imagined. It’s green and lush with a giant forest and scads of rivers. There are no lions, no giraffes. It does have leopards (at least historically). And I have one of those in my story, along with the Knysna elephants and plenty of birds.

8. Writing about another country’s history and culture requires sensitivity. How are you approaching that research process?

This question has taken me forever to answer, because it’s boils down to “a lot of work”.

I’m researching people who lived and travelled in the area during the time of my book, which is mostly set in 1795 and briefly in 1820. Studying family trees from nearby Knysna is also proving helpful.

I’m paying particular attention to how culture and attitudes changed through the centuries. I find it fascinating to see how things developed, and to connect the dots about why people did things a certain way. I find that helps me write with a mind to understand not to judge.

I’ve also been watching both nonfiction and fictional movies set in SA. Plus, reading fiction about South Africa or written by South Africans. The Counting Tree by Jennifer Arrington (a missionary’s daughter who grew up in SA), in particular, was very inspiring to me.

And when I can, I ask for feedback from South Africans too.

But most importantly, I’m spending a lot of time praying!

9. What can readers expect when The Enemy’s Sister releases on 14 August?

A British soldier en route to take Cape Town from the Dutch in 1795 shipwrecks on a South African beach.

Much like his ship, John Beauchamp’s faith is tattered and torn, but the steadfast faith of persecuted Anneke Terblanche and her unlikely friend Fatima inspire John to remember how sweet a life of faith can be.

If only Anneke’s twin brother wasn’t trying to kill him.

Will John have to leave his heart behind on that beach forever, or does God have another plan for this war-torn soldier and his faithful frontier girl?

10. If you could sit down for coffee with an aspiring Christian writer, what would you gently remind them?

Pray. It’s so easy to get caught up in writing, researching, advertising, and snatching up opportunities—aka the busyness of the ‘business’—that we forget to ask God what He wants from our writing. Remember to pray.