Diane Zahler: The tale and review of an author

WASSAIC — It could be said that Diane Zahler lives a fairy-tale life. She has a loving family, lives in a community she loves and loves doing what she does. Which brings us to the fairy tale part — what Zahler does, specifically, is write, or often rewrites, fabled fairy tales. And she does it very well.“Zahler takes a light story and gives it gratifying depth, rounding out the characters and their motivations without betraying the source material and wrapping it all together in a graceful and cohesive romantic drama,” raved Publishers Weekly.“Just the right combination of magic, adventure and romance,” declared the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.“Lively reworking of familiar elements,” stated Kirkus Reviews.They’re all correct; Zahler’s work is that and more. Her writing is exciting and fresh, with a depth of character portrayals and plot development that keeps the reader riveted until the end. The worlds this writer creates are magical and vivid, and the reader’s imagination is in high gear from the first page to the last. The only disappointment is when the pages start to thin and the reader realizes the book is drawing to a close.Clearly, after years of writing nonfiction, textbooks and other projects, Zahler has found her niche. And the literary world should be glad she did. The Harlem Valley can join in that celebration, as Zahler calls Wassaic home. She has since 1996, when she and her family moved here full time from City Island in the Bronx. Before that she was in Manhattan. The change in locale has suited the author.“I love Wassaic,” she said. “It’s the most beautiful part of Dutchess County as far as I’m concerned.”Certainly it provides a picturesque backdrop in which to pen her many fairy tales, two of which are currently in the production process. One, entitled “The Princess of the Wild Swans,” is due out in February 2012; another, as yet unnamed, is due out in February 2013. Already she has under her belt “The Thirteenth Princess” and “A True Princess.”So how does this weaver of tales take to her profession? That very question was posed to her just last week.“I love it,” she exclaimed. “Basically, it’s all that I can do. I’m no good for anything else. I always wanted to write since I was a little kid.”Writing, and reading, was a large part of Zahler’s upbringing. Books were everywhere during her childhood, even at the dinner table during meals, she said.“I didn’t realize until I grew up and brought friends home that was really weird,” she remembered. “We grew up reading constantly. Every week my parents would take us to the public library as a Friday outing with a gigantic box to fill, which we returned the next week.“I think it gave me access to all sorts of other worlds, for one thing,” Zahler said. “I loved fantasy when I was a kid, and I still do. Reading opens a lot of doors to kids when you’re at that age. Also, the more you read the better you write — the better you put words together and the better you construct plots.”These days it’s Zahler who is the parent. But her son’s taste doesn’t mimic her own. He’s more into philosophy and science than fairy tales. And he likes gadgets, lots of them, which are sometimes a diversion. She’s philosophical about their differences, though.“He’s of today’s generation, so there are a lot more distractions for him growing up,” she said. “If I had a computer or Game Boy I don’t know if I would have read as much. Now books are accessible on iPads and Kindles, so kids are reading more again because these electronic devises are familiar to them.”That’s good news, not just to doting parents anxious for their children to improve their minds, but also for the children themselves, who will now get to experience worlds like the ones created by Zahler.“I think people connect with fairy tales in general because it speaks to their basic fears and desires in people,” she said. “That’s why they’ve been around so long. They originated as oral tales and have been passed down from generation to generation. They deal with fears and battles and often end triumphant — the story arc resonates with people of all ages. That’s what drew me to retelling them.”To learn more about Zahler, and her fairy tales, stop by the Millbrook Book Festival, coming up this weekend. The author will be reading from her books and answering questions on Saturday, May 14, from 1:30 to 2 p.m. at the Millbrook Library’s main room.