Author Name:
Mimi Nichter
Website Link:
Social Media Links:
https://facebook.com/mimi.nichter
Instagram @miminichter
threads.net/@miminichter
Book Title:
Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience
Publication Date:
March 1, 2026
Publisher:
Potomac Books (imprint of Univ of Nebraska Press)
What is your book about?
It is about being held hostage at the hands of Palestinian terrorists in 1970. I was returning from Israel when my plane was hijacked by armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and redirected to a remote desert region of Jordan. We sat on the plane for six days without air conditioning or running water. Most passengers were sent home, but I was kept with thirty-one others in Amman, fearing for our lives as a violent war erupted around us. When I returned home, I was a different person. Though plagued by terrifying memories, I silenced myself. It is only in recent years that I realized that to fully heal I needed to explore how this trauma and my silence about it, impacted my life.
What inspired you to write your book?
I needed to tell my story to finally heal from this trauma. Trauma is now a widely and openly discussed topic–at the time of my hijacking, PTSD was not yet a mental health concept!
Can you describe your writing process? How did you get your book written and how long did it take?
The writing took 3 years; finding a publisher took 2 years. I wrote by reading over my journals from that time, reading newspapers and magazines which covered the incident, and looking at photos taken by photojournalists who were following the story closely,
What was your publishing process like? How did you publish your book and how long did it take?
I was fortunate to get an agent, who shopped the book around. I found a great home for it with Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. It was a long process (about 1 year on my own, then with an agent). The timing was problematic to be writing about Palestinians after the war in Gaza erupted.
How do you hope your book impacts the world?
I hope people learn about the event–this hijacking was marked the first incident of international terrorism and remains one of the most significant events in aviation history. More importantly, this moment-to-moment account of being a hostage will help people understand not only what happens in that situation, but also how one lives with the experience afterwards.
Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?
Edith Eger’s The Choice, and Suleika Jaouad’s Between Two Kingdoms inspired my journey as did so many of my fellow memoirists who I met in classes.
What’s next for you?
The future is yet to be written. Perhaps writing about my years as an anthropologist living in India.
What advice would you offer fellow authors who are just getting started?
Don’t be in a rush to finish. The process has its own magic and timing and you have to be present and open for where it takes you.
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