Mia Kinan: 'I Started Writing Istherak for My Enjoyment - and to Read to My Friend over the Phone'

Ten years ago, a new book with a red-brown cover appeared in Charedi bookstores, sparking a genuine revolution. Someone read it, was blown away, and urged all their friends to read it too. Someone else received it as a gift, was impressed, and began buying it as a gift for every relative who had a child. Among the youth, borrowed copies passed countless hands, and Charedi libraries began struggling with an unprecedented demand: "Why is 'Istherak' always out of stock here? Buy more copies!"

'Istherak,' by author Mia Kinan, was her big breakthrough in the Charedi book market. Kinan has been writing for 18 years, but 'Istherak' transformed her from a good writer to the undisputed queen of Charedi literature. The anticipation for the sequel, 'Mahlamel,' filled entire forum pages with eager discussion, and the release of the third part, 'Yozvad,' was celebrated in a manner reminiscent of Harry Potter launch parties overseas.

Mia Kinan, daughter of artist Orit Martin and psychologist Oz Martin, both of whom became religious, grew up in Jerusalem. ('If you're mentioning it, please write how wonderful it was for me to grow up in the Charedi community as a child of returnees to Judaism,' she emphasizes. 'There are so many dark stories about this experience, but I've always encountered acceptance and respect from those around me, including all the educational institutions I attended.') Before she started writing stories, she says, she used to tell stories to anyone willing to listen.

"As a child and teenager, I was always telling stories and writing. Of course, many of my stories were left unfinished in the middle. That's what I tell parents with kids who love to write: the most fun part is the idea, building the characters. Finishing a story requires patience and a strong will that even adults don't always have, and that's okay. If writing is a hobby, finishing the story is not essential – the main thing is to enjoy the creative process. Even for those pursuing professionalism, unfinished stories are writing exercises, just like unfinished drawings for someone learning to draw."

When Kinan began writing professionally, she first published children's books, toddler books, and also adult books. All sold well, and many were bestsellers, but the major success of 'Istherak' arrived in an unconventional way.

If someone wants to learn from Kinan's experience on how to write the next Charedi bestseller, they might be disappointed to hear there's no formula. What does she have? A recommendation to stay true to yourself. "I wrote 'Istherak' during a period when I was primarily focused on journalistic writing," she recalls. "I told myself that I couldn't let them ruin the one hobby I have; I must write something just for the joy of it, and to read to my best friend over the phone." That's how Istherak, the Khazar prince struggling to meet the expectations imposed on him by his status, was born. Forced to mature quickly due to dramatic events occurring in the kingdom.

As 'Istherak' neared completion, Kinan began considering publication. Even then, she couldn't predict the immense success. "What surprised me most was that people didn't just love the plot—they also appreciated the message. People approached me to talk about their experience with the book and its message, not just the literary parts."

She couldn't write 'Mahlamel,' the second part, with the same ease she wrote 'Istherak' for herself and her best friend. A large audience eagerly awaited the book. "It was definitely a lot of pressure," she admits. "I tried very hard to forget that people were waiting to read it, to turn off the part of my brain aware of it, and write the book as I saw fit." Enthusiastic fans waited three years for 'Mahlamel,' and a similar period for the third part of the series, 'Yozvad.'

As evidenced by the titles, the main characters in the Khazar books are all male...

"I often receive complaints that the women in my books are too good and wise... but that's because the focus is on the male characters and their personal journeys. Why men? Because every book has an ideal reader, and mine for the Kingdom of Khazar books is a boy of seventeen or eighteen, and that's the perspective from which I write. Of course, this doesn't contradict the fact that girls and even older women love the books. I once attended a symposium with teenage girls, and the moderator asked if there weren't too many murders in the Khazar books. The audience firmly responded that no, it wasn't too much, and they didn't want me to omit any of it."

But the murders don't enter the books randomly, she emphasizes. "I don't enjoy reading or writing about violence. But I want the book to reflect a convincing reality, so there is sometimes no avoiding violent events. Still, I often censor descriptions that seem too aggressive after the initial writing."

Khazar books include so many characters and events. How do you maintain consistency?

"I have an editor, a good friend, who accompanies the writing process at the chapter level and receives the book for work at the end of the writing to find logical errors. But overall, I am very connected to the characters in the world I created, so it's not hard for me to be consistent in writing."

In the last book, Istherak is tired and exhausted, not quite like the prince we loved in the first book

"I know. I think somehow many readers didn't notice how difficult a period Istherak went through in this book and the challenges he faced. I felt that people still expected him to behave youthfully... but there's nothing to be done, being a prince is more photogenic than being a king. As funny as it sounds, a king really does have a lot of hard work to do...

"But the message I always want to convey – and hope will become even more clear in the next book – is how much Istherak loves what he does and loves the people he rules."

How many more books will there be in the series? Kinan says she currently envisions wanting to release a total of five books, but she is not committed to anything.

Besides Istherak, Kinan has written a variety of other books for children and adults in recent years, all bringing a slightly original touch. Her 'Issue at Stake' series presents scientific topics for children in an attractive and digestible way. "My test for these books is whether a certain question interests me," she says. "If so, it will usually interest children as well." Among her adult books are 'One of a Thousand' – the first Charedi science fiction book that was a bestseller, and soon to be released is 'Wild Land,' set against the backdrop of the Wild West on one side of the ocean and the Cantonist Decree on the other. The story, published in installments in a popular weekly, received extensive responses from a huge reading audience. Some were embarrassed to admit they were looking for the weekly (officially intended for women) to read the story in it even though they were men aged 30, 60, or 89 (yes, there was even that).

Kinan defines herself as a 'full-time writer,' but she also conducts writing workshops from time to time. These days, she is working on a remote writing workshop: a set of presentations and lectures accompanied by practice sheets to be sent by email to purchasers. She also has a community of readers open to anyone interested: a community that receives free stories from her. Anyone who wants to join, she says, just needs to send a request to the email address sipurbematana@gmail.com "I am about to start an 'interactive story' through this platform soon – readers will be able to choose the protagonist and the plot directions. It's an innovative idea I really want to try."