Greatest Hits: The Chemist Series

By Janson Mancheski

The Chemist Series – Greatest Hits is a compilation of some of the most interesting, frightening scenes and episodes from Janson Mancheski's first 3 books of The Chemist Series: The Chemist (2009), Trail of Evil (2011) and Mask of Bone (2012).
In this book, Janson Mancheski gives a breakdown of the story progression, highlighting characters and episodes in movie review fashion without giving away any spoilers.
The author is aided by two cutting-edge fiction editors who interject their own commentary on the various episodes. At the conclusion, all three give summations and commentary on how the series arrived at this point, several stand-out characters, and where the series is likely going . . . much in the fashion of directors and writers discussing the production of a TV movie series.

This book is a standalone but can be enjoyed along with the Chemist Series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janson Mancheski
• Release date: Jun 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201318000

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

I’m sometimes asked at book fairs, talks, festivals, and signings: Janson. When did you first decide to become a writer?

Years have passed since the first time the question was posed, and I’ve written six published novels, numerous short stories, and a few movie scripts along the way. My screenplay version of The Chemist—(the movie) had been in pre-production but has since been sidelined (noted above) by the COVID pandemic. Talks have recently, however, touched upon rekindling the project.

Nevertheless, I still don’t have a snappy or concise response to the above question.

Here’s my theory as to why:

The critical word asked in the question is "When?" It boils down to the standard old nature versus nurture argument. Are writers born? Where some deep instinct to produce/create stories is imprinted in our DNA? Where one day we are compelled to pick up a pen or sit down at a keyboard—ala 8-year-old Beethoven—and begin to compose?

Or are writers made?

After years of steadfast reading of both texts and novels, studying methods, and techniques, and accumulating progressive levels of education, does some light bulb finally go off, and a voice in our heads shout:

Hey, dummy! Now might be a good time to write X, Y, or Z.

Both types of writers exist in our world and likely always have. Yet either way, whether you’re a natural or someone who adheres to a simple hard work ethic, there’s no denying that writing takes tons of time, effort, and a high degree of what I call exasperation tolerance.

In other words, what separates actual writers from those who remind themselves that someday I’ll write a novel is the willingness to see the project through—good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness. Sometimes we apply an acronym to emphasize this effort: B-I-T-C. It stands for good old-fashioned Butt-in-the-chair. And how apropos it truly is.  

––––––––

Formula:  Weeks and months of Butt-in-the-chair  +  stick-to-it-iveness x  polish, edit, polish, edit, polish ad nauseam, until you are so sick of it that you cannot force yourself to re-read through it even one more time. Then, after two weeks, you do.  =  Finished product.

In my case, I always had dabbled with writing. My favorite topics in grammar school had been some combination of history and English. Why history? Because boiled down to it, history is little other than a compilation of old stories. And why English? Because it shows us the fundamentals of story structure—the systems of cobbling ideas together to build into tales. Studying each of these topics requires an abundance of reading. And reading is, beyond any doubt, the fundamental aspect of learning.

Therefore, I believe that all quality writers are a composite of life experiences combined with ideas they have learned through reading. To summarize: writers are persons who have experienced life and are voracious readers, and, therefore, are conversant in a wide variety of different subject matters.

Every splendid storyteller I know loves to read, whether fiction or nonfiction. The seeds of plots that ferment deep in our imaginations ultimately percolate up from similar ideas we have read about somewhere along the way. Thus, I believe that reading at a young age begets better writing. Therefore, my consummate answer to the initial question posed earlier becomes:

"When did you first decide to become a writer?

The simple answer is: "When I had finally read enough to give serious writing a try."

And yet, that answer somehow still doesn’t seem fully adequate. It sounds on some level perhaps trite or even quippy. Especially when knowing that all writers approach their craft differently. Some begin creating stories in third and fourth grade, while others toil over diaries and journals during adolescence. A number only decide to get serious about writing after drafting and completing their master’s thesis.

I needed to find a better answer. And thus, I pondered the puzzle further until, at last, a more cogent idea formulated itself in my head: It wasn’t so much the When of when we launch writing careers, but more aptly, it’s the Why. I decided the original query had been two questions in one.

Armed with this new revelation, I set out to discover the proper answer.

The point is, I suppose that after six novels now, and just as many that I’d never published but instead shelved somewhere (early works), I’ve come to realize that I’m more of a storyteller than I am a so-called writer. Storytelling is how, by the way, I believe many fiction composers prefer to describe themselves.

Many writers and especially novelists would likely prefer being remembered, if pressed, as conveyers of stories. For instance, some of my favorite writers are Stephen King, Ian Fleming, Daniel Woodrell, Mickey Spillane, Agatha Christie, Ken Bruen, J.K. Rowling, and Dr. Seuss....  All are considered noteworthy authors, but better yet, all of these greats, I suspect, would likely rather be remembered as Hall of Fame story composers than anything else.

When boiled down to it, I asked myself, aren’t our creations—whether frightening, loving, enlightened, insightful, or desperate—aren’t our stories at heart simply versions of entertainment? Isn’t this what we, composers of fiction, honestly strive for? Entertaining our readers? Whether there are hidden lessons, themes, or secret reveals wrapped inside clever prose and spoken by witty characters, isn’t the fundamental point an effort to entertain?

Thus, without adequately realizing it before—above all else—I strive to produce satisfying (read: entertaining) stories for anyone chancing upon them. 

While it’s doubtful I will ever attain such premier heights as the Hall of Famers listed above, it is still enjoyable to aspire. And with that in mind, doesn’t the old saw about affection remain true today? It is better to have loved (created tall tales) and lost than never to have loved (created stories) at all.

In the end, isn’t chasing the dream what creativity is about?

So there we have it in a nutshell. A somewhat lengthy answer to the opening query. When did you decide to become a writer, Janson? Aka: Why do you write these stories?

The final short-form answer becomes (as A.C. Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes might inform us) Elementary, Dear Readers. It is to entertain. Simply to entertain.

CHAPTER 2

What the heck is a ‘Greatest Hits’ book? Never heard of such a thing before.

Please allow me to shed some light.

At a seemingly long-ago writing fair held in Green Bay, Wisconsin (pre-pandemic), the above question was asked of me.

Each summer, my hometown holds an annual downtown event called Untitled Town. I was speaking on a three-person panel in 2019 on screenwriting. Many of the questions I addressed revolved around my first novel, The Chemist (2010), moving along the pre-production channels as a motion picture. (*Currently time-delayed—as I explained earlier—due to COVID sandbagging the motion picture industry.)

Everyone understands that producing movies these days is quite expensive. We all assume it, but you don't realize how expensive until you are part of the process. Anywhere from one-to-fifty-million dollars ballpark expensive. And up! As privy to a movie marketing plan, where savvy professionals are involved every step of the way, I was issued movie poster artwork concepts to evaluate and either approve or reject—these were professional cover mock-ups designed to promote the film.

Today’s creative movie artists are experts at their craft. And after reviewing their work, I was pleased that most of their professional renditions seemed far more glamorous, exciting, and aesthetically pleasing than my currently staid (at the time) eight-year-old book covers.

Thus, I was open to changing my covers. Upgrading, as it were. And my next decision (upon learning from these savvy marketing pros) came when the lightning bolt of an idea struck home: Why not use the movie poster art to re-cover my original novel, The Chemist? That way, they’ll match somewhat synchronously. 

I know what you’re thinking: Duh! Many sixth graders could have figured that one out. Maybe so, but to me, it was a worthwhile idea. And what this revelation led to was the common-sense follow-up: If you’re going to change/modernize one cover, and the book is already a three-part thriller-suspense series, then wouldn’t it make sense to change the second and third book covers as well?

Once again, the answer seemed obvious.

Considering the above, another astute marketer (of which you may have already guessed I am far from) suggested that perhaps I should write a short informational blog article to accompany the re-release of the books. Something to give away, maybe, as a complimentary eBook. Something to generate a bit of buzz! I pondered the suggestion. I imagined I could easily pluck out a few scenes from my novels and turn these into a modestly compelling short story. Or otherwise, I could compile several old blog posts, shovel them into an eBook format, and call it something or another—commercially catchy, no doubt.

Or Door Number Three: I could do something unique.

I contemplated these ideas, thinking (maybe not so much) as Aristotle must have in his prime. I wondered about swiping a cue from the music industry. Where some band hits it big with their debut album, then follows it a year later with