Blog@Newsarama has asked a couple of us over here at Writers Old Fashioned to pitch in some guest columns for their summer “I ♥ Comics” series. First up, I tell the world why I ♥ the New Golden Age. 

Fellow Writer Old Fashioned David Brothers interviews me for the awesome Pop Culture Shock site. We debut the new Martian Confederacy cover, discuss the role of social commentary in comics, and how reading the new Spider-Man books is like having break up sex. Check it out!

Fellow Writers Old Fashioned member and blogger extraordinaire, Graeme McMillan, sits down with Jason McNamara to talk about The Martian Confederacy!

Click on the logo to check it out!

As some of you may know, either from previous posts or from knowing me personally, I have a little (when I say little I actually mean gigantic) problem with motivating myself to do what I should be doing. You may be familiar with the feeling yourselves. You know the one, that teeny-tiny voice in the back of your mind. The passive guy at the back of the room meekly clearing his throat, trying to get your attention. And whatever it may be you’re doing at the time, watching reruns of Friends, taking online quizzes, or in my case, playing the time-devouring video game, Mass Effect, that little guy in the back of the room, is still trying to get your attention. Maybe he even started waving his arms around a little. Continue Reading »

I just finished reading Naomi Wolf’s book, “The Treehouse: Eccentric Wisdom from My Father on How to Live, Love, and See.” I had never read anything by Wolf before, although I knew that she wrote the bestseller “The Beauty Myth” in 1991. Thanks to Kirsten Baldock for lending it to me. This book is part memoir and part how to guide. It’s for anyone trying to invoke change in their lives, but especially for writers.

In this book, Wolf recounts how her father, Leonard Wolf, was an inspiration for her. She gives the reader very personal glimpses into their relationship and family history. It’s a cozy book. You can almost feel the admiration that Wolf has for her father drip off the pages. For the first three chapters, I had a hard time with the narrative voice of the book. I didn’t yet feel connected to the sage-like figure that Wolf was building up her father to be. In chapter four, entitled “Speak in Your Own Voice,” I felt a narrative shift. All the cutesy descriptions of what Leonard wore and how Wolf’s children acted started to feel more grounded, more relevant. All the threads about Wolf’s childhood, her adult responsibilities and worries about her future started to weave together. By page 90, Wolf’s literary education really shines. Check out this passage:

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I’ll be chatting with Comic Book Talk Radio host Jason Minor LIVE this afternoon at 4:00 pm PST over at wsRADIO.com.

Here’s the link to the live stream.

 If you miss the live broadcast, you can tune into the archived edition over at the show’s website if you’d like to hear me talk comics!

*DISCLAIMER* Without sounding like an Infomercial or an Evangelist, I am going to try and sell you on something here for a sec. I feel that it’s my duty to pass this on. Bear with me. And I apologize in advance for any corny clichés that may have found their way in.

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