Ben Goodwin
Author, Designer, bartenderFor more than twenty years I’ve written books, designed print and web projects, and photographed everything I could get into focus. These days you can also find me mixing up drinks behind the bar.
Author
I’ve written books, short stories, poems, and countless bits of business miscellany.
I have four novels and an illustrated short published under Ben Goodwin which you can read about below.
From 2009 to 2023 I wrote erotica under the pen name Guy New York, publishing close to one hundred novels, novellas, and short story collections. You can find that work here.
Details
Pub 2020
Bryant St Fantasy
The Beertown Twins
Maggie and Tedrow Brewer, twins and heirs to the Beertown Brewery and Brothel, must leave their home to travel to the Capital to argue on behalf of their parents, with the hopes of saving their city from encroaching modernism.
But Maggie is no more a whore than Tedrow is a Brewmaster, and their growing magic proves just how ill suited they are to their fated roles. As they travel south against their parents’ wishes, they soon discover that the rest of the world is less permissive than their secluded home in the mountains. But they meet friends, discover new secrets, and slowly begin to explore their own budding sexualities and gender identities along the way.
Forced to choose between the modern Project which is hellbent on improving the world through science and reason (no matter the cost) and the traditional yet open home where they grew up, the twins struggle to keep honest with each other as their paths pull them in different directions.
Full of adventure, love, exploration, and magic, The Beertown Twins is a fantasy book unlike your more traditional fare. A book with queer characters, deep self-exploration, and a spiritual core which is more heart than blind faith.
Portraits
of Alice
At sixteen, Alice was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition which left her in the body of a barely pubescent young woman. Now, at forty, she’s utterly exhausted with the slew of men who have constantly attempted to fetishize her existence.
When her husband Henry is offered a teaching position in the midwest, the couple leaves the relative anonymity of New York City to embark on a new journey, one which will hopefully rekindle her creative spark and help her rediscover herself. But as her husband is distracted by his new job, and as their sexual interests diverge, Alice is stuck trying to find satisfaction in new and dangerous places.
Unwilling to sacrifice her own pleasure for the sake of politics or appearance, she starts down a road which will end either in destruction or salvation.
A complicated, disturbing, and erotic novel, Portraits of Alice thrusts itself into our cultural landscape without regard for comfort or excuses. In the age of MeToo, Alice is a fierce and endearing defender of personal autonomy, sexual empowerment, and the right to exist in this world without apology or approval from undeserving men.
Details
Pub Oct. 2018
QNY Press
Remarkable
“I’ve read a lot of Mr. Goodwin’s work. However, nothing could have prepared me for the absolute rawness of Portraits of Alice. It was beautifully written, as his books usually are, but there was a shyness throughout that I couldn’t put my finger on. From Alice’s flashbacks of her jarring experiences, to her present-day life of complexities, this novel was something else entirely.”
-Five Star Amazon Review
“If you’ve ever wondered what life would be like if jealousy were considered a bad habit to be minimized rather than a sign of true love to be celebrated, give this a read. I don’t know any better window into the realities of such a life.”
–Dr. Christopher Ryan, NY Times Bestselling co-author of Sex at Dawn on The Island on The Edge of Normal
Details
Pub Dec. 2013
QNY Press
Moving and Sexy
“A story of healing and exploration, with an unconventional relationship twist exploring open/poly relationships. After making me cry and turning me on, this book made me want to run to the ocean and set my memories on fire.”
-Five Star Amazon Review
The Island On
The Edge of Normal
The Island on the Edge of Normal, follows James from New York City to the coast of Maine where he struggles to forget his past by destroying his memories one page at a time. As he settles into his new life, he finds himself falling in love with Issa, the married women whose house he is sharing. When he learns that Issa and Paul have an open marriage he’s forced to make decisions he’s tried hard to avoid.
But the more comfortable he becomes, the more his past returns until suddenly it arrives on the island in the form of Jane, the woman he’s been trying so hard to forget. Even as James learns about non-jealous husbands, handsome tourists, and growing up on the edge of normal, he’s still consumed by guilt, fear, and deep-seated anger that he doesn’t fully understand and can’t let go.
A tale of love, lust, and redemption, The Island on the Edge of Normal pushes the boundaries of what it means to create, destroy, and forgive.
Spirits of The Onsen
Momoko has lived all ten years of her long life in the hot spring inn owned by her parents, but there are secrets even she is just discovering. When an old painter and the mysterious man Coldriver arrive at the inn, her life is turned upside down as she struggles to learn the truth of who she is. When the spirits of the hot spring are threatened, Momoko realizes she is the only one with the power to save them. Together with her cat, Kei-chan and her silent friend Toshi, she must learn to tell new stories as well as the old ones if she wants to save her Friends. An exciting adventure of friendship, family, and discovery, Spirits of the Onsen is a story that will delight children of all ages.
Details
Pub Oct. 2016
QNY Press
Details
Pub Dec. 2014
QNY Press
A charming, delightful and not quite true story
“The history of kilts is made ever more murky by Kilt Me – and it’s much appreciated. The author’s unique tale leaves one smiling awkwardly on the subway, wishing more men around her were wearing kilts.“
-Five Star Amazon Review
Kilt Me!
Kilt Me! builds a mythic history of Kilts in New York City. Blending fact and fiction, advice, and fashion tips with humor and original illustrations, it suggests that kilts have been woven into the cultural fabric of a kilted New York that could have been, from the Roaring Twenties to the Punk Rock movement.
The books follows the checkered “history” of kilts from the founding of the Angry Scotsman Pub in 1875, through the famous Broadway March (a kilted bar crawl), to the advent and design of the modern day kilt, and of course, the origins of smacking people in the face with a sock full of beef Jerky.
Kilt Me! offers detailed advice on how a kilt can aid in flirting with women, a guide to the kind of wise-cracks kilts inspire, and the witty retorts and brilliant comebacks available to the wearer; along with a wealth of tips and “how-to’s” when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of making a fashion statement with the revolutionary act of taking off your pants. As we follow our narrator through the trials and tribulations of one-night stands all the way through marriage, we’ll experience the ins and out of modern kilt wearing etiquette.
With more than fifteen original illustrations from Donna Mehalko, this book is sure to please all kilt lovers.
Ben Goodwin
I started my career as a web developer at Business Week Online before co-founding Graphyte Design. We built over thirty web properties and hundreds of print projects for clients like Columbia University and Kind Snacks.
I've designed, written, and produced, print ads, digital campaigns, social media graphics, coffee-table books, ebook covers, packaging, business cards, and store signage to name just a few. I occasionally photographed them as well.
In 2009 I began writing short stories which quickly turned into a passion resulting in 100 books. I currently enjoy a healthy combination of writing, designing, and taking pictures.
Photo of me by Carey Bertolet Grand