Stephen Hayes is a lifelong storyteller whose work bridges writing and visual arts. A graduate of UCLA, he began his creative career as a professional illustrator and later taught art and history at Pacific Northwest College of Art. His conceptual illustrations have appeared in publications across four continents, and his work has earned an International Association of Business Communicators Award of Excellence.
His work has been featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, American Legion Magazine, Not Your Mother’s Books, and Cat Crimes anthology series, among others. He is the creator of The Chubby Chatterbox, a long-running blog known for its reflective autobiographical storytelling.
The Return of the Mary Celeste is Hayes’s first novel and will be published by Sutra House April 14, 2026. He lives with his wife, Sue, in Ridgefield, Washington.
