By Alexander Rivero

Staff Writer

           It was after he graduated college and plunged into the job-search market that Flanders native Chaz Hayden had an idea that would change his life. 

“I had no job for the first year after graduating from college in 2015, so I read a lot while I kept applying for jobs. And at some point, I realized that I could do this,” says Hayden, referring to giving a crack at writing young-adult fiction, which constituted a sizable chunk of his reading during that year. “I had stories to tell and experiences I could share that I felt others could relate to. So why not give it a shot?”

For Hayden, the allure of young-adult fiction centered on the genre’s focus on individuals going through a fascinating time in their lives, a time, he says, “in which we are very much our most authentic selves.” 

Hayden himself was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, when he was three months old. At the time, doctors informed his mother that he would not live to see his first birthday. Now living in Easton, Pennsylvania and working a finance day-job from the home he purchased for himself and his parents, Hayden is working hard at expanding himself in a new direction—that of writer. 

“I want to share the experiences in my life of living with a disability. I’m not too good at writing about myself, so I started writing short stories, poetry, and going to writing groups and workshops to learn and see how other writers approached the work.” 

Hayden made friends and received feedback. He honed his skills through daily practice, sitting with his materials, reading, re-reading, refining, picking up on rhythms and discovering new ideas. He found a job he liked that would allow him the time at the end of each day to dive into his new hobby, and before long, the idea of writing up characters and exploring new situations became, he realized,  a passion.

“I knew this would be what I would be doing for the rest of my life one way or another,” he says. “I also realized that this was what I was supposed to be doing, a liberating feeling.” 

In 2019, Hayden got the idea for a debut novel. He realized that he had a unique vantage point as a person with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and he thought it would be interesting to center a story—in this case a classic teenaged romance novel—on a character with a disability. Based on his intense reading and studying of stories available on the market, he realized his introducing such a character into the young-adult genre would be groundbreaking. 

“I wanted to bring forth a genuine portrayal of a disability you just don’t see in popular fiction,” he says. 

The result was his debut novel, The First Thing About You. Although the story itself has a protagonist with a disability, it is not about that disability. 

“It’s a story,” Hayden says, “about love and friendship, as well as all the things that a young person would hope to experience.” 

The novel follows a fifteen-year-old main character named Harris who, like Hayden, also has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Harris and his family move to New Jersey from San Diego, a big change that Harris uses as momentum to reinvent himself as more than just a kid in a wheelchair. He believes that by knowing someone’s favorite color that he can come to a conclusion on that person—in much the same way that many people feel they can reach a conclusion on him just because of the fact that he is in a wheelchair.

“I don’t know how to talk about the inspiration behind this story other than to refer to all the experiences I’ve gathered throughout all these years of study and searching,” says Hayden. “The people I’ve met, the emotions I’ve felt. All of it. I wanted to fictionalize these things to make them more relatable, and I found the process totally therapeutic.” 

As of this writing, Hayden and a friend are in the early stages of a non-profit organization called Ballers and Bookworms. The goal of the organization is to provide free academic and athletic support for student athletes from communities that can use some help. Many retired educators and athletes have already signed up to offer their services. 

For more information on Hayden, The First Thing About You, and all other aspects of his life, please visit his website at www.chazhayden.com; check him out on Instagram and/or Twitter @thechazhayden; or find him on his own YouTube channel, called simply “Chaz Hayden.”