Susan Meachen just wanted to be a bestseller.
Instead, the wannabe romance novelist created a legacy of lies.
After more than two years of walking around in the guise of the dead, the author discovers his alleged impostor: he is alive and very well.
Tuesday evening A private Facebook group called The Ward, Meachen reportedly wrote a lengthy message explaining his faked death.
“I’ve debated how to do this a million times and I’m still not sure if it’s right or wrong,” read the post, shared in screenshots by an eagle-eyed Twitter user. “There will be a lot of questions and I think a lot of people will leave the group. But my family did what they thought was best for me and I can’t blame them for that.
“I almost died at my own hands again and they had to go through hell again,” claimed Meachen, who appeared to be the administrator of the private page. Being back at The Ward doesn’t mean much, but I’m in a good place now and hope to write again. Let the fun begin.”
The Post has reached out to Meachen for comment.
Apparently, the twisted tale didn’t just start this week. When Meachen, the author of 14 novels, wove his web of lies nearly three years ago, According to the insiderhe joined Facebook in September 2020 in a deleted postwhere he lamented his woes to his 1,300 Facebook followers.
At that time, he revealed his problems with the publishing industry and admitted that he had attempted suicide. The post also revealed that his final book will be released just one month later on October 30th.
A few weeks later, when it was reported that the aspiring writer had died, there was a paper trail of complaints, which made the assumption of suicide even more credible.
in a.d Facebook post since deleted Written by someone claiming to be the late author’s daughter, Meachen’s page purportedly announced that it would continue to promote her latest romance novel, Love for a Lifetime.
According to her Amazon bio, the romance author describes herself as an “avid reader” as well as a “wife, mother, meme and friend.” But given that he bemoaned the difficulties of the literary world, the final line of his autobiography may be jarring to some: “I love to hear from readers when they say they hated the book they just finished.”
After Meachen’s death, a group of authors dedicated an anthology of stories One Twitter user claimed that violence was allegedly the reason for the late author’s suicide.
Number of raising funds for suicide prevention They are listed on Facebook, although they have never received any donations. It seems that his daughter’s book sales are headed in the same direction posted a disgruntled message at his mother’s expense.
“If something doesn’t change in the next 21 days, all the mom books will be out of print,” she complained in February 2021, threatening that the page would go “dark” if fans didn’t open their pockets. “His paperbacks are put up for sale and then not published. The only way to get the books is by audio. For months his sales and page readings are zero and I wasted my time every morning after work with zero effort, we hired a PA to help and so far it hasn’t helped.
Meanwhile, the whole story was allegedly an elaborate hoax, and some were suspected by the public advertising gimmick. Meachen’s ‘funny’ version was criticized by fans, apparently other authors and online friends were slighting for funeral funds and posthumous book editing for free, according to the report On Isabel’s site.
USA Today best-selling author Samantha Cole, struck by Meachen’s tall tale, revealed she was “amazed” he was still alive.
“I was horrified, shocked, nervous, and I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut and the chest all at the same time,” Cole said. wrote on Facebook.
“We mourned the loss of a woman we considered a friend,” the “heartbroken” writer continued. “I was personally harassed by another author who likes to create drama and claims that I was one of the authors who abused Susan and encouraged her to take her own life.”
Along with his extensive statement, Cole included more than 40 screenshots of messages between himself and the “dead man,” Meachen.
“What’s going on???” from Cole Meachen. She reportedly replied: “Nothing. I just want my life back. My family was in a bad situation and did what they thought was best for me.
Meachen claimed she was “fighting for my life” in hospital when her family decided to post a heartbreaking announcement of Cole’s death, according to screenshots. Although the public believed he had passed away, Meachen was alive and allegedly working with a psychiatrist “to get to a better place”.
Cole also apparently shared screenshots of a Facebook profile created under his name TN Steele, which he claims was invented by Meachen to go by this alias on social media. Self-described “wannabe author” TN Steele joined and later took over The Ward’s page, interviewing Meachen’s family and others – none the wiser.
In 25-minute video posted on Facebook on Wednesdayfellow writer Cole – who says he is “friends” with Meachen, though not “close friends” – scathingly called his fiction “beyond psychotic” and warned him to be wary of other writers in the literary circle. gave at
“For two and a half years, he sat down and started a new life without telling anyone in the book world who he was,” Cole said in a video seen by The Post. “Seeing us grieving, he and his family accepted free editing, accepting donations for a funeral that never happened.”
Cole did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. However, he told Rolling Stone in an email The whole ordeal has torn the book community apart, adding: “For it to be a hoax dragged out for almost two and a half years is a slap in the face to anyone who supported it.”
Romance fans took to Twitter to share their disgust, calling the alleged nonsense “fraud” and author “part of sh-t“.
“This Susan Meachen thing is unbelievably disturbing and creepy,” marveled one fan He wrote on Twitter. “What sane person fakes their own death for TWO YEARS, then one day they randomly go on Facebook and it’s like hey guys, I’m back!”
“It’s crazy that Susan Meachen faked her own suicide and then freely surfed the internet because she was ‘bored’.” tweeted another.
“Romantic writers really operate on a different plane of reality,” they concluded.
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