Allegations that a romance author faked her own death have the book community ablaze: 'She just came back from the dead?'

Jan. 5—A self-published romance novelist who allegedly died in 2020, has announced her return — to life, writing, and Facebook.

It's been two and a half years since the book community mourned the loss of Susan Meachen. On her Facebook page, family members said the author died by suicide and blamed bullying within the romance writing community. The 2020 ordeal sparked crowdfunding campaigns for funeral expenses, donations to suicide prevention groups, and even editing Meachen's final work for free.

Now, not only does Meachen appear to be alive and well, but she's also back online.

This week, Meachen's Facebook account made a post in the private Facebook group for authors that she ran, announcing her return. Even since her alleged death, Meachen's Facebook account and group, called The Ward, maintained a niche following. Meachen's daughter — or someone claiming to be her daughter — has been running the group and Meachen's main profile since.

Before her death announcement, Meachen had published more than a dozen books. On The Ward, fellow self-published authors discussed her books along with their own. She calls herself an "author of perfectly flawed romances," with books including Special Delivery, His Wicked Way, and Losing Him & Finding You.

Her latest book, Love to Last a Lifetime, published in 2020, was framed as Meachen's last work and a wedding present to her daughter. Following her death, friends edited the book for free. A separate romance novel anthology was published after Meachen's announced death with a dedication to her. "The world is a little less bright without her," the tribute said.

'Let the fun begin'

On Twitter, users shared screenshots of Meachen's announcement that she was alive. The post has been viewed at least 3 million times.

"I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it's right or not," Meachen's announcement said. "There's going to be tons of questions and a lot of people leaving the group I'd guess. But my family did what they thought was best for me and I can't fault them for it. I almost died again at my own hand and they had to go through all that hell again. Returning to The Ward doesn't mean much but I am in a good place now and I am hoping to write again. Let the fun begin."

Chaos ensued.

Followers began questioning Meachen: Where did the money raised for her funeral actually go? Was this all a trick for a posthumous book sale surge? How could she live with the blame that was placed on other authors accused of bullying her?

Fellow romance author Samantha A. Cole said in a Facebook post that she was "horrified, stunned, livid" and felt like she had been "kicked in the gut and the chest at the same time" over the news. Cole has publicly addressed facing bullying herself from members of the literary community after Meachen's death. Fans of Meachen harassed other authors, blaming them for Meachen's death.

"We grieved for the loss of a woman we considered a friend," she said in a Facebook post. In a Facebook video, Cole called Meachen's acts, "beyond psychotic."

In a separate Facebook post, author Karen Hall said what Meachen did was unforgivable.

"I can forgive many things, but I don't think I could ever forgive your faking your death," she said.

Hiding in plain sight

The story is still unfolding but since Meachen's announcement, theories have bubbled up, suggesting the author was hiding in plain sight.

Cole and other authors say that a Facebook account with the name T.N. Steele was interacting in The Ward Facebook group and even recently attempted to take over as administrator. As noted by The Daily Beast, Steele's page stylistically mirrored the type of graphics Meachen used. Cole said that Steele's listed birthday and wedding date matched Meachen's.

Last year, someone logged onto Meachen's account and wrote a post asking for help marketing her existing books. On TikTok, an account with the profile name @susanmeachen has been active since October 2019, posting videos throughout 2021 and 2022.

The TikTok community — known informally as "BookTok" — has also had a lot to say about Meachen's return.

"She just came back from the dead? She just came back from the dead?" said TikTok user Jamie Lyn. "She comes back out of nowhere. People were friends with her, they were grieving her ... People are like 'are you kidding?' It almost seems like this was done as a way to get people to buy her books."

On Twitter, the skepticism toward Meachen's intentions is palpable.

"Susan Meachen faking her own suicide and then wandering blithely back online because she 'got bored' is so exquisitely insane," author Gretchen Felker-Martin wrote. "Romance writers really are operating on another plane of reality."

Another book fan account, @bogwitchbooks, wrote, "What sane person fakes their own death for TWO YEARS and then randomly gets on Facebook one day and just is like 'hey guys, I'm back!!'"

Meachen did not respond to requests for comment.

___

(c)2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.