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The indie romance book community was recently left shaken after author Susan Meachen returned from the dead. The His Wicked Way writer was believed to have been dead since September 2020 when her alleged daughter posted online that she died by suicide. However, the writer has returned, and the internet does not seem to be taking it well.
The Finding Faith author recently took to the Facebook group, The Ward, and left netizens flabbergasted. She revealed that her family made the decision to declare her dead as she was battling a mental health crisis. The post read:
"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."
She added:
"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."
While the Meachen family maintained that the author had passed away, they blamed online trolls and other romance writers of bullying her. Meanwhile, Susan Meachen’s online friends grieved for the loss of a friend and collected money for funeral expenses.
They also worked for free to edit one of the author’s unpublished works to fulfil what was described to be Susan’s last wish- the release of her final novel ahead of her daughter’s wedding.
Who is Susan Meachen? Fellow author Samantha A. Cole condemns author’s elaborate death hoax
Susan Meachen is a self-published independent author whose books are available on Amazon. A few of her most popular pieces include Finding Faith, His Wicked Way, Never/ Ever among others. In her author bio, she described herself as:
"Author of Perfectly Flawed Romances."
At the time of her alleged death, she was reportedly working on her last novel Love to Last a Lifetime. This was allegedly published posthumously by Meachen’s daughter in October 2020, who completed the final rewrites.
Fellow author and member of the indie romance book community Samantha A. Cole revealed that she had grieved the death of Meachen. The former went on to express outrage over the fake death. Speaking about how she felt about Susan Meachen’s alleged passing, Cole wrote in a Facebook post:
“I personally was harassed by another author who loves to create drama, claiming I was one of the authors who bullied Susan and drove her to suicide. I was heartbroken when I realized it’d been a few months since I’d chatted with Susan in PMs and wished I’d reached out sooner."
Cole also explained how she realized that a Facebook user under the name TN Steele, who was insistent on taking on the role of administrator of The Ward Facebook group, was none other than Meachen herself.
In another Facebook video, Cole expressed that the situation was “beyond psychotic.” She also revealed that she engaged with Susan Meachen after she returned to the Facebook community.
In the messages shared between the two, Meachen claimed that she had “no control” over her family’s decision to pronounce her dead as she was “fighting” for her life.
In another text message, Meachen claimed that she was “not worried about the book world” letting her back in as she felt that she “was never really in.”
In her Facebook video, Cole vehemently stated that she was against Meachen’s actions. She said:
“I am happy she is alive because I don’t want to wish death on anybody. But I cannot condone what she did, and I cannot forgive what she did.”
Netizens react to Susan Meachen’s rise from the dead
Internet users were astonished by the death hoax. Many were quick to believe that the Losing Hope author took part in the intricate scheme to drive her book sales and make other sorts of financial benefits. A few reactions to the matter at hand read:
It remains unclear whether Meachen will continue to release books under her real name due to the massive backlash she has garnered recently.
