Novelist Susan Meachen Reveals She Faked Her Suicide In 2020: PHOTOS

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        Writer Stuns Fellow Authors And Fans By Revealing She's Alive After Faking Her Own Suicide In 2020
    

        Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
    
Indie novelist Susan Meachen has supposedly reemerged on Facebook after faking her own suicide in September of 2020 due to bullying from the online book community. 
By McKenzie Lynn TozanJan 05, 2023
McKenzie Lynn Tozan
McKenzie Lynn Tozan has been a part of the George Takei family since 2019 when she wrote some of her favorite early pieces: Sesame Street introducing its first character who lived in foster care and Bruce Willis delivering a not-so-Die-Hard opening pitch at a Phillies game. She's gone on to write nearly 3,000 viral and trending stories for George Takei, Comic Sands, Percolately, and ÜberFacts. With an unstoppable love for the written word, she's also an avid reader, poet, and indie novelist.
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*The following article contains mentions of suicide/self-harm.
Growing a self-made business, whether it be as an entrepreneur or as an independently published writer, has become increasingly popular in recent years. This was especially true during the pandemic when many utilized the extra time at home to write their first book or create a course. 
But in September 2020, independent romance author Susan Meachen took her writing career in a much darker direction when she appeared to have died from suicide. Her daughter logged into her Facebook account to make the announcement and stated Meachen was bullied by the online writing community and could not cope. 
The family launched a GoFundMe for funeral costs as well as the posthumous publication of Meachen's final book. 
The GoFundMe was well-received, Meachen's final book Love to Last a Lifetime was published and sold thousands of copies and her Facebook group full of loving readers—called "The Ward"—remained active. 
It was the kind of loving attention and support from a fanbase any author would hope to leave their family with. 
But on January 4 of 2023, fellow author Samantha A. Cole shared in a Facebook post the terrible truth she discovered.
Susan Meachen faked her death and was writing under the pen name TN Steele ever since, but she was looking forward to writing under her real name again.
Cole wrote in her post:
"We grieved for the loss of the woman we considered a friend. 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 and maybe it would've made a difference for her to know there were people who supported her.""Last night a post was made in Susan's old reader group, 'The Ward,' from Susan's profile."Cole shared the text of a post made by Meachen in her Facebook group.
"And I quote, 'I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it's right or not. 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'."Cole concluded her post:
"Apparently, she's not dead. TN Steele was a profile she made a month after her alleged suicide.""Excuse me while I now go get sh*tfaced in memory of coworkers and friends who I know really did commit suicide."Cole included many screenshots of DMs with Meachen.
You can see the full post here:
In Cole's series of screenshots, several of interest were included, including Meachen's reasons for leaving the book world, as well as her re-entrance as TN Steele. 
Here is one screenshot in which Meachen said she "wanted her life back":
Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
Meachen also claimed she was never really a part of the book world:
Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
Another author, Connie Ortiz, who was maintaining Meachen's Facebook group after her "death" put out a call for someone to take over the group and "TN Steele" offered to step in.
Here is TN Steele's call to take over the group representing her "real" name: 
Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
Finally, here is the Facebook post in the group where Meachen announced she was not dead.
Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
TN Steele announced she would be going back to her "real account and name" shortly thereafter.
Samantha A. Cole/Facebook
Though Meachen claimed her daughter was the one who made the initial announcement she was dead, Meachen was otherwise the one making continued updates about her books, Audiobooks and updates with Amazon. 
A month after her daughter's alleged announcement about Meachen's death, Meachen created her TN Steele pseudonym and continued to write in the same genre under that name. 
Meachen also created a TikTok under her real name and continued to post there, mostly responding to TikTok trends and remained under the radar where the BookTok community was concerned.
\u201cShe\u2019s been on Tik Tok the whole time. Props to @AccNightmare with this.\u201d
 — Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab)
        1672805986
Fellow readers and writers on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok were collectively floored by the news of Meachen's faked death.
\u201cIf you are in a bad place, mentally, as an author, stepping away is completely acceptable. \n\nFaking your death and accepting donations to your nonexistent funeral, however, is not acceptable. It's fraud and emotional abuse. No one should buy Susan Meachen's books.\u201d
 — Violet Catte Is In An Anthology! (@Violet Catte Is In An Anthology!)
        1672945157
\u201c\u201cI can forgive many things, but I don\u2019t think I could ever forgive your faking your death,\u201d author Karen Hall wrote to author Susan Meachen in a Facebook post.\n\nMeachen didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. https://t.co/lCqKmReED0\u201d
 — The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast)
        1672867206

\u201cI\u2019m not part of the book community, nor had I heard of Susan Meachen before all of this, but I\u2019m GRIPPED\u201d
 — Olivia \ud83c\udf3b (@Olivia \ud83c\udf3b)
        1672928659
\u201cTHIS IS DISGUSTING.\nSUSAN MEACHEN IS REPREHENSIBLE.\n\nYES, I'M REPULSED.\u201d
 — Shiloh Walker on Hive @shilohwalker (@Shiloh Walker on Hive @shilohwalker)
        1672945997
\u201cWaking up to news of the resurrection of an author who supposedly "un-alived" herself two years ago was NOT on my bingo card for today and yet...\n\nSusan Meachen/TN Steele.\u201d
 — \u26c8\ufe0fPeyton Storm\u26c8\ufe0f Book 3 - April 2023!\ud83d\udc99 (@\u26c8\ufe0fPeyton Storm\u26c8\ufe0f Book 3 - April 2023!\ud83d\udc99)
        1672848592

\u201cNo. Not all romance authors.\n\nJust Susan Meachen.\n\nThere\u2019s no comparing her to others.\n\nIt\u2019s infuriating to be lumped in with a few bad apples. As a whole, this community is a supportive and uplifting place to be. Those who mock us have no idea what they are talking about.\u201d
 — Dakota Willink (@Dakota Willink)
        1672927585
Some couldn't believe Meachen thought she could rejoin the community "just like that."
\u201c\ud83d\ude27 what have I just read?! I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever read anything by Susan Meachen but I definitely won\u2019t be doing now! How can you pretend you committed suicide and then pop back up 2 years later and act like it wasn\u2019t a HUGE thing to mislead people?! Honestly flabbergasted \ud83d\ude32\u201d
 — \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Lauren Sparks - Book Siren \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@\ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Lauren Sparks - Book Siren \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f)
        1672829441

\u201cGuess who shouldn\u2019t support or buy any of Susan Meachen\u2019s books? Everyone. Do not support someone who faked their death by suicide and then emerges 2 years later. 0/10 HELL NO.\u201d
 — Taylor. (@Taylor.)
        1672887722

\u201cThe thing that boggles my mind about the Susan Meachen thing is... THIS is her legacy now.\n\nIt doesn't matter how many books she writes in the future or what their quality is. To the vast majority, she will always be "that author that faked a suicide."\u201d
 — Margaret Adelle (@Margaret Adelle)
        1672890245
\u201cThis Susan Meachen thing is so unbelievably disturbing and horrible. 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\u2019m back!!\u201d
 — elina \ud83d\udd2a\ud83d\udd2e (@elina \ud83d\udd2a\ud83d\udd2e)
        1672863994

\u201cWhat I want to know is: did ANYONE suspect Susan Meachen of faking her death? Was she at all afraid of getting caught, adding pressure to confess? Or did she fully get away with faking her death and decide after 2 years, \u201cI\u2019m bored. People won\u2019t be that mad if I come back right?\u201d\u201d
 — Zinnia Z (@Zinnia Z)
        1672857909
Not to mention those who donated to the GoFundMe and purchased books after Meachen's supposed death.
\u201cWriter Susan Meachen faked her death in 2020 and has now risen from the grave for more attention. \n\nI smell a lawsuit.\u201d
 — Nicolina Torres (@Nicolina Torres)
        1672854974
\u201cPretty sure Susan Meachen can expect fraud charges. #lazarus\u201d
 — Jamie McGuire (@Jamie McGuire)
        1672951749

\u201cBack in 2020, I took part in a limited edition of paranormal romance entitled \u201cBully King Anthology.\u201d In the forward it was dedicated to Susan Meachen, an fellow indie author who had recently lost her life to suicide. Turns out, she FAKED HER DEATH! #susanmeachen #author #Drama\u201d
 — Vanessa Muse (@Vanessa Muse)
        1672951488

\u201c@AaronAjlen After a deep dive of her socials it\u2019s clear she had $ issues. Authors had a prior Gofundme and brought in $1700 for her. After she \u201cdied\u201d, there was an auction and proceeds went to family for her burial. Then the \u201cfinal\u201d book was pumped up by them to help her fam. TLDR, YES scam\u201d
 — Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab)
        1672805986
\u201cAt the time, a group of authors dedicated this anthology to her, proceeds were given to the family I believe (will confirm). Btw, these are USA Today best selling authors. Susan\u2019s \u201csuicide\u201d was due to bullying\u201d
 — Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab)
        1672805986

\u201cWhen we (more than likely) get a documentary/series about Susan Meachen faking her own suicide, please make sure you DONT WATCH IT. \nDon't give her any more attention or money!!!! Just DONT. She wanted out of the book world, let her stay gone.\u201d
 — amren\u2728\ufe0f (@amren\u2728\ufe0f)
        1672900385
There's no telling what is in store for Susan Meachen at this point, but it certainly won't be an increase in book sales. 
Between Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, authors have faced backlash over poorly constructed statements and books that were less than appropriate. Some of those authors were able to keep their place among the community after making ample amends. 
But what could an author possibly do to rectify faking their own death and accepting money from so many people?
***
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. 
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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*The following article contains mentions of suicide/self-harm.

Growing a self-made business, whether it be as an entrepreneur or as an independently published writer, has become increasingly popular in recent years. This was especially true during the pandemic when many utilized the extra time at home to write their first book or create a course.

But in September 2020, independent romance author Susan Meachen took her writing career in a much darker direction when she appeared to have died from suicide. Her daughter logged into her Facebook account to make the announcement and stated Meachen was bullied by the online writing community and could not cope.

The family launched a GoFundMe for funeral costs as well as the posthumous publication of Meachen's final book.

The GoFundMe was well-received, Meachen's final book Love to Last a Lifetime was published and sold thousands of copies and her Facebook group full of loving readers—called "The Ward"—remained active.

It was the kind of loving attention and support from a fanbase any author would hope to leave their family with.

But on January 4 of 2023, fellow author Samantha A. Cole shared in a Facebook post the terrible truth she discovered.

Susan Meachen faked her death and was writing under the pen name TN Steele ever since, but she was looking forward to writing under her real name again.

Cole wrote in her post:

"We grieved for the loss of the woman we considered a friend. 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 and maybe it would've made a difference for her to know there were people who supported her."

"Last night a post was made in Susan's old reader group, 'The Ward,' from Susan's profile."

Cole shared the text of a post made by Meachen in her Facebook group.

"And I quote, 'I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it's right or not. 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'."

Cole concluded her post:

"Apparently, she's not dead. TN Steele was a profile she made a month after her alleged suicide."

"Excuse me while I now go get sh*tfaced in memory of coworkers and friends who I know really did commit suicide."

Cole included many screenshots of DMs with Meachen.

You can see the full post here:

In Cole's series of screenshots, several of interest were included, including Meachen's reasons for leaving the book world, as well as her re-entrance as TN Steele.

Here is one screenshot in which Meachen said she "wanted her life back":

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

Meachen also claimed she was never really a part of the book world:

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

Another author, Connie Ortiz, who was maintaining Meachen's Facebook group after her "death" put out a call for someone to take over the group and "TN Steele" offered to step in.

Here is TN Steele's call to take over the group representing her "real" name:

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

Finally, here is the Facebook post in the group where Meachen announced she was not dead.

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

TN Steele announced she would be going back to her "real account and name" shortly thereafter.

Samantha A. Cole/Facebook

Though Meachen claimed her daughter was the one who made the initial announcement she was dead, Meachen was otherwise the one making continued updates about her books, Audiobooks and updates with Amazon.

A month after her daughter's alleged announcement about Meachen's death, Meachen created her TN Steele pseudonym and continued to write in the same genre under that name.

Meachen also created a TikTok under her real name and continued to post there, mostly responding to TikTok trends and remained under the radar where the BookTok community was concerned.

\u201cShe\u2019s been on Tik Tok the whole time. Props to @AccNightmare with this.\u201d
— Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab) 1672805986

Fellow readers and writers on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok were collectively floored by the news of Meachen's faked death.

\u201cIf you are in a bad place, mentally, as an author, stepping away is completely acceptable. \n\nFaking your death and accepting donations to your nonexistent funeral, however, is not acceptable. It's fraud and emotional abuse. No one should buy Susan Meachen's books.\u201d
— Violet Catte Is In An Anthology! (@Violet Catte Is In An Anthology!) 1672945157

\u201c\u201cI can forgive many things, but I don\u2019t think I could ever forgive your faking your death,\u201d author Karen Hall wrote to author Susan Meachen in a Facebook post.\n\nMeachen didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. https://t.co/lCqKmReED0\u201d
— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1672867206

\u201cI\u2019m not part of the book community, nor had I heard of Susan Meachen before all of this, but I\u2019m GRIPPED\u201d
— Olivia \ud83c\udf3b (@Olivia \ud83c\udf3b) 1672928659

\u201cTHIS IS DISGUSTING.\nSUSAN MEACHEN IS REPREHENSIBLE.\n\nYES, I'M REPULSED.\u201d
— Shiloh Walker on Hive @shilohwalker (@Shiloh Walker on Hive @shilohwalker) 1672945997

\u201cWaking up to news of the resurrection of an author who supposedly "un-alived" herself two years ago was NOT on my bingo card for today and yet...\n\nSusan Meachen/TN Steele.\u201d
— \u26c8\ufe0fPeyton Storm\u26c8\ufe0f Book 3 - April 2023!\ud83d\udc99 (@\u26c8\ufe0fPeyton Storm\u26c8\ufe0f Book 3 - April 2023!\ud83d\udc99) 1672848592

\u201cNo. Not all romance authors.\n\nJust Susan Meachen.\n\nThere\u2019s no comparing her to others.\n\nIt\u2019s infuriating to be lumped in with a few bad apples. As a whole, this community is a supportive and uplifting place to be. Those who mock us have no idea what they are talking about.\u201d
— Dakota Willink (@Dakota Willink) 1672927585

Some couldn't believe Meachen thought she could rejoin the community "just like that."

\u201c\ud83d\ude27 what have I just read?! I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever read anything by Susan Meachen but I definitely won\u2019t be doing now! How can you pretend you committed suicide and then pop back up 2 years later and act like it wasn\u2019t a HUGE thing to mislead people?! Honestly flabbergasted \ud83d\ude32\u201d
— \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Lauren Sparks - Book Siren \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@\ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Lauren Sparks - Book Siren \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1672829441

\u201cGuess who shouldn\u2019t support or buy any of Susan Meachen\u2019s books? Everyone. Do not support someone who faked their death by suicide and then emerges 2 years later. 0/10 HELL NO.\u201d
— Taylor. (@Taylor.) 1672887722

\u201cThe thing that boggles my mind about the Susan Meachen thing is... THIS is her legacy now.\n\nIt doesn't matter how many books she writes in the future or what their quality is. To the vast majority, she will always be "that author that faked a suicide."\u201d
— Margaret Adelle (@Margaret Adelle) 1672890245

\u201cThis Susan Meachen thing is so unbelievably disturbing and horrible. 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\u2019m back!!\u201d
— elina \ud83d\udd2a\ud83d\udd2e (@elina \ud83d\udd2a\ud83d\udd2e) 1672863994

\u201cWhat I want to know is: did ANYONE suspect Susan Meachen of faking her death? Was she at all afraid of getting caught, adding pressure to confess? Or did she fully get away with faking her death and decide after 2 years, \u201cI\u2019m bored. People won\u2019t be that mad if I come back right?\u201d\u201d
— Zinnia Z (@Zinnia Z) 1672857909

Not to mention those who donated to the GoFundMe and purchased books after Meachen's supposed death.

\u201cWriter Susan Meachen faked her death in 2020 and has now risen from the grave for more attention. \n\nI smell a lawsuit.\u201d
— Nicolina Torres (@Nicolina Torres) 1672854974

\u201cPretty sure Susan Meachen can expect fraud charges. #lazarus\u201d
— Jamie McGuire (@Jamie McGuire) 1672951749

\u201cBack in 2020, I took part in a limited edition of paranormal romance entitled \u201cBully King Anthology.\u201d In the forward it was dedicated to Susan Meachen, an fellow indie author who had recently lost her life to suicide. Turns out, she FAKED HER DEATH! #susanmeachen #author #Drama\u201d
— Vanessa Muse (@Vanessa Muse) 1672951488

\u201c@AaronAjlen After a deep dive of her socials it\u2019s clear she had $ issues. Authors had a prior Gofundme and brought in $1700 for her. After she \u201cdied\u201d, there was an auction and proceeds went to family for her burial. Then the \u201cfinal\u201d book was pumped up by them to help her fam. TLDR, YES scam\u201d
— Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab) 1672805986

\u201cAt the time, a group of authors dedicated this anthology to her, proceeds were given to the family I believe (will confirm). Btw, these are USA Today best selling authors. Susan\u2019s \u201csuicide\u201d was due to bullying\u201d
— Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab (@Be a lot cooler if you did \ud83d\udcab\ud83c\udf2a\ud83d\udcab) 1672805986

\u201cWhen we (more than likely) get a documentary/series about Susan Meachen faking her own suicide, please make sure you DONT WATCH IT. \nDon't give her any more attention or money!!!! Just DONT. She wanted out of the book world, let her stay gone.\u201d
— amren\u2728\ufe0f (@amren\u2728\ufe0f) 1672900385

There's no telling what is in store for Susan Meachen at this point, but it certainly won't be an increase in book sales.

Between Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, authors have faced backlash over poorly constructed statements and books that were less than appropriate. Some of those authors were able to keep their place among the community after making ample amends.

But what could an author possibly do to rectify faking their own death and accepting money from so many people?

***

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

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Writer Stuns Fellow Authors And Fans By Revealing She's Alive After Faking Her Own Suicide In 2020

Indie novelist Susan Meachen has supposedly reemerged on Facebook after faking her own suicide in September of 2020 due to bullying from the online book community.

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