A Tennessee romance book writer whose own daughter announced her tragic death to friends and fans two years ago recently announced that she is coming back to writing, and everyone is really confused.

In September 2020, friends and colleagues of Susan Meachen, a self-published romance fiction writer, were shocked to hear that she had taken her own life due to online bullying. Someone claiming to be her daughter announced the devastating news on Facebook, and tributes from fans and authors who had known and worked with her started pouring in. For the next couple of years, Meachen’s Facebook profile was seemingly used by her family to post tributes to the author and inspirational stuff, as well as to promote her books. Some claim to have bought her work as a way to support her grieving family. But a couple of days ago, something weird happened – someone claiming to be Susan Meachen took to Facebook to announce that she wasn’t really dead, and that she was coming back to writing…

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“I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it’s right or not,” the post, which has since gone viral, 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. 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.”

The Ward is the close-knit Facebook community of independent writers where the above message was posted. Meachen was a member before her “passing”, and everyone who had mourned her death was shocked by the revelation, especially by the lighthearted tone of whoever had written it.

“That is beyond psychotic, whether it was Susan herself or her daughter making these comments, to knowingly mislead somebody who’s grieving,” fellow author and member of The Ward, Samantha A. Cole, said. “Now I am wary of anybody I have never met in person, that I am friends with on Facebook, and that’s really sad.”

“This Susan Meachen thing is so unbelievably disturbing and horrible,” one Twitter user 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!!”

Susan Meachen wasn’t the most popular author, not by a long shot, but her recent resurrection really took the entire internet by storm. Her bizarre story has been covered by major news outlets like CNN, the BBC or USA Today, but it remains an intriguing mystery. Is the person posting on Meachen’s social media accounts really her, and if so, why did she fake her death only to return two years later?

Despite the best efforts of journalists all around the world, neither the author nor her family has made any comments on this matter. So far, all we have to go on is the recent post on The Ward and the few other interactions Meachen has had in the last few days. There are however clues that the writer was indeed alive these past two years.

For example, there is a TikTok account in her name where content has been constantly uploaded over the last couple of years. Since Meachen had shown her face during live readings on social media, there are people who know what she looks like, and they have confirmed that the person in the clips is indeed her.

Now people are wondering whether it was actually her announcing her own suicide two years ago, not her daughter. Some believe that she was the one posting all this time, using her fake death as a way to promote and sell her books to people wanting to be supportive of her family.

“So if all of this is true, she fakes her death, then possibly pretends to be her daughter, and makes another account to watch this whole thing,” Samantha A. Cole, a fellow romance writer, told CNN. “She interacted with mourners. She watched as people posted how much they missed Meachen and how sad they were.”

 

Cole was shocked when she heard Susan Meachen was once again active in The Ward group,  so she confronted her, asking “What is going on????” to which whoever was behind the social media account replied: “Nothing, I simply want my life back. My family was in a bad place and did what they thought was best for me.”

If it turns out that Meachen did fake her death on social media, she probably won’t face any legal repercussions, but using your own demise to promote your books isn’t the most ethical thing in the world…