Romance novelist fakes suicide, returns to Facebook

KSNF/KODE — A romance novelist has been accused of faking her own suicide after posting that she was alive two years after a social media status from her account announced her death, USA Today reported. Susan Meachen sparked a furious reaction from other self-published writers after announcing she was alive and had simply needed a break from social media. 

“I debated on how to do this a million times and still not sure if it’s right or not. I am in a good place now and I am hoping to write again. Let the fun begin,” the Tennessee-based author said before the controversy enraged the world of independent novelists.

The writer of titles such as His Wicked Way and Chance Encounter said, “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.”

Her Facebook page became a shrine to the scribe after it was used to announce her death in October 2020.  A post on the page blamed her suicide on harassment and bullying from other members of the book community.

USA Today reported that the page was later used to give away audiobook codes of her novels, raise funds for charities, and to source editors for her unpublished work. In 2021, a Facebook post by someone claiming to be Mrs. Meachen’s daughter said her mother’s books would be “unpublished” unless sales increased. 

Love to Last a Lifetime, the tale of a man born to riches who falls for his best friend’s girlfriend, was published and put on sale shortly after her “death,” said Rolling Stone Magazine.