Romance author Susan Meachen announces she is alive years after being pronounced dead

That’s what you’d read in a melodramatic fantasy novel – only in this case it’s true.

Novelist Susan Meachen appears to have returned from the dead and announced online that she is very much alive – two years after it was reported that she had taken her own life.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The author’s shock that the novelist “faked her own death.”

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Meachen’s readers and fans thought she had died in 2020 after a woman claiming to be her daughter posted the news on the author’s Facebook page.

Weeks before her reported death, Meachen had opened up about a recent suicide attempt after becoming the target of online harassment and bullying.

Then it was announced that the American author had died.

In the two years since this post, Meachen’s Facebook page has been used to pay tribute to the author, share information, and raise funds for suicide prevention.

But now she appears to have faked her own death and continued writing under a different pseudonym, TN Steele.

7NEWS.com.au has reached out to Meachen for comment.

This week, a person claiming to be the author posted a message on Facebook.

“I’ve debated how to do this a million times and I’m still not sure if it’s right or not,” the post reads.

“There will be a lot of questions and a lot of people will leave the group I guess.

“But my family did what they felt was best for me and I can’t blame them.

“I almost died by my own hand again, and they had to go through all that hell all over again.

“I am in a good place now and I hope to be able to write again.

“Let the fun begin.”

Novelist Samantha A. Cole, who was a friend of Meachen’s online, expressed outrage at the sudden and bizarre turn of events.

“This is beyond psychotic, whether it was Susan herself or her daughter making those comments, knowingly misleading someone who is grieving,” Cole said in an emotional Facebook post.

Cole said the small and close-knit community of independent romance novelists mourned her death – and is now deeply shocked by Meachen’s reappearance.

“I’ve talked to others who were a lot closer to Susan than I was, and they were all surprised,” she said.

“They were just as shocked as everyone else when the post appeared in Susan’s group stating that she was basically alive and tired of being under her alias.

“I’m glad she’s alive because I don’t want to wish death on anyone.

“But I cannot condone what she did and I cannot forgive what she did.”

Cole shared an exchange with Meachen after she resurfaced online.

Meachen told her that she had “no control” over her family when she announced her death two years ago.

“I was in the hospital fighting for my life,” she said.

“But I understand what they did.”

It’s still not clear if the woman who posted about Meachen’s death was actually her daughter, and 7NEWS.com.au doesn’t indicate that was the case.

In a private Messenger exchange, Cole Meachen asked this exact question and received a rather vague answer.

“I have a daughter and a son,” Meachen wrote.

“I’m not worried about the book world letting me back in.

“I’ve never really been in it.”

In another message, Meachen said her books “haven’t sold at all” since her alleged death, but she’s been busy working with her psychiatrist “to get to a better place.”

The internet has exploded with the news that truth has literally gotten stranger than fiction.

“I love that in her comeback post she says ‘I’m in a much better place now’ like how long do you think that’s going to last?” one person wondered.

“She has implied that she came back because after her death, not as many people bought her books as she had hoped,” one person wrote.

“It’s a sting for the mourners,” wrote another person.

“That sounds like a book synopsis of its own,” noted another.

“Biggest plot twist of 2023.”

“This Susan Meachen thing is so incredibly disturbing and horrific,” wrote another Twitter user.

“What sane person fakes their own death for TWO YEARS and then randomly pops up on Facebook one day and just says, ‘Hey guys, I’m back!'”

If you need help in a crisis, call lifeline on 13 11 14. For more information about depression, contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or speak to your GP, your local healthcare professional or someone you trust.

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