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The former book editor of romance author Susan Meachen, who faked her own death for two years, said she saw red flags the writer was still alive, and says the writer has been posting on TikTok and Facebook with the pseudonym TN Steele all along.
Meachen had been believed to have been dead since September 2020, when someone claiming to be her daughter posted on her Facebook account that she had committed suicide.
However, on January 2 of this year, Meachen’s story made headlines when that same Facebook account posted to a private fan group, claiming that Meachen’s family had faked her death while she was having a mental health crisis. mental health and revealing that he had continued to publish under the pseudonym. T.N. Steele.
Meachen’s former editor, author Kasey Hill, has now revealed that she had suspicions about his “suicide”, saying the first red flag was the announcement that Meachen was leaving the “world of books”.
“We spoke the day before she died, she told me that she was getting engaged to [to a mental health institution] the next day,’ Hill told DailyMail.com.
He also noticed that Meachen’s Facebook account promoted his books with a familiar style of writing and spelling. Hill said: “It all looked exactly like how Susan texted me and how Susan wrote her books.”
Romance novelist Susan Meachen faked her death in September 2020, revealing to the world that she was alive last week.
When Hill found out it was a hoax, he told DailyMail.com that he “crashed” and then approached Meacham to find out what the truth really was. ‘I felt violated, betrayed… all the emotions you can imagine’
‘Finding Faith’ (pictured) was Meachen’s last release before his supposed death
Another telltale sign was the way he spelled the word ‘alleged’, which Hill said he often misspelled. He also noticed that when he searched for information online about Meachen’s death, nothing came up.
And when news broke that Meachen was alive, Hill said the author had been posting on TikTok “all along.” told the US Sun.
She told DailyMail.com that she also created a pseudonymous Facebook account in October 2020, less than a month after his alleged death, called TN Steele and friends on it.
“No one knew it was her, but she admitted to me that TN Steele was her,” he said. ‘She deleted it once she got out alive.’
An initial search for Meachen on the social media platform returned no results.
Hill told DailyMail.com the pair became friends over the past year after Meachen bought her book, Surviving Sarah, about a girl bullied into suicide.
He said that he had been helping with the editing of three of his books: ‘His Wicked Way’, ‘Losing Him’ and ‘Finding Faith’.
She said the couple became close and talked often about their personal struggles with depression. When she learned that Meachen took her own life on September 8, 2020, she revealed that she was wracked with guilt and was grieving the loss of her.
“I had surgery that month and was in and out of the ER, so I couldn’t invest in his mental health and I felt like I had failed him,” Hill said.
When news of her death hit the headlines two days later, it rocked fans of the romantic world, and money was raised to help finance her funeral.
Meachen made a shocking return to social media on January 2 telling her fans she was alive and seemed to suggest her family was to blame for the announcement of her death two years earlier.
“I’ve debated how to do this a million times and I’m still not sure if it’s correct or not,” the post said.
‘My family did what they thought was best for me and I can’t blame them for it.
‘I’m in a good place now and I look forward to writing again. Let the party begin.’
When Hill found out it was a hoax, he said he “crashed” before contacting Meacham to find out what the truth really was.
Meachen has independently published 10 romance novels, including titles like Losing Him & Finding You and Chance Encounters.
‘I felt violated, betrayed… all the emotions you can imagine.’
Hill said the news hit her particularly hard as she herself suffers from seasonal depression and bipolar disorder along with a host of other mental health issues.
Hill said Meachen denied allegations that he faked his own death and showed no remorse for his actions.
She only said what was true and what was not. She was not apologetic at all. Her responses were very narcissistic.’
Hill said they haven’t spoken since, nor do they plan to.
She said their working relationship revolved around editing some of her books, but their friendship was more intimate.
‘We both suffer from bipolar affective disorder. When she was manic, I would talk to her,” he said.
“She used to ask me how I got over it and I even told her I pray even though I’m not religious.”
Meachen would go manic when writing because so many of her characters were dying while in love and it triggered her memories of the past.
Hill said Meachen revealed to him that she once shot herself and was hospitalized during a suicide attempt.
He also shared that weeks before Meachen faked his death, he had entered a 72-hour lockdown. Part of the reason, Hill said, was due to the wrong medication he was taking.