The former book editor of romance novelist Susan Meachen, who faked her own death for two years, said she saw signs the author was still alive.
Kasey Hill, who edited Meachen, also claims the author has been posting on TikTok and Facebook under the alias TN Steele all along.
Meachen has been presumed dead since September 2020, when someone claiming to be her daughter posted from her Facebook account that she had died of suicide.
However, on January 2 of this year, the same Facebook account claimed in a private fan group that Meachen’s family faked her death while she was going through a mental crisis, revealing that she had continued to publish under the pseudonym TN Steele.
Hill has now revealed she had suspicions about her alleged “suicide” and said the first red flag was the announcement Meachen was leaving the “book world”.
“We spoke the day before her death, to which she told me she committed herself [ a mental health institution] the next day,” Hill told .
She also noted that Meachen’s Facebook account promoted her books in a familiar style of writing and spelling. Hill said, “Everything looked just like how Susan messaged me and how Susan wrote her books.”
Novelist Susan Meachen faked her death in September 2020 and revealed to the world that she was alive last week
When Hill learned it was a hoax, she told that she “crashed” and then turned to Meacham to find out what the truth really was. “I felt hurt, betrayed…every emotion you can imagine”
Another telltale sign was the way she spelled the word “allegedly,” which Hill said she often misspelled. She also noted that when she went online to find information about Meachen’s death, nothing was showing.
And when the news broke that Meachen was actually alive, Hill said the author was posting on TikTok “all the time,” she told the US Sun.
She told that she also created a pseudonymous account on Facebook called TN Steele in October 2020 – less than a month after her alleged death – and befriended people on it.
“No one knew it was her, but she admitted to me that TN Steele was actually her,” she said. “She erased it when she got out alive.”
A first search for Meachen on the social media platform was unsuccessful.
Hill told the couple became friends last year after Meachen bought her book, Surviving Sarah, about a girl who was driven to suicide.
She said she helped edit three of her books – His Wicked Way, Losing Him and Finding Faith.
She said the couple became close and often spoke about their personal struggles with depression. Upon learning that Meachen had taken his own life on September 8, 2020, she said she was wracked with guilt and mourning the loss.
“I had surgery this month and was in and out of the ER, so I couldn’t invest in her mental health and I felt like I let her down,” Hill said.
When news of her death made headlines two days later, fans of the romance world were shaken, and money was raised to pay for her funeral.
Meachen shockingly returned to social media on January 2, telling her fans she was alive and appearing to suggest that her family was responsible for announcing her death two years ago.
“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.
“My family did what they felt was best for me and I can’t blame them.
“I am in a good place now and I hope to be able to write again. Let the fun begin.’
Upon learning it was a hoax, Hill said she “caught” before reaching out to Meacham to find out what the truth really was.
The former book editor of romance novelist Susan Meachen, who faked her own death for two years, says she’s seen red flags that the author is still alive – and claims the author covered the whole thing on TikTok and on Facebook under the alias TN Steele posted time
Meachen created a Facebook under the pseudonym TN Steele (pictured)
Meachen has published 10 romance novels, including titles such as Losing Him & Finding You and Chance Encounters.
Finding Faith (pictured) was Meachen’s last release before her supposed death
“I felt hurt, betrayed…every emotion you can imagine.”
Hill said the news hit her particularly hard as she suffers from seasonal depression and bipolar disorder herself, along with a host of other mental health issues.
She said Meachen has denied allegations that she faked her own death – and has shown no remorse for her actions.
“She just said what is true and what isn’t. She didn’t apologize at all. Her answers were very narcissistic.’
Hill said they haven’t spoken to each other since, and she doesn’t plan to either.
She said their working relationship revolved around editing some of their books, but their friendship was more intimate.
“We both suffer from bipolar affective disorder. If she was manic, I talked to her,” she said.
“She always asked me how I got through it and I even told her that I prayed even though I’m not religious.”
Meachen became manic when writing because many of her characters died in love and this triggered her past memories. Hill said Meachen revealed to her that she once shot herself and was hospitalized during a suicide attempt.
Weeks before Meachen faked her death, she was suspended for 72 hours, Hill said. Meachen also told Hill she overdosed and was in the hospital the same day she faked her death.