After it was announced on social media that romance author Susan Meachen had taken her own life two years ago, the literary community rallied to support her family. It turned out to be a massive lie.
Guys, I've put word out on social media but I want to also touch base officially here. Since the publication of Mrs. Meachen's 'satement', a number of people close to her have expressed doubt that the person running the twitter account was actually her, and apparently Mrs. Meachen has denied that she spoke to us on other social media platforms. We have retracted those parts of the article and put out an official statement on social media. Mrs. Meachen has made many questionable decisions throughout this whole saga, but it seems as though she very likely did NOT give those interview answers that further angered so many people. This is entirely my own error and should not in any way reflect on the site as a whole - we have a number of great writers here who do good work. This one's on me.
You say "a number of people close to her on social media" and I'm wondering if you are able to be a tad more specific about whether they are personal friends (she may still have some) or book world people (who are likely to deny knowing her).
Sorry we have kind of entered a mirror world where I feel as though I'm asking you to prove a negative, but have you asked who would have made those false statements?
'To those who donated I would again stress this wasn't demanded of them. I'm sorry they feel wronged but they chose to DONATE. It doesn't magically become a loan because they regret it now. And WHY do they? Because an Author told a Story? The only difference now vs before is I'm alive. They'd rather I be dead? Then they'd be happy about donating? That's what it seems like they're saying, they're cruelly wishing death on me.' This says everything you need to know about this person, doesn't it. People donated because they thought she'd committed suicide and came together as a community to help her family. Turns out, she didn't die. So, she'd obtained money by deception. So, of course, people want their money back. I would too. Of course they regret donating, because they were scammed. No one is wishing death on her, see how she turned that around to make it all about 'poor me'? She lied. She scammed people out of money. Only a complete moron wouldn't see why they want that money back now. And using her daughter and now throwing her under the bus? Odious human and clearly, odious parent, too.
IF her daughter actually exists. I still belive it was her all along. The indie community is more united with her "rebirth" than we were with her "death".
Correct! If you give a wedding gift and the marriage doesn’t happen most people assume the gifts are returned….In this case most donated for burial cost which there were none so return the money.
Yeah, nope. If the donation is motivated by a claim or cause under made false pretenses and fraud by the soliciting party (creating a gofundme IS solicitation/inducement) it's absolutely NOT a "donation" made from free will. You may want to consult US law on this. It's flat out clear: fraud is a tort/crime in civil and in most criminal courts. If it's a mistake, there's a defense for that. When people are "scammed" they have access to remedy through legal action. If you honestly believe, Miss Chastain, legal theory and the practice of law isn't real, good hell (gasps, incredulous). Grab your stuff and head back to camp, we got nothing for ya.
As someone who suffers from depression and lost a husband to suicide HER STUNT did so much damage. She shows NO REMORSE. No sorry. Nor awareness of the harm she's done. May her book fail as hard as her stunt.
This is clearly someone with little regard for anyone but herself. She watched people who loved her mourn her death, all the while she was what? Collecting research for a new book. That is psychotic behavior. Should probably check her yard for bodies.
Best thing everyone can do is boycott this woman's books. Don't give her a penny more. Don't give her another minute of your time. Let her slip back into obscurity
At the time she supposedly killed herself over bullying, our community was actively being wracked by a bully group run by someone who has a hard-on for the indie industry, especially female indie authors. We were all being attacked... some lost our FB accounts, some lost Amazon accounts. We were being reported multiple times a day from hundreds of puppet accounts of theirs.
They had a "bully" group that accepted anonymous bullying posts that targeted everything from authors, to events, to books, to even the author's families. Anything was allowed, and nothing was fact-checked. Susan knew this, because she was attacked there too, and was fighting with us against those people and that group, and trying to help with either getting it shut down, or to lessen their impact on all of us and our careers.
When she pretended to commit suicide, she could have given ANYTHING as a reason. But she specifically stated that it was bullying in our industry. Her family posted multiple posts about how they wanted nothing to do with us because of it afterward. (Was it even them, though, or was it Susan??? We'll never know. We can't trust her word, obviously.)
She knew exactly what button to push to set the tinder aflame. We were already a powder keg and she lit the fuse. She sat back and watched us ignite, watched the infighting, watched the people she had called friends turn on each other. Watched us fight amongst ourselves as we tried to figure out who amongst us had hurt her so badly. Watched friendships splinter, watched us break off into cliques as we fractured and kept our friends closer, made our circles smaller out of distrust because of what happened to her.
Two years later, things still aren't the same. We've all been hurt, used, misguided, and bullied. We've been shamed, ignored, belittled, and forgotten. We've struggled, cried, and mourned. Susan once held herself up as the one person who was there for everyone, no matter what your standing was in the community, no matter who you were. And then she betrayed us all.
I'm sorry. Susan played us all as bullies, then sat back and laughed while we imploded. She has no place in the indie community she tried to destroy. She is not, and will never be, one of us again. What she did is horrific and despicable. To know that she tormented us just to "live her truth" for a book idea? Fuck you, Susan. We despise you. You aren't welcome here, we don't wish you dead, but we don't want you lurking among like a wolf in bloodied sheep's wool, either. We aren't willing to wait for you to attack again.
It was so horrible. The attacks. The finger pointing and accusations. But she's never showed a single screenshot. Zero proof she was bullied. Just that we didn't "support" her as much as she felt she deserved.
What no one realizes is, in the end, Susan herself became the ultimate bully with the ultimate bullying behavior. The woman is pathologically psychotic.
That group is also famous for fake profiles and posts just for making screenshots. Are we even sure this wasn't them giving a statement and pretending to be her? I've already seen one screenshot floating around that people are saying may be fake
That makes no sense. The bully group at the time would have had no access to her social media profiles where her (fake) "daughter" was posting, UNLESS, Susan herself was part of the original bully group or was also bullying people at the time under the guise of that group. In other words, using what that group was doing as cover for her own, separate bullying of people. Face it, most people this pathologically damaged usually set up and then set in motion the instance(s) where they can then claim to be the victim to gain sympathy. In this case, her "victimhood" resulted in her fake suicide. But how do we know she didn't bully herself in order to lay the groundwork leading up to the fake suicide? We don't and never will, altho at this point that facts sure scream she is completely and totally capable of doing that. Cause and effect, if you will.
Her words, her truth is a crock! I have not commented up until now. Reading her words made me physically ill. She is a con-artist and a liar. She has no regard for the harm she caused. She is a Bully in the worst of bully-form. I am disgusted by her actions and lack of integrity. Do I wish her dead of course not. I sincerely hope she is ready for the karma that will find her. She has fallen victum to portraying herself as a fictional heroine. She is not.
The audacity of this woman. It is not fiction. It’s a lie. Pure and simple. People DONATED under false pretenses which she benefitted from. That is fraud. That she is so arrogant as to think anyone shouldn’t be upset is willfully obtuse. I don’t wish her dead. But I certainly won’t be buying any of her books.
On top of all the other reasons for being infuriated with this woman, the fact she played her death as a suicide angers me the most. My brother tried to kill himself twice. I have friends who have lost loved ones to suicide. It is gutting and traumatic in ways that cannot be appreciated until you endure it. And my brother lived, we're some of the fortunate ones. Every single fucking days thousands of people die by suicide and those who loved them are filled with grief, anguish, and guilt. Yet now this woman not only is proud of what she did, but is trying to justify it as a good thing. I hope this costs her EVERYTHING and when she really dies one day it's alone and forgotten.
Doesn't this open her up to both civil and criminal liability for fraud? Hell, with the donations and all the social media documentation, there's a minefield of civil suits potentially for her and any member of her family that participated in the faked death.
Sounds a bit callous to ask, but why didn't anyone try to contact a local official for where she lived to confirm her death?
At the time of her death, someone in the bully group approached her 'daughter' and demanded proof that Susan was dead. At the time we thought that was so crass. Looking back, maybe we should have let them demand it. Sigh...
Guys, I've put word out on social media but I want to also touch base officially here. Since the publication of Mrs. Meachen's 'satement', a number of people close to her have expressed doubt that the person running the twitter account was actually her, and apparently Mrs. Meachen has denied that she spoke to us on other social media platforms. We have retracted those parts of the article and put out an official statement on social media. Mrs. Meachen has made many questionable decisions throughout this whole saga, but it seems as though she very likely did NOT give those interview answers that further angered so many people. This is entirely my own error and should not in any way reflect on the site as a whole - we have a number of great writers here who do good work. This one's on me.
I just saw Chelsea Cameron's post, which is very helpful to show what happened here.
https://twitter.com/chel_c_cam/status/1612191239792910336?
Really?
You say "a number of people close to her on social media" and I'm wondering if you are able to be a tad more specific about whether they are personal friends (she may still have some) or book world people (who are likely to deny knowing her).
Sorry we have kind of entered a mirror world where I feel as though I'm asking you to prove a negative, but have you asked who would have made those false statements?
There is no "my truth." There is only THE truth.
I'll be curious to see how this plays out, thanks for bringing this to our attention!
'To those who donated I would again stress this wasn't demanded of them. I'm sorry they feel wronged but they chose to DONATE. It doesn't magically become a loan because they regret it now. And WHY do they? Because an Author told a Story? The only difference now vs before is I'm alive. They'd rather I be dead? Then they'd be happy about donating? That's what it seems like they're saying, they're cruelly wishing death on me.' This says everything you need to know about this person, doesn't it. People donated because they thought she'd committed suicide and came together as a community to help her family. Turns out, she didn't die. So, she'd obtained money by deception. So, of course, people want their money back. I would too. Of course they regret donating, because they were scammed. No one is wishing death on her, see how she turned that around to make it all about 'poor me'? She lied. She scammed people out of money. Only a complete moron wouldn't see why they want that money back now. And using her daughter and now throwing her under the bus? Odious human and clearly, odious parent, too.
IF her daughter actually exists. I still belive it was her all along. The indie community is more united with her "rebirth" than we were with her "death".
Correct! If you give a wedding gift and the marriage doesn’t happen most people assume the gifts are returned….In this case most donated for burial cost which there were none so return the money.
Manipulation at its finest.
Yeah, nope. If the donation is motivated by a claim or cause under made false pretenses and fraud by the soliciting party (creating a gofundme IS solicitation/inducement) it's absolutely NOT a "donation" made from free will. You may want to consult US law on this. It's flat out clear: fraud is a tort/crime in civil and in most criminal courts. If it's a mistake, there's a defense for that. When people are "scammed" they have access to remedy through legal action. If you honestly believe, Miss Chastain, legal theory and the practice of law isn't real, good hell (gasps, incredulous). Grab your stuff and head back to camp, we got nothing for ya.
As someone who suffers from depression and lost a husband to suicide HER STUNT did so much damage. She shows NO REMORSE. No sorry. Nor awareness of the harm she's done. May her book fail as hard as her stunt.
This is clearly someone with little regard for anyone but herself. She watched people who loved her mourn her death, all the while she was what? Collecting research for a new book. That is psychotic behavior. Should probably check her yard for bodies.
Best thing everyone can do is boycott this woman's books. Don't give her a penny more. Don't give her another minute of your time. Let her slip back into obscurity
Gobsmacked at the sheer, willful, self-centeredness of this woman.
She had a metaphorical death yet gladly received and spent non-metaphorical money.
A moral person would have given it to an organization to help those in a crisis similar to hers.
At the time she supposedly killed herself over bullying, our community was actively being wracked by a bully group run by someone who has a hard-on for the indie industry, especially female indie authors. We were all being attacked... some lost our FB accounts, some lost Amazon accounts. We were being reported multiple times a day from hundreds of puppet accounts of theirs.
They had a "bully" group that accepted anonymous bullying posts that targeted everything from authors, to events, to books, to even the author's families. Anything was allowed, and nothing was fact-checked. Susan knew this, because she was attacked there too, and was fighting with us against those people and that group, and trying to help with either getting it shut down, or to lessen their impact on all of us and our careers.
When she pretended to commit suicide, she could have given ANYTHING as a reason. But she specifically stated that it was bullying in our industry. Her family posted multiple posts about how they wanted nothing to do with us because of it afterward. (Was it even them, though, or was it Susan??? We'll never know. We can't trust her word, obviously.)
She knew exactly what button to push to set the tinder aflame. We were already a powder keg and she lit the fuse. She sat back and watched us ignite, watched the infighting, watched the people she had called friends turn on each other. Watched us fight amongst ourselves as we tried to figure out who amongst us had hurt her so badly. Watched friendships splinter, watched us break off into cliques as we fractured and kept our friends closer, made our circles smaller out of distrust because of what happened to her.
Two years later, things still aren't the same. We've all been hurt, used, misguided, and bullied. We've been shamed, ignored, belittled, and forgotten. We've struggled, cried, and mourned. Susan once held herself up as the one person who was there for everyone, no matter what your standing was in the community, no matter who you were. And then she betrayed us all.
I'm sorry. Susan played us all as bullies, then sat back and laughed while we imploded. She has no place in the indie community she tried to destroy. She is not, and will never be, one of us again. What she did is horrific and despicable. To know that she tormented us just to "live her truth" for a book idea? Fuck you, Susan. We despise you. You aren't welcome here, we don't wish you dead, but we don't want you lurking among like a wolf in bloodied sheep's wool, either. We aren't willing to wait for you to attack again.
It was so horrible. The attacks. The finger pointing and accusations. But she's never showed a single screenshot. Zero proof she was bullied. Just that we didn't "support" her as much as she felt she deserved.
Have her SHOW proof.
She can't.
What no one realizes is, in the end, Susan herself became the ultimate bully with the ultimate bullying behavior. The woman is pathologically psychotic.
That group is also famous for fake profiles and posts just for making screenshots. Are we even sure this wasn't them giving a statement and pretending to be her? I've already seen one screenshot floating around that people are saying may be fake
That makes no sense. The bully group at the time would have had no access to her social media profiles where her (fake) "daughter" was posting, UNLESS, Susan herself was part of the original bully group or was also bullying people at the time under the guise of that group. In other words, using what that group was doing as cover for her own, separate bullying of people. Face it, most people this pathologically damaged usually set up and then set in motion the instance(s) where they can then claim to be the victim to gain sympathy. In this case, her "victimhood" resulted in her fake suicide. But how do we know she didn't bully herself in order to lay the groundwork leading up to the fake suicide? We don't and never will, altho at this point that facts sure scream she is completely and totally capable of doing that. Cause and effect, if you will.
"I'm not aware of a "charity auction" and didn't ask for any such thing."
Umm, you didn't ask for any such thing BECAUSE YOU WERE DEAD.
Her words, her truth is a crock! I have not commented up until now. Reading her words made me physically ill. She is a con-artist and a liar. She has no regard for the harm she caused. She is a Bully in the worst of bully-form. I am disgusted by her actions and lack of integrity. Do I wish her dead of course not. I sincerely hope she is ready for the karma that will find her. She has fallen victum to portraying herself as a fictional heroine. She is not.
The audacity of this woman. It is not fiction. It’s a lie. Pure and simple. People DONATED under false pretenses which she benefitted from. That is fraud. That she is so arrogant as to think anyone shouldn’t be upset is willfully obtuse. I don’t wish her dead. But I certainly won’t be buying any of her books.
On top of all the other reasons for being infuriated with this woman, the fact she played her death as a suicide angers me the most. My brother tried to kill himself twice. I have friends who have lost loved ones to suicide. It is gutting and traumatic in ways that cannot be appreciated until you endure it. And my brother lived, we're some of the fortunate ones. Every single fucking days thousands of people die by suicide and those who loved them are filled with grief, anguish, and guilt. Yet now this woman not only is proud of what she did, but is trying to justify it as a good thing. I hope this costs her EVERYTHING and when she really dies one day it's alone and forgotten.
Wow a true narcissist. A typical nut job who believes her own lies.
Doesn't this open her up to both civil and criminal liability for fraud? Hell, with the donations and all the social media documentation, there's a minefield of civil suits potentially for her and any member of her family that participated in the faked death.
Sounds a bit callous to ask, but why didn't anyone try to contact a local official for where she lived to confirm her death?
At the time of her death, someone in the bully group approached her 'daughter' and demanded proof that Susan was dead. At the time we thought that was so crass. Looking back, maybe we should have let them demand it. Sigh...
"a number of people close to her on social media"
Who still even talks to this person?
Well it's not an isolated event. Here's a Catalan news article about a musician who did similarly
https://www.ara.cat/societat/fingir-suicidi-promocionar-mala-idea-d-music-mallorqui_1_4591221.html
This contagion by social media. Something with it is provoking people to self destruct.
xavier