Who is Troy Meachen? Author Susan Meachen's husband faked her death to end her addiction to 'book world'
TENNESSEE, NASHVILLE: The story of Susan Meachen's staged death is nearing its conclusion. The mysterious Tennessee indie romance author, who was declared dead by family in 2021, had a plot twist involving her husband and children and is now opening up about what led her to the mystery.
In an interview with the New York Times on Monday, January 16, Susan admitted that she had just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, an illness that she blames for blurring the lines between her real-life personality and that of one of her fictional characters.
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"I think it’s a very dangerous mix-up, especially if you have a mental illness," The Tennessee-based author Susan told New York Times. "I would log on and get in, and at some point in the day my two worlds would collide, and it would be hard to differentiate between the 'book world' and the real world. It was like they would sandwich together."
Who is Troy Meachen?
Troy, Meachen's husband is a long-haul trucker who claimed that as the author battled for literary success, her mental health started to deteriorate. He stated that the online "book world" was an "addiction" that seriously endangered his wife's health. After one particularly close call, when their daughter discovered Meachen unresponsive after taking too much Xanax, the worried partner who was on the road at the time, asked his daughter to create a false Facebook status. "I told them that she is dead to the indie world, the internet because we had to stop her, period,” Troy stated. "She could not stop it on her own. And, even to this day, I'll take 100% of the blame, the accolades, whatever you want to call it."
The now-deleted fictitious death statement was published in September 2020. "Author Susan Meachen left this world behind Tuesday night for bigger and better things," says the statement — which many fans thought implied her suicide. "Please leave us alone we have no desire in this messed-up industry," as cited by New York Post. Meachen resurfaced on Facebook earlier this month and shockingly revealed she is still alive.
Meachen's psychiatrist confirmed to New York Times that the author is receiving medication for anxiety, depression, and psychosis in addition to being treated for bipolar disorder. "I’m sorry for their mourning, but from a legal standpoint, I did nothing wrong," claims the author. "Morally, I might have done something wrong. But legally, there’s nothing wrong." Police are looking into it, but no complaints have been made. Meachen claims to have given detectives access to her bank accounts to show she didn't profit from the fraud reported by Vigour Times.
