Terri Anne Browning - Texted Lies, Whispered Truths: Jason Colliers Story

This is not a work of fiction.

It is Jason Colliers narrative in his own words, written by Terri Anne Browning and Lonnie Doris. All information detailed in this book came directly from Jason Collier himself. Most of it was already presented on social media by others involved, while Jason remained quiet.

Now, you will hear his side of the story.

From the very beginning.

This story is true.

Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of others involved.

The next time your man says he doesnt have time for you, remind him Jason Collier has time for a wife, four kids, two fiances, being police chief, a ministry, a Pinterest page, two coffeepots, and seventeen girlfriends.

The moment I read that post on Facebook, I spat the drink of water I had just taken out of my mouth, my bed now soaked and my husband looking at me like Id lost my mind at my seemingly unprovoked reaction. I wasnt normally so overdramatic

Okay, thats a lie. I am an author after all. There must be a law somewhere that says all authors must be overly dramatic in at least one aspect of their lives. My husband is an understanding man, and he puts up with my eccentricities. But I was taking a break after writing my newest book, Her Shelter, so he wasnt prepared for my sudden sputter that sprayed him and our freshly changed sheets with bottled water.

It was January 27, 2021, and I was decompressing in bed after a full day of homeschooling three kids, dealing with a disabled dog, and basically trying to survive the continued self-enforced quarantinebecause, hey, its a fucking pandemic and I have a heart condition. My typical end of the day routine included scrolling through social media, more often than not, hoping to find a new book that may have recently released and which might hold my attention for more than 3.2 seconds.

That was when the post caught my attention. Id seen a few people talking about some police chief and his many mistresses earlier in the day, but Id kept scrolling because I honestly didnt know if they were talking about real-life people or some movie/sitcom that I was too busy and didnt have the attention span to focus on. Alas, it was very much reality, as I was soon to find out.

One of Lonnies and my mutual friends shared a post, and it was the next thing I saw in my feed. Beyond curiousand noting the 500-plus comments on the picture that had been sharedI quickly fell down the Jason Collier rabbit hole, one that would keep me fascinated for the next two hours before I even lifted my head from my phone. During that time, I was sure my entire house could have caught fire, my children could have invented a cure for COVID while my Frenchies suddenly took up juggling, and I wouldnt have noticed or heard any of it.

As soon as I came up for air, I shared the same picture-post that was not just a rabbit hole but, in fact, a blazing dumpster fire. It had been roughly twenty-four hours since the post had first gone live, and already, it was reaching people worldwide. If I was going to be sucked into the whole Jason/Candie/Stephanie/Mr. Coffee drama, then those on my friends list were coming with me. (Not their real names. I have a little respect for peoplesometimes. So, theyve been renamed in an attempt to protect their privacy.) But hey, if youre reading this, you already know who they really are.

BECAUSE THEY TOLD YOU WHO THEY ARE!

To begin with, I was engrossed by the story. Woman catches boyfriend cheating through a mutual friend with his other girlfriendfiance? mistress?and he has a wife? Or so she was telling everyone. Now others were coming forward, and it was looking more and more like a Lifetime Sunday Movie Special. I was already mapping out an entire series focused on the events, in which the group of women come together, become lifelong besties, learn to love themselves for who they really are, and then find true love. With separate men, mind you. They werent going to do some weird sister-wives thing. I meanI had to have more than one book in this series Lonnie and I were already plotting

But then, in the background, we both noticed the stories werent matching up. The red flags had my stomach turning, because it was all clicking in my head. Someone was sucking up all the attention, keeping herself in the spotlight, and seemingly not giving a damn that the more she egged on the drama, the more she was hurting those who were blameless in this entire fiasco. Jasons children were being dragged into the mess, and I began to pull away from the drama.

What had become, to me, a few hours of reading entertainment was actually the crash and burn of someones life. Admittedly, I wasnt all that worried about how Jason Collier was holding up. As an outsider looking in, I couldnt find any sympathy for the man, when he had brought all of this upon himself.

His children? They were the innocents, the ones who hadnt asked for any of this drama to overtake and upend their lives, but that was exactly what was happening. And as I continued to watchalbeit from more of a distance at this pointI saw the damage someone seemed to enjoy inflicting as they destroyed these childrens lives with each post and interview she participated in.

Lonnie, who was still trapped within the flames of the dumpster fire we had both fallen into, reached out to Jason, and it was then that I reminded myself there are always three sides to every story.

His.

Hers.

And somewhere, mixed into all of the bullshit from either side, the truth.

Lonnie convinced me that we needed to give Jason a voice, and after some internal struggling, I agreed. Not because of him, but because of the injustice, the pain and humiliation others were inflictingapparently without remorseon those who were the true innocents and victims in this train wreck.

We knew that someone would tell Jasons story. Whether it was us or some tabloid or even a more reputable magazine. There was no stopping that train, I dont care what anyone says. But at least this way, we knew what would be printed, and we could ensure the children would be taken care of with the majority of any proceeds.

This is Jasons truth. In his own words. Lonnie and I have worked together to present to you a variation of the story you were so wrapped up in. Because, admit it. You fell down that rabbit hole right along with us back in January. Its why youre reading this now.