Tara Rae Moss (born 2 October 1973) is a Canadian-Australian author, documentary maker and presenter, journalist, former model and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

national ambassador for child survival.

Biography

Moss was born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, where she also attended school. Moss's mother Janni died of

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

in 1990 at age 43. Moss began modelling at age 14, but did not stay long in the profession. At age 21, as detailed in her 2014 memoir ''The Fictional Woman'', she was raped in Vancouver by a known assailant, a Canadian actor. After marriages to the Canadian Martin Legge and to the Australian actor Mark Pennell,"Tara Moss gathers husband No.3"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 8 December 2009 she married Australian poet and philosopher Dr. Berndt Sellheim. Moss gave birth to a daughter, Sapphira, on 22 February 2011. Moss is a

Ambassador for Child Survival,UNICEF Australia national ambassadors
/ref> and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007. Since 2000 she has been an ambassador for the

Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. Moss has private investigator credentials (Cert III) from the Australian Security Academy and is undertaking a Doctorate of Social Sciences in the Department of Gender and Cultural studies at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Writing and career

Moss's books are published in 18 countries in 13 languages and include the internationally best-selling and critically acclaimed series of six crime novels featuring a feminist heroine, Makedde "Mak" Vanderwall: ''Fetish'', ''Split'', ''Covet'', ''Hit'', ''Siren'' and ''Assassin''. Her first non-fiction book, ''The Fictional Woman'' was published in June 2014, became a #1 bestselling non-fiction book, and is listed by ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' as a "must-read". The book has received critical acclaim, with Dr Clare Wright writing, 'Moss is a serious thinker.' Her writing has appeared in ''

Ms Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Patricia Car ...

'', '' Crime Reads'', the ''

Australian Literary Review The ''Australian Literary Review'' (ALR) was a monthly supplement to ''The Australian'' newspaper established in September 2006 and published on the first Wednesday of each month. The headquarters was in Surry Hills, New South Wales. It was cons ...

'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''

The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Publishing. It is the Sunday counterpart of ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In the 6 months to September 2005, ''The Sun-Herald' ...

'', ''

'', ''TheHoopla'' and more. Moss is an advocate for the rights of women and children. She has been an ambassador for the

since 2000 and has hosted their annual charity flight for over a decade. She has also been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007 and as of 2013 has taken on a larger role as UNICEF’s National Ambassador for Child Survival. She is known for her novel research, which has included touring the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

, shooting firearms, being set on fire, being choked unconscious by

Ultimate Fighter ''Ultimate Fighter'' - known in Japan as , is a 1992 fighting video game developed and published by Culture Brain for the Super NES. An updated version of it titled

'Big' John McCarthy John Michael McCarthy (born October 12, 1962) is an American commentator for Bellator MMA, former mixed martial arts referee, best known for officiating numerous bouts promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), dating back to UFC 1. H ...

, flying with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, spending time in morgues and courtrooms and obtaining a licence as a private investigator. She has also been a race car driver ( CAMS), and holds a motorcycle licence and wildlife/snake-handling licence. In 2014 she was recognised for Outstanding Advocacy for her blog Manus Island: An insider’s report, which helped to break information to the public about the events surrounding the alleged murder of Reza Barati inside the Australian-run Manus Island Immigration Detention Centre. Moss hosts and acted as executive producer and writer of ''Cyberhate with Tara Moss'' on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 2017, hosted two seasons of the true crime television series ''Tough Nuts – Australia's Hardest Criminals'' on the

Crime & Investigation Network Crime & Investigation (stylized as Crime + Investigation) is an American pay television channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Hearst Communications and the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. The cha ...

, and ''Tara Moss in Conversation'' on the 13th Street channel. She also previously hosted the crime documentary series ''Tara Moss Investigates'' on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

. * ''Cyberhate with Tara Moss'' – Host, Executive Producer, Writer (2017), * ''Tough Nuts'' – Host (2009–2012) * ''Tara in Conversation'' – Host (2010–2012) * ''Tara Moss Investigates'' – Host (2006) She voiced the character of Dr. Samantha Twelvetrees in the 1995 video game '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu''. In May 2021, Moss gave an autobiographical interview and had her portrait painted on '' Anh's Brush with Fame'' (Series 6 Episode 6) on the ABC.

Books

Novels

Makedde Vanderwall series *''Fetish'' (1999) *''Split'' (2002) *''Covet'' (2004) *''Hit'' (2006) *''Siren'' (2009) *''Assassin'' (2012) Pandora English series * ''The Blood Countess'' (2010) * ''The Spider Goddess'' (2011) * ''The Skeleton Key'' (2012) *''The Cobra Queen'' (2020) Billie Walker series * ''The War Widow'' (shortlisted for the 2020 Danger Prize) * ''The Ghosts of Paris'' (2022)

Non-fiction

*''The Fictional Woman'' (2014) *''Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook For Women and Girls'' (2016)

Short stories

* "Psycho Magnet" (Winner of the Scarlet Stiletto Young Writers' Award in 1998) * "Know your ABCs" (Second place winner of the Scarlet Stiletto Award in 1999) * "Intuition" (2003)

Contributed chapter

* "Women destroy the joint", pp. 57–62, in: ''Destroying the joint'', edited by

Jane Caro Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a feminist social commentator, writer and lecturer based in Australia. Early life and education Caro was born in London in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 1963. ...

, Read How You Want (2015, ).

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Tara Australian crime writers Australian mystery writers Australian female models Australian memoirists Models from Sydney Australian feminist writers Australian people of Dutch descent Canadian crime fiction writers Canadian mystery writers Canadian emigrants to Australia Canadian people of Dutch descent Naturalised citizens of Australia Writers from Victoria, British Columbia 1973 births Living people Scarlet Stiletto award winners Women mystery writers