Tara Rae Moss defies convention and expectation. She is the bestselling author of 14 books of fiction and non-fiction, an experienced keynote speaker and documentary host, an award-winning advocate, holistic healer, funeral celebrant and practicing Seiðkona.
Since 1999 she has written 14 bestselling books under the name Tara Moss, published in 19 countries and 13 languages, including advocacy handbook for women and girls Speaking Out, her #1 non-fiction bestselling memoir The Fictional Woman, and the internationally bestselling postwar historical crime novels The War Widow and The Ghosts of Paris featuring PI Billie Walker and her disabled war vet assistant Samuel Baker. Her latest short stories are The Husband Machine, published in Black Is The Night, a tribute to noir master Cornell Woolrich, and The Immortality Project, a ‘poignant work of speculative fiction’ published in Meanjin Quarterly, and her recent writing appears in Ms Magazine, CrimeReads and The Age. An experienced documentary host and interviewer with a passion for research and human stories, Moss hosted the true crime documentary series Tough Nuts – Australia’s Hardest Criminals for two seasons on the Crime & Investigation Network and Amazon Prime, Tara Moss Investigates on the National Geographic Channel and the author interview show Tara in Conversation on 13th Street Universal. She was also the host, co-executive producer and co-writer of Cyberhate with Tara Moss on Australia’s ABC, examining the phenomenon of online abuse, and host of the true crime podcast, The Man in The Balaclava, for Audible.
Tara Rae is an outspoken advocate for human rights and the rights of women and children, and this focus informs all of her work. She has been a UNICEF Australia Goodwill Ambassador since 2007 and 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 alleged murder of Reza Barati inside the Australian-run Manus Island Immigration Detention Centre. In 2018 she was named one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life, along with Angelina Jolie, His Holiness The Dalai Lama and more.
Against all odds, Tara Rae is now in remission for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) – a rare disease she lived with for nearly eight years, marked by constant burning pain that rates on the McGill Pain Scale as more painful than childbirth or amputation of a digit. Despite being told by multiple doctors that she would never recover, she was able to get her condition into complete remission in 2023 after years of debilitating pain that impacted all aspects of her being, including her mobility, causing her to require a wheelchair. She brings a strong message of hope, and advocates for the need to improve treatment and support, and integrate multidisciplinary care and complementary therapies to treat the whole person in line with a person-centred model of care.
Tara Rae Moss – or Rae, as she is also known – is a proud single mother and a dual Canadian/Australian citizen, and divides her time between Sydney Australia, the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and her hometown of Victoria, BC, the unceded territory of the Lkwungen speaking people, and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEC First Nations, where she is a recipient of both the Order of Lambrick Park, and the Honorary Citizen Award, the highest formal honour awarded by the City of Victoria. She works as an author, keynote speaker, Rune teacher and holistic healer, (Norse) Shamanic Practitioner and Seiðkona supporting her local community, engaging with her spiritual heritage and providing the types of holistic therapies that were part of her healing journey.
