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Read Insight's exclusive Personal Insights with Tara Moss
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Tara Moss’ credentials list is as long as it is diverse. She can count top fashion model, wife, soon-to-be mother and author of bestselling crime novels amongst her roles, however she does not consider cooking as one of her fortes - ‘the last time I cooked was in a past lifetime, I suspect. I love baking, but I do not cook. Thankfully my husband is an excellent chef and he rather likes the kitchen to himself.’ She is definitely not your quintessential girly girl: Tara rides a motorbike, has a pet python called Thing, and says she will do anything legal and non-fatal in the name of research for her books - including being choked unconscious, set on fire, been to morgues, watched autopsies, earned her PI credentials, her race car driver’s licence and more, she deems modelling as the strangest job she has ever had. The eccentric writer calls herself a little odd and has been penning Stephen King type stories for her classmates since she was 10. In fact, she says she always wanted to be Stephen King. With a new book The Blood Countess just being released and a baby on the way, this down-to-earth vivacious beauty took time out of her busy schedule to chat to Insight Magazine.
First of all, a big congratulations! How has the pregnancy been for you?
Preegnancy has been an incredible and emotional time so far. It is a remarkable experience to witness one’s own body creating and supporting new life. I have always hoped to start a family, and I just feel so happy that it is happening for us. My husband and I are both delighted.
You are also promoting your latest book The Blood Countess at the moment, so it is a very busy time for you! Can you tell us a little about this new book?
The Blood Countess is the first in a new paranormal fiction series I am writing. It is the first time I have strayed from my main crime heroine of the past twelve years, Mak Vanderall, and it is incredibly exciting to be developing new characters and drawing on my love of ancient mythology and all things gothic and macabre for these books. My new heroine Pandora English is a true outsider with some very unusual abilities, and she lives in an alternate New York where the supernatural and the everyday intersect. She is a wonderful, strong heroine with a lot of adventures ahead of her.
What attracted you to the crime novel genre?
I have loved the crime genre since I was a little girl, watching Perry Mason with my dad when I got home from school each day. And I have loved the gothic and supernatural since seeing the 1931 black and white classic Dracula on the small screen at home. It is the sense of excitement, and the suspense of crime and speculative fiction that I love the most. The high stakes of life and death make for compelling storytelling.
How far do you go in the name of research for your books?
Basically I will do anything legal and non-fatal to research my novels… and certainly a few things that push those boundaries as well. So far I have been choked unconscious, set on fire, been to morgues, been out with police and private investigators, earned my PI credentials, my race car drivers licence and more. I have seen autopsies, too, which are a bit gruesome but gives great insight into the fragility of life, and just how the body works. I value experience and authenticity.
Most of your reviews mention your career move from modelling to writing; have you ever felt the need to downplay your good looks to be taken seriously as a writer?
If I need to change my appearance to impress a literary critic, they are not worth impressing. I do not subscribe to clichéd ideas of what a writer should look like. I find that being myself is the only way to be, and I hope that never changes.
Who are your literary influences?
There are so many - Patricia Cornwell, Margaret Atwood, Roald Dahl, Charlaine Harris, Anais Nin, Oscar Wilde, Poe, Sartre… a million others. My first literary love was Stephen King. I began writing gruesome Stephen King style novelettes for my classmates at school when I was only ten.
What is your writing space like?
I’ve written this latest paranormal series on a battered, antique Victorian writing desk, in the corner of the haunted tearoom of our new home in the mountains. It is so full of character and atmosphere; it has put great energy into Pandora’s world.
Why did you make the move to Australia? What do you love about it here?
I came over on a modelling job 14 years ago, and stayed for the people and the lifestyle. Australia truly is a great country and a wonderful place to live. I became a citizen in 2002, so now you cannot get rid of me…
How do you balance living between several different cities?
I call country NSW home these days, but I also spend a lot of time in Sydney, in Vancouver, Los Angeles and in Europe. I see the world as a global village. Thankfully I enjoy travel. I always try to make the most of any trips I have to make for work. Because my novels are out in 17 countries, I am often on the road.
What do you think has made you successful?
I do not know if I am ‘successful’ by other people’s standards, but I am fulfilled in what I do. I believe that being passionate about what you do is the real meaning of success. I am very fortunate to do what I love for a living.
What would you like to achieve this year?
2011 will see me become a mother for the first time, which is very exciting for me. I cannot wait to meet our new ‘little person’. In addition to starting a family I will be putting out The Spider Goddess, the second book in the Pandora series, and writing my sixth Mak Vanderwall crime novel, Assassin. I will also be shooting a second series of Tough Nuts - Australia’s Hardest Criminals for CI Network and Tara Moss In Conversation for 13th Street. It will be an exciting and eventful year!
How do you push past any moments of doubt?
This too will pass - I try to remember that saying when I am upset or full of doubt. I have been through a lot of challenges and remembering that they can, and will be overcome always helps to get me through.
How do you balance your career and personal life?
I do what I love for a living, so I never feel that my career is a chore. Taking downtime is really important, as is spending time with my husband, our families, friends and our menagerie of pets (we have three dogs and a python). Love is so important.
With the stress of your public life, what keeps you grounded?
I find that real life has a way of grounding a person. And a writer’s life is anything but glamorous! Over the years I have found wonderful friends who are real, interesting and very grounded. Surround yourself with the ‘real’ and keeping grounded is never a problem, I find.
What issues do you feel are the most pressing in the world today?
Over-consumption and unsustainable growth is a major challenge for all of us. Our ability to live in some kind of non-destructive relationship with our environment is hugely important for our own health and the health of our planet. Moving to the mountains has brought both my husband and I into much closer proximity to nature, and made obvious the need to live in a more sustainable way. I think these are issues we all have a responsibility to think about.
How has your upbringing influenced your direction in life?
Losing my mother to cancer when I was a teenager was an incredibly painful experience, but it also taught me the value of living each day fully. My late mother really taught me the importance of living. I would not be who I am without her guidance, and without that loss.
Name two people who have inspired you on your journey.
My literary agent and friend Selwa Anthony and my Canadian former school teacher and now friend, Linda Johnstone, have both helped me and helped shape me. They are inspiring women. I count myself lucky to call them friends.
Tara Moss is the author of the bestselling crime novels ‘Fetish’, ‘Split’, ‘Covet’, ‘Hit’ and ‘Siren’. Her new book ‘The Blood Countess’ is available now from all good book stores and retails for $26.99. www.taramoss.com |
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