Tara Moss has recalled how she was forced to take a lie detector test to prove she was the writer of her hit novels.
The Canadian-Australian author and model, 50, appeared on the Life Uncut podcast and explained that when her first book was published, people refused to believe she had written it given her career in modeling, stereotyping her already. other models as less intelligent.
“I ended up challenging myself to take a polygraph test to prove that I write my own books,” he told hosts Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley.
“So when my first book came out in 1999, there was a little bit of a rumor campaign saying, ‘She couldn’t have written her own book because she’s this model.’
‘She was in her twenties, she was blonde, she was a model. There were a lot of stereotypes around all of those groups. Put them together, not a novelist, right?
Tara Moss (pictured) recalled how she was forced to take a lie detector test to prove she was the writer of her novels. The author and model, 50, explained that when her first book was published, people refused to believe she had written it given her career as a model.
Tara recalled taking the test and “ended up with a 33-page report” proving she was a writer.
Her first novel, Fetish, was first published in 1999 and became a bestseller.
The model found the test and people’s disbelief “strange.”
“I had wanted to write my whole life. He had finally done it. It was hard… I was proud of myself,” she continued.
‘[It] “It should have been a really beautiful moment of celebration and instead I felt persecuted, attacked and disbelieved, to a certain extent.”
In the end, Tara admitted that the polygraph test was a blessing in disguise that proved the doubters wrong.
“They challenged me to take a polygraph test to prove that I write my own books,” he explained on the Life Uncut podcast.
‘That polygraph test was a gift and helped break the cycle. “We need to really look at the stereotypes that exist here and question our assumptions,” he said.
Polygraph tests measure the fear-based arousal someone will show when answering crucial questions.
These physiological markers include things like sweating.
The idea that these markers will change when lying is based on the premise that anxiety around deception increases due to the liar’s fear of being discovered.
Tara has published 16 books in total, two non-fiction and 14 fiction.
She is also a disability advocate, suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and recently shared an incredible moment of walking again after suffering from this chronic pain condition.
In 2023, she dropped a civil suit against a doctor after previously arguing that she was left to suffer years of “agonizing pain, loss of work, and left using a cane.” The Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time.
Tara’s attorneys alleged this is because Blue Mountains doctor Chris Coghill failed to properly diagnose a right labral tear in her hip in 2016.
Coghill has rejected the claim.
“The defendant says that if the plaintiff suffered any harm as alleged, which is denied, it was caused or contributed to (her) own negligence,” the defense stated.
“The defendant says that if the plaintiff suffered any harm as alleged, which is denied, it was caused or contributed to (her) own negligence,” the defense stated.
Moss submitted a substantial ‘evident statement’ to support his case, including around 80 pages of social media content.
The lawsuit was stayed before the former model’s claims could be heard at a NSW Supreme Court hearing scheduled for June.
Moss declined to comment on the quiet end to his lawsuit.
Tara has been open about her struggle with pain in recent years and documented her use of a cane and wheelchair on Instagram.
In 2021, the model gave a revealing interview in which she revealed that feeling constant pain has changed the way her brain works.
Tara has published 16 books in total, two non-fiction and 14 fiction. She is also a disability advocate and suffers from complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
He recently shared an incredible moment managing to walk again after suffering from the chronic pain condition.
The raven-haired beauty told Body and Soul magazine: “I’ve learned that chronic pain is actually neuroplasticity (brain changes) gone wrong.”
“Now I want to use the brain’s adaptability to work in my favor and retrain it to not be so loud about my pain.”
In another part of the interview, the author criticized the lack of accessible spaces for people with disabilities.
Tara began modeling at age 14, before turning to writing.
She is now a bestselling author who has published 13 books in 18 countries and 13 languages around the world, and is considered one of Australia’s best crime novelists.
The former model lives in the Blue Mountains with her husband, Australian poet Berndt Sellheim, and their 12-year-old daughter Sapphira.