Candace Bushnell

Candace Bushnell
Bushnell at the Miami Book Fair International, 2005
Born	(1958-12-01) December 1, 1958 Glastonbury, Connecticut
Occupation	Novelist
Spouse(s)	Charles Askegard (d.)
candacebushnell.com

Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author and columnist based in New York City. Raised in Connecticut, she wrote a column for the New York Observer from 1994 to 1996, which was adapted into the bestselling Sex and the City anthology. The book was the basis for the HBO hit series Sex and the City (1998–2004) and two subsequent movies. She followed the bestselling work with the novels 4 Blondes (2001), Trading Up (2003), Lipstick Jungle (2005), One Fifth Avenue (2008), The Carrie Diaries (2010) and Summer and the City (2011). Two of her novels have been adapted for television: Lipstick Jungle (2008–09) on NBC, and The Carrie Diaries (since 2013) on the CW. One Fifth Avenue has been optioned by the Mark Gordon Company and ABC for yet another television show.

Personal life

Bushnell was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Calvin L. and Camille Bushnell. Her father was one of the inventors of the Air Cooled Hydrogen Fuel Cell that was used in the Apollo space missions in the 1960s. Her Bushnell ancestors in the United States can be traced back to Francis Bushnell, one of the signers of the Guilford Covenant, who emigrated from Thatcham, Berkshire, England in 1639.

While attending high school in Glastonbury, Candace was accompanied to her senior prom by Mike O'Meara, now a nationally syndicated radio host, who also dated Candace's sister, "Lolly". She attended Rice University and New York University in the 1970s, and became known in New York City as a socialite and party-goer. She often frequented Studio 54. In 1995, she met publishing executive Ron Galotti, who became the inspiration for Sex and The City's Mr. Big.^[1]

In 2002, Bushnell married Charles Askegard, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.^[2][3] The couple lived together in Manhattan but are now divorced.^[4]

Career

At age 19, Bushnell moved to New York City and sold a children’s story to Simon & Schuster, which was never published. She continued writing and worked as a freelance journalist for various publications, struggling to make ends meet for many years.^[5] Bushnell began writing for the New York Observer in 1993. She created a humorous column for the paper, which appeared from 1994 through 1996. Called "Sex and the City," the column was based on her own personal dating experiences and those of her friends. In 1997, Bushnell's columns were published in an anthology, also called Sex and the City, and soon after became the basis for the popular HBO television series sharing the same name. The series aired from 1998 through 2004, and starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a sex and lifestyles columnist partaking in and enjoying New York City nightlife, a character which Bushnell has stated was her alter ego. The series is now in syndication and was adapted for and made into two motion pictures, released in 2008 and 2010.

In 2005, Bushnell served as one of three judges for the reality television show Wickedly Perfect on CBS. Bushnell began hosting a live weekly talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio in 2007.^[6] The show, called "Sex, Success and Sensibility," was canceled in late 2008 after the merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, when Bushnell was asked to continue the show with a 50% pay cut. She refused.^[7] She is the winner of the 2006 Matrix Award for books (other winners include Joan Didion and Amy Tan), and a recipient of the Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award. She wrote and created a web series, The Broadroom, starring Jennie Garth, which launched in September 2009. She is currently at work on The Two Mrs. Stones, which will be in bookstores in 2013.

Bushnell's 2005 novel, Lipstick Jungle, was adapted for television and aired on NBC in 2008. The series Lipstick Jungle starred Brooke Shields in the leading role, and was canceled after 20 episodes. In 2009, Bushnell announced that she was slated to write several "webisodes" of an online comedic series about women over 40 dealing with workplace issues, in partnership with the magazine publisher Meredith Corporation's Meredith 360 division.^[8][9] The contract also included writing articles for Meredith's More magazine.

Bushnell was contracted by HarperCollins in 2008 to write a series of two books for young adults, about the high school years of Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw. The first of these, The Carrie Diaries, was published in April 2010.^[10] Next in the series, Summer and the City (Carrie Diaries Series #2), was published in April 2011.

Novel Bibliography

• Sex and the City (1997)
• 4 Blondes (2001)
• Trading Up (2003)
• Lipstick Jungle (2005)
• One Fifth Avenue (2008)
• The Carrie Diaries (2010)
• Summer and the City (2011)

References

External links

• Official website
• Candace Bushnell at the Internet Movie Database
• TehelkaTV interview – In conversation with Pragya Tiwari on being a woman and writing about it, Jan 2011
• Limited online archive of Bushnell's column in The Observer