Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1959 in Glastonbury, Connecticut) is a writer based in New York City. She has gained fame with her New York social lifestyle and sex books and columns. Bushnell is married to New York City ballet artist Charles Askegaard on July 4, 2002.

Bushnell was, upon dropping out of Rice University in the late 1970s, known all over New York as a party goer and socialite. One of her favorite places was the infamous Studio 54. Later on in life, she got a job as a columnist in the New York Observer.

In 1994, her editor-in-chief asked her if she wanted to write a column for the paper, and she accepted the job. She wanted a column based on the adventures she and her friends usually spoke about, and she called it Sex and the City.

In 1998, HBO started airing a show, Sex and the City, based on, but not exactly like, Bushnell's column. The Sex and the City television show enhanced Bushnell's already growing fame, making her name known to many non-book readers as well. The television series ceased original production in 2004, with the last episode airing on HBO in February 2004.

Many other writers have compared the Carrie Bradshaw character on the television show to Bushnell because Carrie, like Bushnell, is also a newspaper sex and lifestyles columnist who enjoys the New York nightlife. She is presently one of three judges for the 2005 reality television show Wickedly Perfect on CBS.