Candace Bushnell is quick to tell that no, her newest book, “Killing Monica,” is not about Carrie Bradshaw — or Sarah Jessica Parker — although the critics seem to relish in thinking that she’d like to see the demise of her most famous character to-date in what must be either a “mean spirited farce or daring self-satire.”
Wednesday night at Washington, D.C. W Hotel POV Lounge Bushnell was on hand to assure her adoring fans (all with books in hand for personal signature… and a selfie, of course!) that the idea for the new novel was actually simply about taming a creative force that becomes bigger than the artist that made it.
“It’s something that happens to creative people all the time,” she told Pursuitist. “Think about TV shows like Friends or Seinfeld… or any of my friends who write real genre books. If you’re successful, people want you to keep doing the same thing.”
But surely there’s not anything — especially not a fictional character she created — that’s become so big in Bushnell’s life that she can’t surmount. “No,” she insists.
But whether it’s true or not, she can’t deny it’s getting “Killing Monica” a lot of attention.
In Bushnell’s latest, her lead character — famous writer Pandy Wallis — must resort to faking her own death in order to get her life back from her most infamous creation, her beloved character Monica. Lest you think any of the story antics (of which there is certainly heavy drinking, drugs, sex…) translate to Bushnell’s real life, she promises: “It’s not my life. I really try to keep the excitement on the page.”
So she swears she’s not writing about her life and that she hasn’t figuratively killed off Carrie, but you’ll have to read the latest to see if you believe her.
