Carrie Bradshaw
The show was based in part on writer Candace Bushnell's 1997 book of the same name, compiled from her column at "The New York Observer". Bushnell has said in several interviews that the Carrie Bradshaw in her columns is her alter ego; when she wrote the "Sex and the City" essays, she used her own name initially, but for privacy reasons, later created the character played in the series by Sarah Jessica Parker. Carrie Bradshaw was a writer living in New York City. Carrie Bradshaw and Candace Bushnell have the same initials, a flourish emphasizing their connection. Moreover, just as Carrie Bradshaw has articles for the fictional "New York Star" published as a book in later series, the entire "Sex and the City" series is based on a compilation of Bushnell's own columns for the "New York Observer".