Sarah Grace McCandless
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & WRITER
Sarah Grace McCandless is a writer and producer focused on bringing stories to life across film, television, and publishing. She currently serves as a Producer for America’s Next Great Author, a groundbreaking reality series in development, and is also working on several new projects, including a scripted series and a memoir. Previously, she served as Executive Producer of Why Fathers Cry, the podcast from #1 New York Times best-selling author and Emmy® Award-winning producer Kwame Alexander. In addition to her producing work, she has been both a storyteller and producer for Mortified and Backfence live stage events.
As an author, Sarah Grace has published two novels, Grosse Pointe Girl: Tales from a Suburban Adolescence and The Girl I Wanted to Be (Simon & Schuster). A flash memoir edition of Grosse Pointe Girl was also released by Future Tense Books. Her writing has appeared in multiple collections and journals, including Drawing Lines: An Anthology of Women Cartoonists (Dark Horse Comics) and Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves (St. Martin’s Press). She has adapted her second novel for the screen and continues to develop work in both literary and visual formats.
A Writing by Writers Mill House Residency recipient, Sarah Grace has led fiction, memoir, and creative writing workshops at Gotham Writers, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Cape Cod Writers’ Workshop, and the Chautauqua Institution.
Beyond her producing and writing work, she consults on global brand strategy, narrative development, and leadership keynote speaking events for C-suite executives, drawing on her experience as a former corporate marketing executive with a portfolio that includes Google, Nike, Starbucks, NBCUniversal, Disney, Discovery, and Dark Horse Comics.
Originally from Michigan and after many years in Portland, Oregon, Sarah Grace now lives just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Gilda Radner
CHIEF DOG OFFICER
Corgi-Terrier rescue by way of Houston, Texas. Service dog, frequent flier, beloved by her TSA checkpoint friends at all airports.
Lover of all things: humans (including adults, kids, & babies), other dogs (small, medium, & large), cats, too. Unsure about squirrels, rabbits, mice and birds, but will absolutely alert you when one is present within a one mile radius. Believes all trucks - UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon - have treats.
Like her namesake, a true comedian with a huge heart. In charge of everything.
The bestest girl.
THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME
Grandma Grace: The Legend, The Icon
Grace is a family name, tracing back to Sarah Grace’s paternal grandmother, a proud, brave, kind, and generous soul who always had a “little something” for all of her 10 grandchildren. Technically, Grace was her middle name, as it is Sarah Grace’s (and now, for several other family members as well, including one of her nieces, daughters of cousins, and more). Though most who grew up with Sarah Grace know her as just Sarah, she’s always used her full name for writing purposes, even as far back as high school literary magazine bylines. She started going by Sarah Grace in her early 20s, in part to differentiate from other corporate world colleagues at the time who had the same first name. “SG” was first born during her tenure as Marketing Director for Dark Horse Comics, with nickname credit to the legendary editor Diana Schutz.
Grosse Pointe: You Can Go Home Again
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, is where Sarah Grace spent the majority of her formative years, and also serves as a character in its own right as the setting in her first novel, Grosse Pointe Girl: Tales from a Suburban Adolescence. There are actually five Grosse Pointes - Park, City, Farms, Shores, Woods - and Sarah Grace has lived in all of them at various stages throughout her childhood. The suburban cluster sits just northeast of Detroit and became a popular outpost for automotive executives, including her father, who was born and raised in the Pointes as well.