Philana Marie Boles

Journalist | Feature Writer | Big Five Author

United States

I’m an author, journalist, and feature writer with more than two decades of professional storytelling experience across publishing, entertainment, and culture.

At heart, though, I’m just endlessly curious about people and I’m driven by the thrill of discovering a really good story.

My journalism has given me the opportunity to sit down with acclaimed authors, actors, filmmakers, and cultural figures including Judy Blume, Ellen Hopkins, Rachel McAdams, James L. Brooks, Luis Guzmán, and many others.

I write reported interviews, profiles, criticism, cultural commentary, and entertainment features, all with a particular interest in stories about women, books, film and television, and the intersections between culture and lived experience.

I’m also a multi-published novelist and experienced book collaborator whose work has been published by several Big Five houses. That background shapes the way I approach journalism.

I listen closely. I ask the extra question. I’m interested in the experience beneath the story. And I love the small, revealing details that make people come alive on the page.

I’m also passionate about expanding my reporting into wellness and women’s health, with particular interests in reproductive health, patient experience, preventive health/ informed health choices, and evidence-based wellness, including the practical roles that nutrition, lifestyle, and other interventions can play in supporting quality of life.

Based in both Los Angeles and my home state of Ohio, I’m available nationwide for features, profiles, interviews, cultural criticism, and reported health and wellness journalism.

Portfolio
Kite Tales
10/23/2024
Beacon of Joy: An Interview with Joy Peskin

by Philana Marie Boles FSG Executive Editorial Director Joy Peskin Joy Peskin's personality is so unassuming that it can seem at odds with the magnitude of the rank and importance of her current role as Executive Editorial Director for Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers.

Kite Tales
04/23/2025
Very Necessary: An Interview with Ellen Hopkins

by Philana Marie Boles Author Ellen Hopkins Introduction Ellen Hopkins is a New York Times best-selling and multi-award-winning author, a celebrated literary force whose courageous storytelling has enthralled readers like me for over two decades. She is perhaps best known for her raw and poignant novels written in verse.

MovieWeb
07/08/2023
These Madonna Films Still Hold Up Today

Madonna: With over 335 million records sold, the best-selling female artist of all time also had at least two timeless acting performances.

Kite Tales
05/24/2023
Here's a Secret About Diverse Books

by Philana Marie Boles Philana Marie Boles Since its inception in 2014, I have applauded the refreshing "We Need Diverse Books" initiative. Yet internally, as a multi-published author, I've also whimpered a weary cry whenever I see those words. I've wanted to remind anyone who will listen, "But we're here.