Your female characters, especially Katherine (Kate), are smart, strong, and ruthless. I love it!  Kate needed to evolve in order to survive, but was her strength and ruthlessness your original intention when you started the story?

 I  knew Katherine would have to shed much of her innocence in order to survive. And       not just survive, but assuage her guilt and learn to respect herself. Over the course of the first book, she often surprised me. Some readers did not appreciate her final decision, and I won’t tell them they are wrong to feel that way. Kate became her own person in that moment. I did not plan that ending out in advance, it just happened as I was writing the final chapter. When I wrote the final line of dialogue, I knew it was the right choice for the story, thematically. I don’t believe a central character should always do what the reader would do.

Read the full interview here:

http://danielleleneedavis.com/2013/06/30/guest-author-matt-tomerlin-the-devils-fire-series/