Influences and heroines with Philippa Ballantine (and w*n a book)

Today, please help me welcome author Philippa "Pip" Ballantine to Preternatura. Her latest book, Harbinger, will be released on July 30 by Ace and is the fourth and final book in her Books of the Order series. I had the chance to...well, "meet" is a strong word...share the airspace with her at the Authors After Dark con last August in New Orleans; she and her husband Tee Morris were there in full steampunk regalia promoting their Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. But Harbinger tak...