Undercover Chapters

For the past few months I have been immersed in the world of the Nightmare Misfits series. I originally won Destiny in Goodreads giveaway back in March. Late April, I finally picked it up, and devoured it in four days. Author CeeCee Crow, is a pro at making you not want to put down her books. After the cliff hanger Destiny left me on, I immediately pre-ordered the next two books – Chosen and Order. 

A couple weeks later, my pre-order for Chosen hit my Kindle library and I was ecstatic that I did not have to obsess over the cliff hander from Destiny for very long. Chosen was my favorite book of the trilogy, and after finishing it I became curious about CeeCee Crow. I found her instagram page, and gave her a follow. What I wasn’t expecting was everything that came after I hit that follow button. 

When CeeCee posted a reel on her account about the upcoming release of Order, I commented on it, telling her about how I found my way to this series. Shortly after, CeeCee followed my bookstagram account, and started sharing my reviews of her books on her instagram stories. Which was so exciting to a small account like mine. 

But the best part was yet to come, while I was at work I got a direct message from CeeCee Crow – I know! Exciting, right?! She thanked me for reviewing her books, and offered to send me an ARC of the final installment of the Nightmare Misfits series, Order. She then offered that if I was interested we could do a Q&A for my blog after finishing the book.

And that, my friends, is how we ended up here – doing a Q&A with author CeeCee Crow. 

If you have not read the entire series, this Q&A does contain spoilers for the series – not all questions do, but a good handful. So, please be cautious of that, unless you are the type of person who enjoys a good spoiler like me, lol! 

Q: Where did your inspiration for the Nightmare Misfits series come from? It is such a unique story line, and I haven’t quite read anything like it, which is so abnormal in the fantasy genre since so many stories are so similar. 

A: The dedication in Destiny says, “No matter how dark it gets, never let anyone or anything extinguish the fire inside you,” and I think that is really where the heart of the story comes from.

The inspiration came from life experience, although not from any one specific event. We all go through things that are completely invisible to the people around us, and I think it is important to remember that we never truly know what someone else may be carrying.

That was really the foundation of Nova for me. I wanted to explore what it would do to a person to spend most of her life feeling unseen, overlooked and fundamentally alone.

And then, what happens when someone finally does see her? Not the version of her everyone else expects, but her.

For Nova, that recognition is almost jarring because she has spent so long believing she has to survive everything alone. Suddenly, she is surrounded by people who see her fire even when she cannot, and who refuse to let her disappear. The fantasy world, the Orders and everything that happens around her grew from that emotional core.

Q: How long have you been writing for? What made you want to start writing fantasy books? 

A: I’ve been writing on and off for most of my adult life. Whether it was taking advanced writing courses in school, writing professionally as a copywriter or creating stories for myself, I’ve always been a storyteller. It just seems like the older I get, the better I get at it. Haha.

Years ago, I accidentally stumbled into the why choose genre, which I think is how a lot of readers find it, and I immediately fell in love with it.

As far as fantasy specifically, I mean, I can’t think of a better fantasy than four or five or six men understanding different parts of you in different ways. The magic is just a bonus.

Q: When did you decide you wanted to write this series? And what was your process and timeline like with writing these books? You released the entire series within four months, which is super impressive. Did you have them all written before releasing book one?

A: Once Nova’s story came together for me, it came together very quickly. I knew from the beginning that it would be a trilogy, and I had the larger story arc and where I wanted the series to end in mind before Destiny was released.

The actual writing process was incredibly fast and intense. I tend to write very instinctively. I know the major emotional beats, the direction of the story and the things I need to set up, but I leave myself room to discover the characters and the details as I go. That means the story can sometimes surprise me just as much as it surprises readers.

The release schedule was definitely ambitious, but for this series, it worked. I was completely immersed in Nova and this world, and once I started, I didn’t really want to leave until her story was finished.

Q: How do you craft such an addicting opening line for every book? I personally think many books aren’t great about drawing you in from the first chapter. But, you can do it just from the first line. It is one of my favorite things about your writing style, you keep the audience wanting more from the very first line.

A: I don’t believe stories should start with “once upon a time,” because life isn’t really like that. Most stories start somewhere in the middle, when something happens or you feel something strongly enough that you realize it might be the beginning of something bigger.

That’s how I tend to write. I don’t want to spend the first few pages explaining why you should care. I want to drop you directly into the moment the character cares, because if they feel it strongly enough, hopefully you will too.

With Destiny, it was, “I wake up cold, which means I woke up.” With Chosen, it was simply, “She’s gone.” And Order begins with one word: “Dark.”

I don’t know that I consciously sit down and try to craft an addictive opening line. I think I’m looking for the exact moment the story becomes impossible for the character to ignore. Because usually, by the time we recognize that something is the beginning of a story, we’re already somewhere in the middle of it.

Q: Why was Kyron so bitter when Nova chose to leave the Hollow with Silas to save everyone? As an outsider, I feel like it was very obvious that Nova did not want to leave them, but she felt it was what she had to do, to save everyone she cared about. I know that Kyron has trauma from his family, and that Nova forgave how Kyron felt about the situation – But I have not forgiven Kyron for how he acted in that situation, lol! 

A: Because sometimes trauma doesn’t react the way we think it should. Sometimes a wound hits so deep that you can’t help but feel the way you do, even when some part of you knows it isn’t fair or rational. Kyron knew why Nova left. He knew she was trying to save them. But knowing something logically doesn’t always change the way it feels when it touches the deepest wound you have.

And I think that is also why Nova was able to forgive him the way she did. She carries that same kind of trauma. She knows what it is like for an old wound to take over and make you react from the hurt instead of the reality in front of you.

That doesn’t necessarily make Kyron right — and you are absolutely allowed to still be mad at him, lol! — but I think Nova understood where it came from in a way that someone without that same kind of wound might not.

Q:  What inspired the shifted forms for each character? Was there some characteristic with each character that you felt like their shift form is what corresponded to them best, or how did you come to the decision? 

• Nova – Phoenix 
• Kyron – Snow Owl
• Trey – Centaur
• Rane – Stag
• Lock – Black Panther
• Vaelor – Bear
• Beckett – Wolf made of smoke

A: I actually have a giant working list of the different types of shifters that can come from each House, and I wanted them to be completely different from one another. The entire system exists, at least in part, to prevent exactly what happens with Nova and her cluster. Shifters can become incredibly powerful, especially when abilities and forms begin to develop in ways that don’t fit neatly within the boundaries the Orders have created. So I wanted their shifted forms to reflect that. They aren’t supposed to feel like seven variations of the same kind of shifter. Together, they are something the system was built to prevent.

Nova was always going to be a phoenix. Before the series even had a name, I called it “my phoenix story,” so that was probably the one thing I knew from the very beginning.

For Kyron, I knew I wanted something that could offset Nova’s heat. I loved the imagery of the snow owl with his blue eyes, and I wanted his shifted form to feel larger than life while also giving him the ability to help her when her own power became too much.

Trey was a centaur because, from the beginning, he was always more than one thing. Honestly, I don’t know that he could have been anything else.

Rane became a stag because I’ve always thought of them as these beautiful, majestic creatures, which is so completely opposite to his personality that it somehow felt exactly like his sense of humor.

Locke was easy. He is part Nova, with those crackling embers running through his fur, and a black panther just felt like him.

And I do have to make one very important correction here: Vaelor is a bear with wings. LOL. I took the traditional Memory bear and turned it into something uniquely him.

Beckett was always my sneaky one, so what better way to make that part of his shifted form than to make him a wolf made of smoke?

Q: In Order, you mention that the Nightmare Orders experiments with forced shifts, as a result, sometimes people are never able to come back from their animal form. Are the animals in the Hollow who never shift from their animal form previous forced shift experiments?

A: That is a great question, and I think the answer is a mix of all of those things. Some of the animals in the Hollow simply choose to spend most or all of their time in their shifted form. Some may no longer be able to shift back because of what was done to them during experiments. And some probably come and go between forms whenever they feel like it.

That was really the entire idea behind the Hollow: freedom. For perhaps the first time in their lives, the people who found their way there were allowed to be exactly who they wanted to be. Human, shifted or somewhere in between, no one was going to tell them what they had to be anymore.

Q: Similar to the last question, what is the deal with the crow that watches over Nova? Is there some relation there? There were a few times I thought maybe it was one of her parents that had been experimented on previously. It felt like the crow had a deeper attachment to Nova, so I am curious if there was something more there.

A: I’m not sure what you mean. It seems like a perfectly normal crow to me. 😉

Q: Can we get more explanation on the ending for the series? I think it left some of us confused on how quickly it ended, and how easily the residents of the Hollow were willing to leave the home they had built behind.

A: I considered a lot of different endings for this series, but I kept coming back to what the residents of the Hollow had just learned.

The entire community witnessed Minerva discover that Laith had essentially orchestrated everything — not just Nova’s life, but the creation of the Hollow itself. That revelation changes what the Hollow means. It was supposed to be the place where they had escaped the system, but suddenly they had to confront the fact that even their sanctuary had been shaped by someone else’s plan. In that sense, the Hollow was never truly free. Not in the way they believed it was.

Then Linda arrived and offered them what they believed the Hollow had been all along: a home nobody else had designed for them. And she was asking them to follow Nova, someone they had grown to care about and accepted as one of their own. This was a community that had already stood beside her and fought for her.

It may feel abrupt because all of those revelations and choices happen in a very short period of time, but when I put myself in their position, I couldn’t imagine many of them willingly choosing to stay. The meaning of home had changed.

Q: Would you consider writing a prequel novella or something similar to give some deeper world building of this series? When reading reviews, the biggest thing people are looking for is more information about the system. Your current readers would love something like that, and your future readers would benefit as well. 

A: If I ever write a prequel novella, it would not be until after all four trilogies set in this world are complete.

Yes, I said four. LOL.

And you’re absolutely right: I read the reviews, and the biggest criticism I see is that readers want more worldbuilding — specifically, more information about the system. I know. I promise, I know.

As I explained at the beginning of Chosen, you get Nova’s perspective. When I write, I am fully immersed in that character and what they know. Even as the author, I can’t write the story as though Nova knows something she doesn’t, even if I know it.

I think a lot of stories are told from 50,000 feet. You can see the world, understand the system and watch the characters moving through it. With Nova, you’re reading the story from about five and a half feet. You can only see what she can see. You know what she knows. And when she misunderstands something, you may misunderstand it with her.

To be even more transparent, writing the books this way is the only way to make the future reveals fun.

There are things Nova doesn’t know. There are things she thinks she understands. There are questions she never even knew to ask. If I step outside her perspective and explain the entire system now, I may answer questions that belong to stories you haven’t read yet.

Half the time, I’m sitting on my side of the screen losing my mind because I want to say, “I KNOW! JUST WAIT!” But I can’t. Because if I tell you everything now, you’ll miss out on some of the best parts of the larger story still to come.

As far as I’m concerned, Order is the end of Nova’s story. At least for now. But it isn’t the end of this world, and there are still a lot of things you haven’t seen yet.

So, will there ever be a prequel or something that pulls back the curtain completely? Maybe. But not yet. First, you have to see the world through the people living inside it.

Q: A huge congratulations on being #8 on Amazon’s list of new releases. How are you feeling about your success with your series?

A: Honestly? Really, really shocked.

I did not expect these books to do what they’ve done, but I’m so incredibly happy that so many people have gotten to meet Nova and her guys.

It’s kind of wild to think that not that long ago, they were just a story in my head. Now they belong to readers too, and I get to watch people fall in love with them, yell at them, argue about them and apparently refuse to forgive Kyron. LOL.

I don’t know that I’ll ever completely wrap my head around that, but I’m incredibly grateful for it.

Q: I was super excited to see that you have a series about the Clockwork Order coming out. I am not sure if you are allowed to say – but will we see any appearances from Nova and the guys? 

A: Honestly, I’m not sure yet. But crazier things have happened.

All I know is that Kree seems to have something up his sleeve, and I cannot be held responsible for his actions.

Q: What is next for CeeCee Crow? What can you tell me about the projects you have lined up next?

A: Well, I already let the cat out of the bag on some of this, but Clockwork Rebels will be coming early next year — possibly sooner if the stars align.

And after that? Something else within this world might already be brewing.

Q: Do you plan to stick with writing in the fantasy and romance genre? Or are there other genres you may want to explore in the future?

A: Like I mentioned earlier, I accidentally stumbled into the why choose genre and fell in love with it. One of my biggest hopes for Nightmare Misfits was that it might become that same kind of gateway for someone else — that readers who had never tried why choose before might pick it up for the fantasy and discover something they didn’t know they were missing.

So, fantasy and romance will probably always be part of what I write.

But, if I’m being really transparent — and maybe a little ambitious — I do have some ideas noodling around in my head that could eventually become something of much more epic proportions.

For now, though, they’re staying in my head. I already have three more trilogies to write. LOL.

Q: What books got you interested in the why choose genre? And what book are you currently reading?

A: The very first why choose book I ever read was “Spark of Fate” by Tessa Hale. At the time, I was choosing books almost entirely by the cover because I felt the synopsis gave too much away… so take that as you will. 😅

I had no idea it was a why choose going in, so imagine my surprise.😏

I don’t get to read nearly as often as I’d like to these days, but I’m hoping to start “Wicked Dove” by KC Kean as soon as I get the chance.

Q: What are all your socials readers can follow you at for news and updates?

A: I’m going to admit that I’m not great at keeping up with social media, but you can primarily find me on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

This Q&A was such a great experience, it gave me much more insight into CeeCee Crow and her thought process when writing this series. I think this Q&A shows that many of the concerns people have about this series all have good and thoughtful explanations. I loved learning how intentional each choice was with character decisions, withholding certain information, and the ending of the series. There really is much more than meets the eye with this series, and I am deeply excited to continue reading about this world. 

CeeCee dropped a massive bombshell in this interview, saying that there will be four trilogies written in this world. Each giving us different insight, answering more questions – and maybe even making her audience question everything they thought they knew. 

My advice? If you haven’t, please go give CeeCee Crow a try. Every interaction I have had with her has been wonderful, she is such a kind and humble person. I hope to see CeeCee Crow get the recognition and attention her books deserve. I can’t wait to see what else she has up her sleeve. 

The next trilogy, Clockwork Rebels, is set to debut early 2027, you can pre-order Tick on Amazon now. And please keep checking my blog and instagram for more CeeCee Crow book reviews, I am planning to cover them all.

Thank you everyone for reading and interacting with this post. I will see you for the next review.

Undercover Chapters