E748 - Chris A Underwood - The Cold Winter Grid-Down Book Series

EPISODE 748 - Chris A Underwood -  The Cold Winter Grid-Down Book Series - Hidden Secrets in the Walls Author Chris A Underwood invites listeners into the real-world setting behind his Cold Winter series, beginning in the small village of Galena just north of Columbus, Ohio. In this conversation, he describes living in and restoring his historic 1850s home, once the town’s telegraph and later telephone office, where walls stuffed with hidden whiskey and extract bottles hint at the secret lives of past occupants. That same house, town square, and sense of buried history become the spine of his fictional world when a devastating winter power-grid failure throws Ohio into crisis.Chris traces his lifelong pull toward storytelling, from a third-grade construction-paper book to creative writing classes and an English minor, even as he pursued business, accounting, and computer science to provide for his family. Years later, an interest in “prepping” rekindled his writing, as he asked what ordinary people would do on day one, day two, and beyond after a major event. Those questions evolved into a survival narrative grounded in his own home, his town, and the very real vulnerability of the power grid, inspired in part by the 2003 northeast blackout. He explains how building practical preparedness into his house and imagining life during a prolonged winter outage gave him a believable framework for his story.A big part of this episode explores how community and craft shaped his work. Chris shares how joining a local writing group transformed his early drafts; honest, sometimes painful critiques pushed him to abandon a confusing first-person approach and rewrite in third person, freeing the story to follow multiple characters and perspectives. He talks about “torturing” his main character, a computer programmer much like himself, and weaving in deeply personal elements, including a son on the autism spectrum who eventually becomes a key hero in book three. For Chris, flawed, everyday people who make mistakes but keep trying are more compelling than perfect saviors.The conversation also highlights how his research happens on the ground, not just online. To authentically portray helicopters, militias, and river battles, Chris embedded himself with the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, volunteering at air shows, riding in Huey and Cobra helicopters, and channeling those sensations straight onto the page. He recounts a three-week tour on military bases, where he met new recruits, seasoned officers, and even fellow volunteers from his helicopter group, often giving readers their first signed book and seeing his series become part of their downtime between assignments.His commitment to living the story extends to historic ships and river locks. Chris spent a month aboard the World War II landing ship LST-325 as it traveled the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, selling books, working in the wheelhouse, sleeping in bunks, and donating thousands of dollars back to the ship’s preservation. He has also shadowed lock workers on the river to capture the feel of barge traffic and infrastructure under strain, later staging key battles in those spaces on the page. Partnerships with museums and naval sites, including a destroyer in Buffalo, have given him insider tours and technical feedback, ensuring his fictional use of real vessels remains accurate while still imaginative.Throughout the episode, Chris returns to a core theme: using story to explore how ordinary people respond when systems fail, and how community, moral compass, and determination matter as much as gear and tactics. Whether through a young Catholic priest serving as ethical anchor, neighbors opening their doors to stranded travelers, or volunteers keeping aging helicopters and ships alive, his books focus on people choosing to help, even when it is dangerous or inconvenient. He hints at future directions for the Cold Winter universe, including a potential fifth book that would tackle the messy realities of recovery after the grid comes back and society attempts to rebuild.Key takeaway: This episode shows how deeply lived experience, disciplined feedback, and real-world immersion can turn a “what if” scenario into a rich, human survival saga. Listeners come away with a sense that great fiction can grow directly out of ordinary life, historic places, and a willingness to both receive tough critique and step into the environments you want to write about.https://authorchrisaunderwood.com/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca