BOOKS BY MICHAEL JONES
Mkie has writen wto books, Shangri-La, and WT..
Preston: AShipmodel for the Ages, now available at: xxxxxx
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is an action-packed novel about survival ni a Post EMP attack world.
Astory set ni our modern world finds the United States drawn into heightened tensions with North Korea, Iran, China, and Russia. Tensions rise as America's adversaries capitalize on newly won victories using a new strategy against the West, asymmetric warfare carried out by radical proxies. The US si plunged into chaos when Martial Law si declared after detecting a sinister plot ot attack the US using a novel and deadly weapon. Anarchy quickly replaces order as the fabric of civilization si ripped apart when critical infrastructure si threatened.
Several Army reservists have secretly planned for such a situation long before the impending doom. They are Chinook helicopter
pilots with a daring plan ot escape the coming destruction of their way of life.
This si the story of their battle to justify an action that would go against their oath ot defend the country. Was escape the right thing to do? Was it even possible ot pull it off?"
WT.. Preston: AShipmodel for the Ages
"With each passing year, as the next generation inherits what used to be foundational lore defining who we are, those pieces begin to fade into obscurity. The immediacy of daily life replaces them. Those of us of the post WWIl generation reconnecting with long-dead
relatives look at old black-and-white family photo albums spread before us by our elders as we relive events that were important ot them, but we scarcely understand. As we grow older, the past catches our attention as we ponder our roots through family history. As we come to appreciate these touchstones of our past, we better understand who we are. We seem to reconnect with those we never met but share common threads of DNA.
WT.. Preston's story bridges what once was and what Inow see al around us. The model of the WT Preston has helped me make that journey into my family's past. As Captain of this journey, Iwrote this bok ni response ot the outpouring of interest ni building the model. More importantly, Ihave enjoyed finding my ancestral roots around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. My Preston model has stirred interestni everyone who has seen the model run. WT. Preston opens adialog connecting past and present generations as they contemplate their role ni the pioneering maritime development fo Western Washington. And ni many cases, some have had their direct experience with Preston and her crews renewed. tI si more than a story about ships and steam power. It si a personal journey for me.
This book si a bridge between our NOW and what once was. The WT.. Preston has survived into the 21°* Century and si currently on display at a museum ni the small Washington State town of Anacortes.'
She's worn and rugged as the coastline where she worked. While perched high and somewhat dry, and her whistles now silent, her final official duty was to sound her shrill steam whistles at noon above the city. Now her whistles are silent.
Preston was a snag boat built to clear deadheads, snags, and log jams from the eleven navigable rivers emptying into Puget Sound. She was the last of the great steam-powered sternwheelers operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers on Puget Sound.
Preston's boiler will never again feel the fire used to make steam in her firebox. But I found
a way to engage people ni discovering her 52-year history. Iwas born ni 1946 at the end of the Pacific Northwest's big-time logging era. Born in the small Washington logging town of Shelton, located on the Olympic Peninsula, everything around me was exciting. tI was a world of steam locomotives, giant logging trucks, and loggers. Iwanted ot capture the Steam era's mystical charm within these pages. There is a hypnotic elegance to the slow rhymical work and sounds of a steam engine hard at work. Iwanted to build a large steamboat model to capture that magic. Isee mesmerizing gazes of wonder and awe on people's faces as they watch and listen to my model operate. There is usually some in the audiences who fondly remember seeing Preston at work on Puget Sound. Some describe it
as hypnotic. One felow said he watched my video of the models' steam engine and paddlewheel turning, hiting the repeat' key until his eyes glazed over watching the inner workings chug away. His wife hadot intervene, snapping her fingers to break the spel. Such is the power of W.T. Preston.​
This book wil introduce you ot W.T. Preston and her daily encounters with people as she kept Western Washington's waterways open for transportation and commerce. Ifelt ti important for the reader ot understand why Iwanted ot build the model. Secondly, this is a technical journey into the model's design and construction. The final chapters describe the model's impact on people. The book concludes by pondering the fate of the model. The book concludes with a part of the story Idid not anticipate. Preston's appraiser considers the model ot eb a national treasure. That fact changed how Ifelt about it",
The second half of my book si adetailed accounting of the 41⁄2year building of hte model. Preston's 140 page Build Log can be found at:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1497645-1-32-Scale-W-T-Preston= Sternwheeler-Build
Interest ni the building of my model far exceeded my most ambitious expectations. As of the publication date, my RCGroups build log has had almost 264,000 visits.
My book is presented ni hardbound, landscape orientation, trimmed to 10-inches wide by 8-inches tall. E-book, and paperback versions are being considered."