Will it be a short story or a novella? I’m aiming for a novella, but we’ll see. 
Yes, I Robbed a Bank is set in the 1930’s in what became known as the Dust Bowl, a 150,000 square mile area mostly in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles, but also reaching into parts of New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado. A severe and extended drought, amplified by high winds, caused “black blizzards” to come rolling in, covering good fertile farmland in several inches (sometimes feet) of brown powdery dust from the north.
Here’s an excerpt from what I’m working on:
“The year was 1936. Crops were ruined. There wasn’t a well-fed cow in three hundred miles. Most were a pile of bones under mountainous dust drifts. Home pantries from years past were bare. Desperate people do desperate things.”
“I was no exception. Wife and four hungry kids and no job.”
This could not have come at a worse time in history: the Great Depression. By 1940, two and a half million people had fled the Great Plains, with some 200,000 relocating to California.
John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath details the hardships of people from the Dust Bowl. Yes, I Robbed a Bank will be different from Steinbeck’s novels. First of all, I will not draw the tale out to nine hundred pages; secondly, I refuse to use the crass language (however accurate in many cases) Steinbeck splattered the pages of his story with.
I’m writing this novella because that era in our history fascinates me. I grew up in the Texas Panhandle, in the little town of Stinnett, northeast of Amarillo. The “black blizzards”, were mostly over. I do, however, remember one rolling in while I was taking my driving test. The officer suggested I pull over and wait it out. I’m glad I did, because all vision beyond the hood of my car was soon gone.
The people living through that awful period in time were strong, hardworking, neighbors helping neighbors, families sticking together. For many, their faith was what saw them through all of their troubles. Do we see some of those qualities lacking in our country today?
Yes, I admire those people. In writing this little tale, I am trying to keep true to those families. I don’t mean to exaggerate for the sake of drama, but with the Dust Bowl and Great Depression long gone, it may seem somewhat of a hyperbole to the younger generation.
You can have a part in this little tale in progress. I’d love to hear from you. I won’t use your name. And I won’t quote you exactly, but I may use bits and pieces of your story. You can comment below. Or better yet, just e-mail me at: eldon@eldonreed.com
Enjoy the journey!
Eldon