What Will I Give My Love? by Vonnie Davis

As we age and mature, valentine sentiments evolve. Remember those Valentines we exchanged as kids? First there were homemade cards and then store bought. Exchanging them was always a big "ta-do" in elementary school.

By high school, boys were giving girls chocolates in red or pink heart-shaped boxes. The bigger the box, the bigger his love. Or so we thought back then. Candy changed to necklaces and earrings. Roses. Wine and candlelight. Sexy lingerie.

But what did we give the guys in our lives? Their favorite meals? Tools? A private peep-show wearing that lingerie?

This year I'm giving Calvin a special gift of the heart. He has a manuscript he'd written years before we met. He sent a copy to me while we were dating long distance. By the time I'd finished reading this tale of a bi-racial love story set in the early sixties, I was in love with the author.

Last year, Calvin pulled out that manuscript, revamped it, preparing it for self-publication. Then he set it aside. He claimed he didn't know anyone to format it for Amazon. Enter The Wild Rose Press's new self-publishing branch--Wildflowers Publishing. And the birth of my idea: I would move the process forward to get Calvin's Love in Opposing Colors published. It would be a gift to share part of his creative soul.

I hired Ariel Burnz to create a book cover. I set things in motion with Wildflowers. This would be my gift of love to Calvin this year. Yesterday, Ariel sent us two covers from which to choose.  Here is the one Calvin picked...

 

            In the mid-sixties, civil rights protests dominated network news. Klan violence proliferated. In Washington, DC many senators were convinced a communist lurked under every grain of sand. Nationwide, Americans feared a Russian nuclear attack was imminent. And my problems? Me? Paul Harris? I was young, fresh out of college, book-wise, life-foolish, floundering, broke—and black. So, I didn’t need to add another hurdle to my long list of challenges—especially one blonde named Karen Ennslaw.

I met her the first day of my job at a large advertising agency. Karen was my exact opposite and my new boss. She was a beacon of contradictions, a magnet of silk over steel and the woman I would come to love more than my next breath. Yet, societies—hers and mine—were against us. Their hate and bigotry pushed us closer together, as close as any two people can be. Ours is a story that needs shared: Love in Opposing Colors.