This was posted on 10/3/09 as a guest blog by Melissa Leembruggen. To see the book reviews by MawBooks and the original post with pictures please visit http://blog.mawbooks.com.

For me, writing is something that I’ve explored throughout my life,but not in a passionate and serious way. At times, poems and essaysjust spilled forth from me without my intellectual purpose or thoughtprocess saying, “Ok, I am going to write now.”

My first two books, “The Sudan Project: Rebuilding with the People of Darfur” and “Benny The Baffled Behemoth”started as an idea that just poured forth and compelled me to work andshape them into what I saw in my mind that they could be.

There are additional books on the way that were the result of thesame process: passion, drive, and purpose compelling the process ofbringing forth a new work.

What I find is that my passion to make a difference often providesthe drive I need to put everything else aside to tell the story beforeme, the story then offers me a specific purpose to promote that which Iam passionate about.

In the case of both books mentioned, my purpose was to educate kidsabout an idea or circumstance and then to share some of the profit withan organization that can benefit from additional resources to make aliteral difference for children in the world.

My two charities that I am supporting currently through the books are The Sudan Project (www.thesudanproject.org) and Heart For Africa (www.heartforafrica.org).

The Sudan Project is providing clean water, child protectionservices/education, and agricultural development guidance to the peopleof Darfur as they attempt to move on and resettle in less war tornareas of Southern Darfur.

Heart For Africa works with children in multiple countries as theyprovide HOPE: hunger services, orphan services, poverty services, andeducational services. In fact, Swaziland has the highest rate ofHIV/AIDS in Africa at close to 42%. Heart For Africa is building aself-sustaining community for orphans that will provide for thesehundreds of thousands of orphaned children. It is estimated that at thecurrent death rate there will be few adults in the country in the nexttwo decades. The life expectancy in Swaziland is 29 years old.

Since 2008, I’ve been able to give back almost $1000 from the salesof these two books. It is a drop in the bucket compared to the need,but it was more than I had to give before writing these books!

I am excited to say I have a new book on the way, titled “Night the Jallys Roam”,that is part fiction story and part non-fiction information about thebenefits of micro-lending business development programs in Jamaica with ACE (www.acexperience.org).I get to travel to Jamaica in November as we finish the finaldevelopment of the project and prepare it for publication in January2010.

I challenge all writers. Write what you are passionate about. Follow your drive in your writing. Fill your books with purpose.