I’m pleased to give up my day today to Harlequin Executive Editor Marsha Zinberg who is currently on her Famous Firsts blog tour. Welcome, Marsha!

Executive Editor Marsha Zinberg is touring the blog world to talk about Harlequin Famous Firsts – first series novels written by today’s superstars. She queried New York Times bestsellers like Debbie Macomber, Carla Neggers, and many more to share their creative process. You’ll see their approach to writing is as varied as their voices. Between them, these multi-published authors have written hundreds of books since their very first publication by Harlequin.

It is fascinating to compare how different individuals approach a major task. Many competitive athletes perform a certain set of rituals before they start their event. Actors put themselves into character while waiting in the wings before their entrance. I’ve even watched Bingo fanatics who wouldn’t dream of beginning to play their cards before all their specifically colored markers and talismans were lined up just so.

How do your favorite authors sit down to a blank page and begin the creative process that results in an unforgettable story?

Carla Neggers declares that she has never been a linear writer. Once she has a premise and a set of characters in mind, she takes them in hand and plunges in. When they start coming to life on the page, she retraces her steps to figure out the story, which she prefers to inject with a mixture of romance and suspense. And she credits her luck at being one of the first writers working within the newly formed Harlequin Temptation line for granting her the freedom that helped her find her voice as a writer.

For Debbie Macomber, the writing process has changed little, though the peripherals have expanded significantly. Debbie still prefers to plot all the way through the story, and use the plot outline as a working tool. When she’s writing, she is “in the zone”: she sets herself goals for each day, and doesn’t leave her desk until the required number of pages is completed. Of course, at this point in her career, Debbie works from her own office outside her home. She will read up to 500 letters and e-mails a day, and feels that the contact and communication from her readers is so important to her that she employs an office staff to help her manage it all.

A home office was tried and rejected by Joan Johnston. She found herself wanting to write at three in the morning, and was not about to trudge out to her office to do it. Many times, she marvels that she wakes up in the morning and the story is there in her head, waiting to be told. She has been known to fill paper plates and napkins with jottings when an idea comes, or pull over when driving, because she is a thorough believer in paying close attention to the muse, and capturing those precious thoughts while she can. She also tries to stop writing when she comes to a possible fork in the story, so that she can resume when she is sure of the direction she will next take. She does this for economy’s sake: it’s too hard to throw away a scene that didn’t come easily in the first place.

Anne Stuart writes more slowly now than she did in her early, rigorous 15-page-a-day phase. Nowadays, she finds herself revising and polishing more day to day, and trying not to burn the candle at both ends.

Lindsay McKenna, like Carla, also declares that her characters come to her first, and they dictate where her plot will lead, though she knows there will always be an element of danger or suspense in her stories, and they frequently veer toward those realms that most entrance her and heroes and heroines: telekenesis, shapeshifting or perhaps telepathy.

You’ll find more on the creative process tomorrow at Romance Junkies. My previous topics include: Ideas for Their First Books at Bookbinge and How Technology Has Changed for Writers at Plot Monkeys.

As a special treat we have provided 1 nostalgia Harlequin tote bag and some Famous First novels to giveaway to one lucky reader who posts a comment by Friday, June 5, 2009, 9:00 p.m. CDT.

Don’t forget that you can enjoy 16 free Harlequin novels by downloading them at www.HarlequinCelebrates.com. And the Harlequin Cover Art Show in New York runs May 30 – June 12th at the Open House Gallery, New York City (201 Mulberry Street in Soho).

What is your creative process?