I know right. You’re sitting there being all … TOO many? Erica, are you drunk? High? Suffering from end-of-day-editing syndrome (which we all know is an exploded heads and brains all over the ceiling).

But no. NO, I say. It’s worse. Much worse. So much worse that, when I tell you, your brains will be all over the ceiling too (no, don’t close this email to preserve your brain, don’t you dare, keep reading or suffer the wrath of Past Erica, Birch Supreme, Ruler of All That Is Evil—PS. if you’re new to my newsletters, we all hate Past Erica here. That birch is the reason why I spend 5000 years editing, she leaves the first drafts the worst mess you can imagine so the hatred is justified, I promise!)

Okay, where was I … Oh yes. I remember now. Too many brooding males. It all began yesterday. The sun was shining. The skies were blue. The birds were chirping and—

Okay so actually it was raining and windy and miserable. But still, I was having a rare, wonderful day. It was my day off, and for those stalking—err, following—me, you know I have one day a week where I don’t edit but instead work on side projects and do writing things. Well, there’s this series I’ve been planning for years. It’s been building in my mind, characters huffing and puffing and growling and grumbling. And on some of my off days, I let myself visit their world, creating timelines, talking to the characters, peeling back their faces and spying on the brain behind (but you know… less serial-killer-y).

And I was making lists (I love lists. Lists are life) because I was trying to figure out who would end up in the heroine’s harem. So I sat down. Wrote the list. Counted the names. Counting. Counting. Counting… And I had EIGHT freaking names on there! Eight characters all loud enough, intriguing enough, brooding enough to be heroes, and ALL expressing interest in the heroine (although some did somewhat reluctantly). The nerve of these guys…

Anyways, seeing as Past Erica has tortured me enough over the years, I flat out refuse to be stuck with a series where I have to juggle EIGHT insistent alpha personalities. So I’m going to kill some of them (yes, not just move them to another story, straight up MURDER them—before they ever get to step foot on a page—because they’ve seen the heroine now and there’s no way they’ll walk quietly into a different story and fall for a different woman).

So the question is … how many do I murder (and keep in mind, they’ll be dead BEFORE the books are written, so no one (besides me) will really mourn them)? I’ve always preferred harems around 3-4 guys. But ALL of these males are SO alive. How do I choose? Dammit, I went into this #whychoose life so I wouldn’t face this terrible dilemma. I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist you guys help me out—it’s only fair you guys face this with me. So … take the poll below and help me dammit!