Dear Julian Fellowes, Valerie Bowman and Ashlyn Macnamara have requests
Historical authors Valerie Bowman and Ashlyn Macnamara share their suggestions with creator Julian Fellowes for season six of Downton Abbey. Valerie's The Unlikely Lady comes out May 5, and Ashlyn's What a Lady Requires is out now.
Dear Mr. Fellowes,
Thank you for the years of entertainment that Downton Abbey has provided to so many of us. We'd like to commend you on your work and offer a few suggestions for future episodes. Forgive us, but we're writers, too, and we have strong opinions!
On the subject of Mr. Bates …
VB: (with all due apologies to the myriad Bates fans) Please send Mr. Bates to jail and keep him there. I am in the minority that thinks he actually is a serial killer and don't believe for a second that he didn't kill Vera or Mr. Rapist, the valet. Anna could do better. Just sayin'. And while we're on the subject, he doesn't seem to walk with a limp anymore. What's that about?
AM: I have to admit I'm not terribly interested in Bates, and when the whole did-Bates-kill-Green storyline dragged out, I rolled my eyes. It had been done already with his ex-wife, so yeah. Actually, I think Bates as a serial killer would make him more interesting. I have a suggestion or two for who he could off next. Larry Grey, anyone? I'd love to see him die a slow, painful death for messing with the very obvious love between Lord Merton and Isobel.
Another one he could off is Miss Bunting. Oh, wait. Lord Grantham would probably give him a medal for that.
VB: Oh, Bates should kill Miss Bunting. Yes! With Grantham assisting in the cover-up. I'd make popcorn to watch that.
About Thomas …
VB: Give Thomas a love interest. If you could somehow score Henry Cavill or a Cavill lookalike, all the better. Thomas is one of my favorite characters. I know he's supposed to be a villain, but I love him. Good job on having him dig up dirt on Rose's nasty new father-in-law. Ooh, maybe Bates could kill that guy.
AM: I used to love to hate Thomas back in the early seasons, while he plotted with Miss O'Brien over their cigarettes. I really loved watching him use his powers for, well, semi-good in the last couple of episodes of the latest season, and I vote for more of that next season. And you know, you may not have gotten Henry Cavill, but it sounds like Andy that footman-for-hire might be back. I think Thomas has his eye on him.
Oh, Edith …
AM: Now can we discuss Edith, please? She has been through enough. The whole Gregson storyline was promising, because it gave her something to do that didn't involve cat-fighting with Mary. But then you had to add drama and kill off Gregson, which led directly to sad-sack, droopy Edith. She's such a downer. Now that she's inherited Gregson's newspapers, can we go back to strong, career-girl Edith? Please?
And by the way, Edith was born in the wrong century to name her daughter anything so flower-child as Marigold.
VB: Yes, sad-sack Edith has turned into Debbie Downer. I want her to stage a career-girl comeback and steal one of Mary's beaus while maniacally laughing.
AM: Thankfully, with the last episode of the season, things might finally be looking up for her. Please, please continue in that vein.
And the rest of the cast …
AM: I have to say the older characters are generally more interesting than the younger ones now. I don't care about Lady Mary and her tangled love life. I get a huge kick out of Violet and Isobel taking tea and doing puzzles while Violet's servants conduct a small-scale war in the background.
VB: Agreed. The two old ladies are stealing the show! I was vaguely interested in a Violet/Prince Kuragin hook-up (though I didn't want to see it), but mostly would prefer Violet just stamp her cane at people and continue to say the old, formal English lady equivalent of sassy things.
AM: As for the servants, now that they're engaged, Carson and Mrs. Hughes need to go off on, shall we say, a weekend getaway … I hope they go to their new retirement cottage and, uh, break in all the rooms. ;-)
VB: Also, agreed. And also, I don't want to see that either.
AM: Agreed on all counts. No need to go all Claire-and-Jamie-on-Outlander with the older folks. A nice, tasteful fade to black will do. Just do me a big favor, Mr. Fellowes. Don't turn them into Anna and Bates 2.0 and make them miserable at every turn now they've decided to tie the knot.
VB: Please stop trying to make drama out of Mr. Molesley. Dying his hair black was about as exciting as this man got. Leave him be. I'd rather see Rose do the Charleston in front of Buckingham Palace or the ghost of Lady Sybil walking the halls and scaring people.
AM: Better yet, send Molesley back to work at Violet's. Maybe he and Spratt can team up to plot against Violet's new lady's maid.
We love the show, Mr. Fellowes, and hope you like our suggestions. And if not, we completely understand. Everyone's got an opinion on storyline, we know. We've read our own reviews.
Your fans,
Valerie and Ashlyn
P.S.: We both realized Isis, in terms of dog years, was old, old, old. But did you have to drag out her demise? Couldn't she just have quietly run off to the happy hunting grounds, or however they thought of it in 1924? Oh, and we're gonna need a puppy in season six!
ABOUT VALERIE
Valerie Bowman writes Racy Regency Romps. Her books have received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus. She's been an RT Reviewers' Choice nominee for Best First Historical Romance and Best Historical Romance Love and Laughter. Two of her books have been nominated for the Kirkus Prize for fiction. Find her on the web at www.ValerieBowmanBooks.com.
About The Unlikely Lady (courtesy of St. Martin's Paperbacks):
Miss Jane Lowndes is careful to wield her books as weapons against matrimony. Convincing her ambitious mama that she's content to stay a spinster is easier said than done, however. It's a good thing Jane is not above a bit of manufactured scandal if it will keep her from the altar, and the argumentative, contrary
Lord Garrett Upton…
Garrett is determined to enjoy his bachelor's life while he can, even when it means attending a house party in celebration of a friend's wedding—and suffering Jane's notorious disdain.
When two such headstrong people are determined to remain unattached, can love lead to a happy ending?
ABOUT ASHLYN
Ashlyn Macnamara writes Regency romance with a dash of wit and a hint of wicked. She considers this writing gig her mid-life crisis but reckons it's safer than sky diving or rock climbing. She's an RT nominee for Best Digital First/Indie Press Historical Romance. You can find out more at ashlynmacnamara.net.
About What a Lady Requires (courtesy of Loveswept):
Perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries, Ashlyn Macnamara's blazing hot novel tells the story of mismatched newlyweds who discover a simmering connection.
Unlike every other proper young lady, Miss Emma Jennings views marrying well as little more than a means to an end. Such a merger would provide her industrious father with social credibility, and Emma with a chunk of her vast inheritance. Emma's practical views are shattered, however, when her father ties her to the fabulously handsome ne'er-do-well Rowan Battencliffe, a man she loathes on sight—from the smile that promises all manner of wickedness to the way he ogles her with those striking blue eyes.
Deep in debt, especially to his wine merchant, Rowan figures the sooner he gets his finances in order, the sooner he can go back to doing what he does best: burning through ridiculous sums of cash. Which is why Rowan agrees to marry the merchant's daughter, a prim and proper woman with delightful curves and an ample dowry. But Emma seems to think it's her business to reform him! Their marriage is a tinderbox—and it's just too tempting to resist playing with fire.