Dear Author, let me thank you right up front for the story you are going to write. I've put some suggestions below. However, if none of those prospects appeals, then I am certainly open to your writing me something different.

On the whole, I'd prefer a story that is more-or-less gen—though that depends, of course, on what characters are included during which period in their lives. I certainly don't want canon ignored; it's more a question of focus. Backstory, missing scene, an exploration of characters often overlooked....

I'd prefer something canon-compliant in terms of setting and characterization. However, as some of my suggestions indicate, futurefic would obviously be okay.


General Guidelines:

As far as general guidelines are concerned, I seem to say pretty much the same thing for every gift exchange. (Which makes sense, I guess.)

What I Like:
* Plot and/or character (both being the ideal, of course!)
* A sense of humour and being able to recognize the ridiculous when it pops up; also wit and wordplay, if the story calls for them. Having said that, I totally leave it up to you whether you write a serious or comic story—or a serious story with comic interludes.
* Background accuracy, esp. for stories with an historical setting, which is certainly true of The Charioteer.
* Rating: no higher than PG13, please.

What I Dislike:
* Explicit sex, especially if long and detailed. No objection to hints, but I'm not into plumbing.


Suggestions

I requested the following characters: Matron, Mrs Timmings, Gareth Straike, Sandy Reid, Andrew Raynes, Alec Deacon, Ralph Lanyon, and Hugh Treviss. I assure you I'm not asking you to write all of them in the same story!

• I'd be interested to read about Matron's perspective on the E.M.S. hospital beyond what little Renault tells us. The woman can hardly be a conscript from what we know of her background: did she volunteer, then? And why? While you may well work in other characters from the book, nurses are probably more likely to be relevant than patients. (I'm not looking for a story focusing on Matron's p.o.v. on Laurie.)



• Mrs Timmings must have her own perspective on the Odells. Laurie, of course, has always been away for much of the year. What is his mother like to work for? Mrs Odell's courtship by the vicar must be the talk of the village, quite apart from its potential effect on Mrs Timmings' own future. There is also the question of her own personal life: is there a Mr Timmings?
  
  
• I'm well aware that Gareth Straike is one of those characters whom a lot of people loathe with a passion. Nevertheless, I doubt if he sees himself as one of the villains of the book.



• I know a lot of Renault fans are also into World War II history. Sandy Reid shares a surname with Pat Reid, who was Escape Officer at Colditz. Obvious crossover material: maybe they're cousins?



• I'm curious about possible futurefic at the end of the war: what if Andrew Raynes is in Europe with the Friends' Ambulance Unit and encounters Alec Deacon, who is a surgeon with the army? This could be slash, but doesn't have to be: I'm actually more interested in their different reactions to what is going on in 1945.



• If backstory is of interest, perhaps a school story about Ralph Lanyon and Hugh Treviss? They were clearly close friends long before the crisis of Chapter Two. I don't see their relationship as slash (or why Ralph/Hazell, after all). Nevertheless, Hugh may have guessed more than Ralph ever realized.