Welcome to the 2019 Virago Secret Santa

Welcome to the 12th - Yes the 12th - Annual Virago Secret Santa Extravaganza! ✨

It's time to get start getting ready for that 'most wonderful time of the year' again! 🌲 🎁 🌲

Sign up between now and October 28 by leaving a message with your mailing address on either Jane's profile (BeyondEdenRock) or Karen's profile (kaggsy).

After that, the Virago Elves will work their magic. You will receive a private message from one giving you a number, and a new thread will appear in the group putting names to the numbers so you can find out who you will be sending your gift.

Please remember that only the Virago Elves and your Santa will know your address; and don't worry if you are not quite sure how this thing works. We have never had a question we couldn't answer or problem we haven't been able to fix, and we have always had wonderful fun..

It would be helpful if you indicate your shipping preferences (will ship anywhere, can only ship within your home country/continent, etc.)

Keep in mind that opening season runs from 21st December to New Year's Eve, and try to make sure your gifts arrive in good time.

There are some more details in the next post down, and please ask an Elf – or ask this thread – if you have any questions.

Old friends and newcomers will all be warmly welcomed!

The more the merrier!

Here are a few more details about just how this works:

- In the Virago Secret Santa, you send directly to the recipient. The Virago Elves have a tried and tested process that randomly matches people, and can take into account shipping preference, but if there is a problem - or if anyone draws themselves - we can arrange a swap so that everyone is happy

- You can shop for gifts and pack them up yourself, or you can use a bookseller that will ship direct. Amazon, The Book Depository, Wordery, Persephone Books and Honno Books will all do that, and I am sure there are others.

- You don't have to send Virago books, you can send anything you think the recipient might like. Look at their library here, look at links to other sites where they are active. There will be a 'Letters to Santa' thread after everyone is matched up, so you can see what your recipient might like and so that you can guide your own Santa a little.

- We will have a thread for reporting arrivals of packages to enjoy anticipation and to reassure you that the gift you sent has arrived, and a thread where we can all share in the excitement of each opening.

- We don't have a hard and fast guideline on how much to spend. $25-$30 was mentioned once, the cost of a couple of new books was mentioned another time, but the only thing we ask is you shop thoughtfully.

- You can look back through the threads from past Virago Secret Santas at our Wiki.

- Most importantly, this thing is fun and many, many lovely books have changed hands over the year.

Eeeeeeh! So exciting! Thanks for starting this and being Lead Elf again - such fun! 😁😁😁

I thought I heard the chimes and lilts of our lovely Virago elves! Thank you, dear Jane and Karen, for continuing this wonderful Virago tradition! 💚

I have always enjoyed this! Looking forward to it, but I won't actually be in town from 20 December onwards until after the new year. If that's not too frustrating for folks, I'm in.

Hooray! Thank you both for elfing!

>4 bleuroses: Thank you. It's a pleasure, and it is lovely to have you in our happy band again.

>5 LisaMorr: Not a problem at all - it will make the festivities last a little longer.

>6 LyzzyBee: It's a pleasure to be a Virago Elf!

Hooray I am definitely a yes. Thank you for the reminder Santa's elves.

I also want to join, loved it last year!

Greetings from Virago Elf HQ!

Thank you to everyone who has asked to be part of this lovely celebration. There are more of us than you night think from reading this thread, as some have signed up directly with an Elf, but we would like some more and it would be lovely to see some new participants.

Today is the last day for sign-ups, so if you've been meaning to join and haven't quite got to it yet now is the time.

There's no need to panic though, because until the thread with the list of numbers is posted we should be able to squeeze in anybody who asks.

Hello everyone - are we going to do a Secret Santa this year? I'd be totally up for any version, I know some of us are in tighter lockdown than others but things can be bought online if we (me) are worried about going to the shops, I would love just a mystery parcel of someone's duplicates or cast-offs, and I'm more than happy for a spending limit to be in place to protect anyone who is financially affected by the pandemic. I just love the web of connections in a trying world. I'll also help if needed of course.

>11 LyzzyBee: I was wondering about this too. I suspect one of the big problems would be mail delivery times, but I would think we are all willing to be forgiving if Santa is held up! It's sometimes even more fun to receive parcels after the big day is over.

Just as an example: a book mailed to me in Canada from Book Depository in the UK on March 28 (air mail), arrived on May 20th. Their normal time is usually about 8 days. Things have improved since then, but the Christmas rush may just slow things down again.

I'm also hoping this will go ahead and happy to help if needed.

I’m hoping too, I would love to get a Mystery parcel and it would be something to look forward to after this very difficult and strange year we are having.

We have had discussions at Virago Elf HQ and as the interest is there and it will provide a lovely light in a particularly dark winter, we will launch this year's Virago Secret Santa in a few days.

I may not be able to do very much Elf Duty this year, as I will be spending a good bit of time in the sick bay, and so we are looking to recruit an extra Elf or two. If you have expressed a willingness to help, please look out for an elfmail.

Please do elf-mail, Jane. I am able and very willing to help this year.