A Cozy Christmas Podcast

In today's episode, we wrap up the 2022 Christmas Season with a cozy Christmas conversation with mystery author Peggy Ehrhart. She is the author of the Knit and Nibble mysteries, and has written several Christmas books for the series. In this episode we talk about her journey to becoming a published author, which includes being a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature! Th...

It's almost Christmas, and today I want to give you a story and a message for Christmas. I've had a few listeners wondering if I could address some of my thoughts about the religious significance of Christmas. So in today's episode I want to talk about what Christmas means to me, what my faith means to me, and how the two are connected. I also read you a very sweet and inspiring story written by L...

Today, we're celebrating the 100th episode of A Cozy Christmas podcast. I have a Q&A section where I answer questions and share Christmas memories from the audience. Then singer/songwriter Rehya Stevens and I sit down and catch up on life, and we talk about our favorite Christmas albums and the memories we have of them. Rehya then gives us some great tips on how to show kindness towards others dur...

The worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens collide! In today's episode I talk to writer/director Mark Shanahan - who's back on the show to talk more about his play A Sherlock Carol. Along for the ride is his partner in this endeavor, Drew McVety - he stars as Sherlock Holmes and is also one of the producers. After we catch up with Mark and find out all about how Drew portrays Sherlock Ho...

Hello! My guest today is cozy mystery writer Carol J. Perry. She is the author of the Haunted Haven series and the Witch City Mystery series. We have a fun conversation talking about her books. I'd especially recommend her most recent one called "High Spirits", as it takes place at Christmas. Later on, the conversation turns to Christmas and we talk about some of her favorite memories and traditio...

Hello! Since I've been talking to a lot of mystery writers lately, I thought I should read a classic crime story to you today - "Stuffing" by Edgar Wallace. It's basically a story of a heist gone wrong, and Wallace skillfully weaves together the stories of a poor newly married couple about to leave for Canada to start a new job, a couple of crooks, and a rich man with a safe full of money. The sto...

Hello friends, today's episode brings much joy... Sarah Joy Kane is our guest! I catch up with her and find out about the musical she's in, Scrooge No More, currently showing at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. If you're able to see her in the performance, tell her I said hello! Then we talk about her life as a military wife and what we can do to help support our troops and their families. And then we...

Dead bodies keep turning up at the North Pole. Good thing that Mrs. Claus is on the case! That's right, I have Liz Ireland, author of the Mrs. Claus Cozy Mystery Series. She's here to talk about her new book "Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves" and we have a wonderful chat about her book, Christmas, and of course Charles Dickens and a Christmas Carol. Can you guess which of us has more copies of Christ...

For my youtube viewers, today's episode is going to look a little bit different... it's a video version! If you'd like to watch this episode instead of listening, you can head over to the youtube channel at A Cozy Christmas Podcast!  In today's episode, I had a lot of fun talking to Tiffany, the host of the youtube channel The Beachbum Bookworm. We talk about cozy mysteries that are set at Christm...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Today, we're talking turkey... In today's episode I take a brief look at where the tradition of eating turkey comes from, and discover a few traditional Christmas meals from around the world. Then I read Louisa May Alcott's short story, "A Christmas Turkey, and How It Came". Does this old story still have a relevant message for us today? Indeed it does. But it's also a...

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Since Thanksgiving is coming, I know a lot of us are thinking about one thing: food. So on today's episode, I'll be talking to Author Jessica Thompson about her culinary cozy mystery series, A Caterer's Guide to Crime. Book 2 in the series is set at Christmas and is on sale now. Jessica and I talk about her books, and discuss our favorite Christmas music, treats, books, me...

Hello everyone - today we are talking poetry. I have the amazing North Pole Poet Laureate with me today, Amy Marschak. She was named by Santa himself to spread Christmas cheer throughout the world by her improv poetry. That's right - improv! So in today's episode I talk to her about life as Santa's poet, and then she kindly demonstrates her talent and comes up with several poems for me with just a...

In today's episode I interview the author of "Twas The Night - The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem". This book by Pamela McColl is what I consider to be the definitive work on the poem. I also talk with my daughter Gracie about what she's been up to at school, and we learn about the school musical she will be in this year that has a very strong Christmas connection! Happy Christmas P...

Welcome to the Cozy Christmas Podcast Halloween Spooktacular! In today's episode I am in the Halloween and Christmas spirit as I have Kristin Seering, the host of the Holidays After Dark podcast, on to talk about one of our favorite films, "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas"! Kristin and I talk about the film and the fantastic music, our memories of the movie, favorite songs and lines, a...

In this episode, I hope to help you get in the Halloween mood, as I have a delightful Christmas story for you today... one that is perfect for Halloween! Today I read for you The Signal Man by Charles Dickens. It was a story published in the collection called "Mugby Junction" that was published for Christmas 1866. Charles Dickens edited the collection and added a couple of other stories by other a...

Happy October! Today's episode is pretty special - it was mostly written by you, my listeners! A few days ago I posted a question on my social medias, "Is Santa real?" and you all responded en masse... in today's episode I read many of your responses and talk about them, and then end the episode with an original true story that inspired this entire episode. One of my listeners named Daniel Morgan...

Derick McDuff from the Underrated movie podcast joins me today to talk about 5 Christmas movies he thinks are underrated. Do you agree with him? Take a listen and find out. #1 will surprise you... We also take a few moments to talk about our favorite Christmas memories and gifts, as well as discuss the best on screen portrayal of Santa! Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments on my s...

Hello Cozies, in today's episode I'll be reading the short story "Christmas Jenny" by Mary E Wilkins Freeman. It's a charming little Christmas story that celebrates kindness and has some really fun characters in it. I hope you'll enjoy it! But before I get to the story, I talk about this month's reading prompt and a couple of fun news items that I'll be doing in September! Enjoy! Mentioned in the...

Hello everyone! I'm back from an unplanned hiatus, and I'm reading to dive into the 'Ber months with my Christmas cheer. Today's episode is a fun one - I start things off talking about my crazy August and a misadventure with a bat. Then I open the mail bag and share some emails that have come my way. The majority of the episode is then given over to a discussion with the filmmakers from the recent...

In today's episode I read a selection from Jane Austen's novel "Emma". Emma Woodhouse is attending a Christmas Eve party and she has big plans to play matchmaker for her friend Harriet Smith and the eligable bachelor Mr. Elton. But you know what they say about the best laid plans... I also share a story about one of my Christmases gone wrong! So settle in for another cozy story as we bring Christm...

Happy Christmas in July! Buckle up, because this episode has a little bit of everything in it - I finally catch up with Gracie and she talks about her role in our community theater's production of The Sound of Music. We then talk about our trip to Bronner's Christmas Store, and of course had to taste test some cookies I picked up from there. After that we get very silly and attempt to talk in Brit...

Happy Christmas in July! I'm back from vacation and ready to count down the next 6 months to Christmas. We're going to get things started by talking about a couple of book related things. I also recommend a new Christmas novel I came across recently that I really enjoyed. Our story today is called "The Christmas Dream and How It Came True" by Louisa May Alcott. It's a really sweet story about a yo...

Today I am interviewing cozy mystery author Darci Hannah. She is the author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series, and has written a wonderful Christmas mystery called Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off. Join us as we chat about her mystery series, our favorite Christmas cookies, movies, music and traditions. Then we play another fun game of Christmas Would You Rather! There's a lot of laughs...

Our Christmas story wraps up this week with part 3 of The Burglar and The Blizzard by Alice Miller. Things get tense as the story's characters enjoy a somewhat tense Christmas dinner. Will Geoffrey be able to get McVey to confess, or will McVey out smart him? Will McVey's sister discover the truth about him? Will true love (for a woman he just met mere hours ago) triumph? Find out how the story al...

Happy Monday - this episode should have been out sooner but life got too hectic last week and there were some technical dragons to slay. But we're back with part 2 of Alice Duer Miller's The Burglar and the Blizzard. This book is actually for April's reading prompt - stay tuned for next week's episode for part 3, and I will be announcing our next reading prompt! I'm calling this episode Baby, It's...