Christmas Witch Movie: A Magickal Location That Inspired a Scene
Some places hold a kind of quiet magic that you don't fully notice until you're sitting inside them, coffee in hand, watching the light move across the room… and suddenly you realize: this place has always been part of my story.
That's how I feel about Arizona Mountain Coffee Co.
Edwin Modlin II and Paige Freeman Hoover as Duncan and Cerridwen Baelfyre.
Specifically, the Pinetop location — with its beautiful blue swirling counters and the way sunlight streams through the windows like it knows exactly where to land. There's something about that space that feels like it was made for storytelling. Warm. Unhurried. A little bit enchanted.
So when it came time to find the perfect home for the Highland Cow Coffee Co. scene in The Christmas Witch, I didn't have to look very far.
A Place That's Been Part of My Story All Along
Before it was ever a film location, Arizona Mountain Coffee Co. was woven into my creative life in the most personal of ways.
I wrote my very first book at the Show Low location — a self-care workbook that's currently being lovingly re-imagined for a second release. That same cozy shop later hosted my very first book signing for The Christmas Witch. I can still feel the nerves and joy of that day… sitting at a table surrounded by books, meeting readers, realizing that this world I'd built in my imagination had found its way into other people's hands.
Owners David and Heidi Brown have created something that goes beyond a coffee shop. It's a veteran-owned, family-run space that feels like a gathering place — warm, welcoming, and just a little bit magickal. Over the years, they've become genuinely connected to my writing life. The kind of connection that grows quietly, over cups of coffee and conversations and years of showing up in the same beloved space.
The Scene That Called for This Place
In the book, Cerridwen quietly reflects on missing her late husband Duncan. It's an interior moment — tender, aching, intimate.
But in film, interior has to become visible. Emotion has to live somewhere the camera can find it.
So I wrote a new flashback scene. A chance to actually show the depth of their relationship — the joy of it, the warmth of it, and the ache of carrying that kind of love after loss. It's one of my favorite things about adaptation: you're not copying a story, you're translating it into a new language. And sometimes that translation asks you to invent something new in order to honor what was always true.
I needed a location that could hold that kind of feeling. Somewhere that felt intimate and alive — a place where people linger, where light and warmth and connection already exist. The Pinetop location of Arizona Mountain Coffee Co. answered before I even finished asking.
Becoming Highland Cow Coffee Co.
Those beautiful blue swirling counters. The light pouring through the windows. The way the whole space breathes with a kind of cozy, unhurried magic.
It was already the scene. We just had to show up and film it.
We've even tucked some Highland Cow Coffee Co. merch inside the shop — a little Easter egg for fans who visit in person before the film releases. If you've been in recently and spotted something unexpected on the shelves… now you know.
I can't wait for you to see this location on screen. It's one of those moments where the real world and the story world blur in the most beautiful way.
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