Have you ever had trouble completing a project?

Writers’ block. I could so relate to that. In Christmas Next Door famous writer Eric Redford (played by Jesse Metcalfe, and, as usual, he’s as cute as ever!) is struggling with his next book proposal. He’s an author of bachelor-style books and amidst his writing struggle, he receives an unexpected phone call from his mom. She’s “sick”. She can’t take care of his niece and nephew during Christmas so Eric has to step in and take the youngsters over the holidays.

Eric’s life is so carefree. He’s dating a pretty lady and he’s free to hang out with his buddies. However, Eric needs to get to know himself better and you get the sense that his mom is trying to help him. I think she knows her son is unsettled and she realizes he needs some changes in his life – so she orchestrates the visit with his niece and nephew.

Eric is struggling to take care of the two youngsters, so, he solicits help from April, his attractive violin-playing neighbor. April is used to teaching music to kids and she’s getting ready for a big audition. She gets along with Eric’s niece and nephew and slowly shows Eric that Christmas is not so bad.

However, April is leery of Eric. She’s employed as a violinist at a fancy restaurant and runs into her handsome playboy neighbor. She’s offended by his comments, but, deep down, she knows she’s attracted to him. But, Eric has a girlfriend and he supposedly loves his bachelor lifestyle. He’s obviously not a good match for her….or is he?

I enjoyed hearing April play the violin. I did some research online and discovered that the actress who plays April does not really play the violin. The violin-playing was staged, but, it was still, oh-so lovely.

I thought it was cute when Eric kept finding Christmas decorations in his yard! He mistakenly suspects April is the culprit – secretly leaving decorations in his yard at night. It was sweet when his niece and nephew trick him into purchasing a huge Christmas tree. Eric is a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas, but, his niece and nephew, as well as April, show him that the holiday can be oh-so enjoyable! That turkey he made near the end looked delicious!

What I liked most about this movie is that Eric finds out that bachelorhood is not all it’s cracked up to be. He finally finds the “cure” for his writers’ block – he writes a different kind of story, a story that’s the total opposite of what he’s written in the past.

As stated earlier, I could relate to Eric’s writers’ block. I’ve suffered from that occasionally in the past and it is NOT fun! I could also relate to Eric meeting with his agent. I’ve worked with a literary agent in the past and the process can sometimes involve a meeting of three minds: author – agent – publisher; working together to create a wonderful project that the readership should enjoy!

So, have you ever suffered from writers’ block – or something similar – in the past? What did you do about it?

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