Claire Sewell

When Ava Shaw’s biological clock starts ticking and her maternal urges spring to life, it clashes with her long-held intellectual decision to be childfree. Out of Alignment, is about artist Ava and how she is torn between sacrificing her own needs for the needs of a child. For Ava’s peace of mind, she must decide whether to start a family with husband Harry, before her thirty-sixth birthday, in six months’ time. Ava’s quest is to find internal and external validation to put her own needs first. She seeks permission to be childfree-and to feel good about that choice. 

A short story that shows Ava’s journey to self-acceptance, Out of Alignment, centers on the struggle between Ava and family members who have their own thoughts about Ava’s quandary. This story will resonate with both childfree readers, and mothers, who struggle with the balance between nurturing themselves and nurturing others. The people in Ava’s life bring conflict to her already conflicted mind, through a crisis at Ava’s work—an acute psychiatric ward; the promise of an artist’s dream come true; a fake pregnancy while shoe shopping; a gem of truth from a professional intuitive, and the death of a dear friend. 

Ava comes to realize her own heart’s desire and finds the perfect outlet for her nurturing side.