Eli’s Quiet Friend: An Interview with the Author, Sr. Allison Regina Gliot, FSP

Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Sister Allison Regina Gliot, FSP via phone call on December 18th, 2024. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.

Share your vocation story.

When I was at the Catholic University of America I felt called to the religious life and one of the Daughters of Saint Paul was a classmate of mine. She invited me to discernment events. When I was visiting with the daughters the prayer centered on the Scriptures and the Eucharist, it really resonated with me. I entered the Daughters of Saint Paul in 2017 and made your first profession of vows in 2021. 

Does every Daughter of Saint Paul work in the publishing house?

It depends on their skillset. We have some that work in the book centers, some that travel for talks and parishes. Some that work online. But it’s all about evangelization with the types of media we have today and the most effective means of communication. 

Tell more about how Eli’s Quiet Friend developed.

I have written a few other children’s stories. The ground was watered for this book at reading Fr. Matthew Schneider’s book God Loves the Autistic Mind. This book was published by Pauline Books & Media, which is the publishing house of the Daughters of Saint Paul. He is a friend of our community and I helped in the editorial department at the time of his book being released. 

I wasn’t thinking about writing a story about Eucharistic Adoration or about a boy on the autism spectrum. But it was more about thinking about this specific encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, that Eli was the best character I found to experience Jesus in that way. Eli’s autism is not an extra add-on, it is the story, the story wouldn’t work without him the way he is. 

How much input did you have into the artwork?

I had some with the artistic notes I had I made some suggestions for the art style, but Pauline Books & Media did make the final say with the artist. The sound effects had such an interplay with the art so I did make a list of the types of sounds that would be found in each scene of the book. 

How did you land on the name Eli?

It wasn’t a specific choice I made. I don’t plan a lot of things when I write. Eli could be short for Elijah. The story of Elijah the prophet is the story-within-the story. Elijah heard God in the quiet. Eli is able to follow in his namesake’s footsteps by meeting God in the quiet and he is inspired to do that because of the story of Elijah. 

Elijah’s encounter in the Old Testament with God has many parallels with how we encounter God today, how did you settle on Elijah as the mini-story? I think because his story is the hinge story that teaches Eli how to hear in Eucharistic Adoration. 

I have always been struck personally by this Old Testament story. I love to pray with this story so it fits naturally with Eli’s story. 

There’s so much fruit from the Eucharistic Revival, I feel like this book is one of those fruits, since you’ve written this book how have you noticed the Eucharistic Revival more? 

I actually wrote it before the Eucharistic Revival started so for me writing the book was a preparation for the Eucharistic Revival. My hope is that this book will be a resource for people to continue with the revival in their lives. I do hope it’s a story that the kids will appreciate and want to read again. 

How do you see the Church in the post-revival?

So we are on fire with the Eucharist, now we have to integrate this with our normal lives. Now is the time for the seeds planted during the Eucharistic Revival to be grown and bear fruit. 

What message would you tell neuro-divergent Catholics about how to live the faith? 

Based on Eli’s Quiet Friend my hope is that they know God loves them and will meet them where they are today. 

Where can we find more information about you and Eli (and your other books)?

There’s bonus material for Eli’s Quiet Friend on my website: gliot.pauline.org 

Any last words of wisdom for our readers?

Know you are in my prayers and that God loves you and you will always be able to find Him ever more deeply in the Eucharist.

Author Bio

Sr. Allison Regina Gliot, FSP, has always loved reading and telling stories (the more fantastical the better). She fell in love with Jesus while she was in college and became a Daughter of St. Paul after graduation so that she could spend the rest of her life with him. Since then, she’s had many adventures, the most recent of which involves serving as an editor for Pauline Books & Media, the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul. She spends every scrap of her free time writing books for children and young adults.