As long as she can remember, Sister Allison Regina Gliot has loved books. “Growing up, I loved reading, and that was how I deepened my faith life, too, through reading books as a young person,” she said.
So, it’s only natural that Sister Allison went on to write books through her religious vocation as a Daughter of St. Paul. Her religious order evangelizes through media, including books, videos and social media. She has published two children’s books — “The Book that Changed Everything” and “Eli’s Quiet Friend” — and co-authored “Forgiven: A Guide to Confession & the Examen Prayer.”
The oldest of three girls, she grew up in a military family and eventually settled in Northern Virginia. She attended Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, where she took a history class with IHM Sister Maureen Christopher, “or Sister Mo, as we affectionately called her,” she said. Her time with Sister Mo, whose frank personality and descriptive storytelling entertained students, “helped me realize that there’s more than one way to be a sister.”
She went on to attend The Catholic University of America in Washington in 2012, where she grew in her prayer life. After much prayer in adoration, she realized, “If God is a person, he also has a personality, and he’s someone you can get to know and talk to. And that was how I started falling in love with him.”
Discerning the religious life came gradually. When one of her friends, Daughter of St. Paul Emily Beata, invited Sister Allison to witness her renewal of vows — temporary professed sisters renew their vows annually before their perpetual profession — she attended out of curiosity. “I went along to that and really liked it and realized the sisters were not scary,” Sister Allison said.
As a college senior, she realized all her future ambitions lay in a life dedicated to Christ and the church. She began discernment with the vocations director of the Daughters of St. Paul and entered as a postulant in January 2017.
Her love of writing grew with her relationship with Christ. Back in college, “I did start creative writing just on my own with my college roommate. We would write stories together just as a form of entertainment,” Sister Allison said. She often felt God sparking her creativity as her prayer life deepened.
“He would give me ideas in my prayer about these stories, or he’d tell me stories if I’m trying to fall asleep or something,” she said with a laugh. “So writing became a way for me to spend fun time with Jesus.”
For her first few years in the order, Sister Allison quietly co-authored stories “with Jesus.” One day, she submitted a sample manuscript to the order’s publishing house, Pauline Books and Media Publishing.
Time passed, and a sister at the publishing house reached out, asking Sister Allison to continue writing and polishing her manuscript. Her superiors then invited her to study creative writing at the academic level.
Now, Sister Allison is studying for a master of fine arts in creative writing at Lasell University in Newton, Mass. She also is an editor for the order’s publishing firm.
Each of Sister Allison’s books holds a special place in her heart, but her most recent children’s book may resonate with many Catholic parents with neurodivergent children. “Eli’s Quiet Friend,” published this year, tells the story of a little boy, Eli, who has autism. Eli wears a noise-silencing headset and totes his sensory stuffed octopus sidekick as his grandma takes him on a walk to Eucharistic adoration across the noisy city. As he clings to his grandma’s hand, Eli faces the challenge of city noise and overwhelming stimuli. Illustrated by Emily Boughton, the book’s illustrations vibrantly demonstrate the unique challenges Eli faces as well as his courage.
Sister Allison recalled that growing up, she didn’t receive much education on what the autism spectrum was, and now, she wants to change that for the next generation.
“I think it would have been helpful to me to understand that not everyone experiences the world the way that I do, and that there are other experiences out there. And I think a book like this would have helped me, at that time, to be a better friend to my friends who are on the spectrum,” she said.
So, what’s next? Sister Allison is writing a faith-informed urban supernatural trilogy for young teens and young adults. “I don’t think I can say much more than that,” she said with a smile.
“I have no idea that this was something that God would have in store for me, the direction he would take my life,” she said. She has come to realize that no matter a person’s vocation, “It’s a beautiful adventure to give your life to God and see what happens.”
Find out more
For Sr. Allison’s books, go to gliot.pauline.org.
