Raymond Arroyo releases wild new children’s series thanks to encouragement early in career
The B.C. Catholic
The author of Mother Angelica’s official biography credits the late nun for strengthening him as a person and a storyteller.
Raymond Arroyo, a bestselling author, a news anchor, and a journalist, published the story of EWTN’s cloistered foundress a decade ago. It was his first book.
“Telling Mother’s story 10 years ago really liberated me as a storyteller and gave me the freedom to tell big stories and to trust that I could do it,” he told The B.C. Catholic after a visit to Vancouver in May.
He approached the major project with some trepidation. She was a well-known and beloved figure and TV personality; he was a first-time author.
“She told me: ‘Look, being afraid is not the problem. Doing nothing when you’re afraid, that’s the problem. Take the first step. The grace comes with the first step,'” Arroyo recalled.
“That’s true. You have to trust, and go and risk. She taught me that. She gave me that freedom. It’s been a great gift that goes on.”
Mother Angelica died on Easter Sunday, April 27, this year. Thanks to her encouragement and the chance to immortalize her life and influence on paper, Arroyo has gone on to publish several more works. Many, including that first biography, are New York Times bestsellers.
His latest book, released in March, is the first of a brand-new adventure series for children called Will Wilder: The Relic of Perilous Falls.
Reviewers have called the book a cross between Percy Jackson and Indiana Jones, an action-packed story featuring an intrepid 12-year-old hero, ancient secrets, and the battle between good and evil.
It seems to hold promise as a children’s classic; The Relic of Perilous Falls was published by Random House’s Barbara Marcus, who also published six of the seven Harry Potter books.
Though it uses some historical facts, it is Arroyo’s first step into the world of fiction. He gained the backbone for the series after a trip to Ireland in 2012.
Overseas, he picked up a newspaper with the bold front-page headline: “Relic of St. Lawrence O’Toole stolen.” A thief had snuck into Christ Church Cathedral and taken the 800-year-old heart of the patron saint of Dublin.
“Why would anybody want to steal a relic when you can take antiquities, gold, diamonds, and jewels? They had things all over this church and in the basement on display. Why is that what you break in and take?”
Soon he had his adventurous protagonist, Will Wilder, discover his grandfather’s treasure trove of relics and antiquities, try to borrow one, and unleash an adventure full of monsters, family secrets, and lessons about tradition, temptation, and grace.
“As the plot unfolds, he discovers that he is part of a much larger story,” Arroyo said.
“This is kind of my approach to life and history. We are all very connected. There’s a plan here. I think we are created for a purpose, each of us, and we’re interlocking. If one of us drops the ball, it confounds the path for others.”
The Relic of Perilous Falls has been well received in Catholic and public schools, and Arroyo has plans for at least four books in this wild series.
“If it wasn’t for Mother Angelica, there would be no Will Wilder. She really gave me the bandwidth as a writer to undertake something like it.”
Arroyo has also just released the sequel and “final act” of Mother Angelica’s biography, called Her Grand Silence: Last Years and Living Legacy. Mother Angelica’s death came after a long illness; she suffered a stroke in 2001.
The book, published May 17, “really is about the rich value at the end of a life, even a life that the world looks upon as somehow lacking value,” the author said.
“Here’s an invalid who couldn’t feed herself. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t even talk at the end. And yet she’s touching millions of lives from this corner room through her sacrifice and her prayer.”
The book includes letters from people in Africa, Asia, and the Americas who testify to her influence in their lives.
“Stories should challenge us,” said the bestselling author. “Stories are really survival guides for all of us. They teach us how to survive in life.
“Whether it’s Will Wilder or Mother Angelica, they are speaking to very different audiences, but the effect is the same. We should come away with life lessons that we should learn and emulate in our own lives, or reject in our own lives.”
