Viscount Publishing Announces its Launch as a Book Publishing Company

Newport, United Kingdom, April 12, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Disabled psychologist, Sylvia Farley and her carer Ray Stokes both have their first books out this year  to help raise funds for the charities they work hard to support. They both write whimsical, romantic fantasies about the supernatural, set on the Isle of Wight and the Dorset Coast.

Both Sylvia and Ray have been writing for years. They have  had poetry and short stories recorded, broadcast and in print, but always fell short of their main objectives, to publish a novel and (think big) have it made into a film. 

Sylvia met Ray two years ago when she was very ill at Christmas and no caring agency was available to help. He came from Sheerness in answer to her S.O.S and stayed to become her full-time carer. She had been at her wits end to survive alone as it was so difficult to find reliable caring staff for the kind of wages she could offer from her Direct Care and Disablement Allowances. He was looking for a job that provide a minimum income to live on and allow him plenty of time to pursue his love of writing. He had experience of caring and of Multiple Sclerosis as he had raised his daughter single-handed and his mother also has MS. 

Sylvia says,“Ray has been the perfect enabler, not just helping me to live in my own home with safety and dignity, but sharing my interests in the community, getting me out and about and making it possible for me to share my skills with others and make a positive contribution. He also encouraged me to try writing again and challenged me to write a book and get it published at the same time as himself. Since he is dyslexic, we made a pact to help each other, he would help me hone my story-telling skills and I would edit his texts.”

Together they set up Viscount Publishing.  Ray’s books, “Emma of Lulworth Cove” and “Thelma’s Cottage” are now on sale worldwide, together with Sylvia’s Sci-fi book “Hosts of Angels” written under her pen-name Amelia May Kingston. She has also written “The Triumph of Hope,” an autobiographical book on BDSM and alternative sexuality, the subject of her projected Doctoral thesis. 

But Ray has gone even better and has raised interest in the film rights to his books which he has turned into screen plays with Sylvia’s editing assistance. Now they are exploring the possibility of producing their own films through their new film company, Newcomen Productions. 

From researching light in the Arctic to building palaces on the equator; from night-club singer to landlady providing bed, breakfast and evening meals for lorry drivers: Sylvia’s life has never been dull. In spite of having Multiple Sclerosis since her teens, she has raised a family of three and, on her old Yorkshire doctor’s advice, said “No!" to "nowt”. Now a qualified psychologist, (B.A.(Psych) Hons and working towards a research Doctorate) Sylvia maintains a free self-help self-esteem website for people dealing with loss issues.

Ray is no less fascinating a personality. He has served in all three armed services and the police and been seconded to the American Navy. He served in Northern Ireland, was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and a hostage in Beirut. But he does not consider his present work a come-down. He points out that working as a carer has the highest known levels of job satisfaction. He is useful and trusted and it gives him plenty of time to think and to pursue his literary career.

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