Chasing the Tail Part 1&2

by Jason Allen Amelio

It's all true.

All the stories you heard about Dragons terrorizing medieval countrysides, only to be slain by the heroic knight, actually happened. Well, not every single one but you get the idea. For centuries now The Table and its knights have fought in secret to keep humanity safe from dragonkind, passing this sacred duty down through the generations.

Meet Jake Swift, the current knight of Los Angeles.

Jake is just a regular guy. Sure, he can be a bit abrasive and sarcastic but deep down he is a good dude who wants to do the right thing. He has family and relationship problems just like most folks and sometimes his job can be a real pain in the ass. It just so happens that his job involves working for a secret organization of knights who can hardly stand him and wielding a magical sword to risk his life fighting deadly monsters all over the city all without so much as a thank you from a public that doesn’t know he exists. Now a dragon gone serial killer has turned up in LA and when the bodies start piling up it is Jake’s duty to stop him or die trying.

Follow the continuing case files of the swaggering and sarcastic modern day knight who fights dragons, mages and anything else that goes bump in the night in this serialized urban fantasy.

Jake is surrounded by a supporting cast of friends and associates that include a fellow knight who is a shy and socially awkward computer whiz. His father who, as a knight, was a legend in his time and whose large shoes Jake was duty bound to fill. Jake’s longtime friend, who is a conspiracy theorist secretly on the government payroll, adds another dimension to the tale. Last but not least is a half dragon, half-sister who unexpectedly appears in Jake’s life as the series begins.

The story is written and conceived for the serialized format with a total of 8 episodes and a word count of about 160,000 words in the first season.

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2013

About the author

Jason Allen Amelio is a freelance writer, screenwriter, musician and producer. He wrote the screenplay Green Fees, a golf comedy that was a finalist in the Fall 2009 WILDsound Screenplay Contest. The script has since been optioned and is in development by Red Head Productions, an independent film production house out of Canada with award-winning short film director Frederic Ansaldo at the helm. His current writing project is the short serialized urban fantasy Jake Swift: Knight. The story follows the adventures of a modern day Knight who, as part of a secret organization called The Table, keeps Los Angeles safe from dragons, mages, supernatural creatures and anything else that goes bump in the night.

In his over 20 years as a musician Jason has written or co-written both music and lyrics for well over 100 songs. In 1995 he co-founded Dirt Poor Productions, which has been the outlet for all of his own musical releases as well as several other bands and has promoted hundreds of live shows. His musical projects include rhythm guitar and backing vocals in the heavy metal outfit The Kill Junkies with whom he has co-written, produced and self-released two albums: 2006's Metal Against Your Will and 2010's Steamroller. His other musical project is the long running campy horror punk band and sometimes performance art group Fangboy and the Ghouls. Acting as lead guitar and vocalist, as well as primary songwriter for the band, he wrote, produced and self-released 1995's Gone Batty, 1997's Welcome to the Chamber of Thrills, 1999's covers cd Please Don't Sue Us, 2001's Scare Tactics and 2002's Love Songs for the Dead and Dying as well as several other live releases. In addition to music he served as the primary writer for the band's performance art aspects including many skits and shorts based on the group's campy horror personas. Both projects over the years have given him the opportunity to meet and in some cases play with some of his musical idols. Something he is very grateful for.

Jason is 36 years old and lives in the small beach town of Ventura, California with his wife. A lifelong love of both fantasy and old time radio detective shows are the inspiration for his current project Jake Swift: Knight. His long term goals include continued work in the short serialized fiction category as well as full length novels in the genres of urban and epic fantasy. His writing influences include Jim Butcher, Richard Kadrey, Patrick Rothfuss, as well as the writing duos of Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir and Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. He is also interested in parlaying his comedy screenwriting success into writing for the types of genre television and films he grew up on. Like many of his generation he is profoundly influenced by Star Wars and Star Trek as well as other genre television like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate, Hercules and Xena. His comedy and other screenwriting influences include Rob Reiner, Harold Ramis, and John Hughes, along with more contemporary writers Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow and Joss Wedon.

In addition to his creative endeavors Jason has worked in the Horse Racing industry for 19 years. He is the manager of an off track betting facility.