SEVERAL IMPORTANT THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JASON VINLEY   He cut his teeth on network TV on shows like THE EDGE OF NIGHT, PARADISE BAY and THE HIDDEN FACES, soap operas, the meat and potatoes of daytime TV. Lesser talents get chewed up and spit out on these continuous, non-stop dramas, five days a week, week in and week out.   Then for a change of pace Jason created a sitcom with the late Kenneth Mars for Susskind/Stern's Talent Associates. A few published books and a handful of screen and stage plays later he was signed on by the Christian Broadcasting Network to create and oversee the writing for the first and longest-running dramatic series on cable TV, ANOTHER LIFE.  After a successful three and a half year run, 875 shows, it went into reruns.   In addition to developing shows for the second largest cable programmer, Jason was Supervising Producer for SUPERBOOK, an animated TV series of 52 episodes.  He spent months in Japan working out the intricacies of this massive production with the writers and ad agency execs.   But that's ancient history.   Forty years in TV either matures a writer or beats him down.  Jason Vinley has managed to achieve a singular maturity in his craft.  Hard-nosed discipline, with youthful sensitivi­ty.  An intuitive knowledge of "what works" with the guts to press out beyond the easy edge of "good enough."   He leads and motivates - no mean feat for today's writer and pr­oducer.   His resume won't tell you about Jason Vinley, the man of conviction.  The soft-spoken, rather conservative family man who places a premium on relationships.  Perhaps this keen discernment and empathy with people's hopes, fears and dreams is the "secret" of his creative depth.   His latest properties, ELVIS WAS KING, BUT JOLIE WAS GOLDEN, a full-length play which became a finalist in the renown Barter Theatre competition, and SOULCATCHER, a historical Action/Adventure screenplay about a desperate black woman who hires a slave catcher in 1853 to rescue her kidnapped children, demonstrate Jason's skill of bringing real-life human emotions to the screen.  His well-dimensioned characters make people laugh, cry and feel enriched in the bargain.  An art all but lost in today's mélange of shallow melodrama.   Jason Vinley didn't write this background piece on himself. Nor did he hire a publicist as is often the custom.  I have had the privilege of knowing him as a friend and colleague for years, and I wanted you to know him as I do.   Now, let his work speak for itself...   John Faulk, President The Creative Partnership, Inc. 264 West Ocean View Norfolk, VA 23503