Drowned by men. Saved by a monster.

The last place Alexandra Bailey expects her routine life of domestic journalism to lead is being sucked into icy floodwaters below New York City with a knife in her ribs. Headlines like this happen to other people, but it's real, and she knows she's dead. Which makes the circumstances of her survival as impossible as the woman who drags her from the water. 

Saved but hardly safe, Alex wakes in the Underground, a world of misfits and monsters thriving below the streets. It's a journalism goldmine. One Alex can't resist digging into after learning her beastly savior is Leanna Farrow, adopted daughter of an infamous and "presumed dead" scientist. But Alex's curiosity, coupled with her rapidly developing feelings for Leanna, put both women in danger when Alex’s inquiries pique the interest of a powerful family with bloody secrets connected to the Underground. 

If Alex wants to unravel the secrets of the world below she'll have to walk the razor's edge, but some mysteries are better left buried.

🕮 Over 1700 copies sold  🔖 600k pages read on KU ⭐ 200+ Amazon reviews 🏆 2 Awards 🎖️ 4-time Indie Ink Award Finalist 🔥 One hell of a #sapphic read

 So what are you waiting for?

Undergrounder by J.E. Glass

Amazon Link

Drowned by men. Saved by a monster.

The last place Alexandra Bailey expects her routine life of domestic journalism to lead is being sucked into icy floodwaters below New York City with a knife in her ribs. Headlines like this happen to other people, but it's real, and she knows she's dead. Which makes the circumstances of her survival as impossible as the woman who drags her from the water.

Saved but hardly safe, Alex wakes in the Underground, a world of misfits and monsters thriving below the streets. It's a journalism goldmine. One Alex can't resist digging into after learning her beastly savior is Leanna Farrow, adopted daughter of an infamous and "presumed dead" scientist. But Alex's curiosity, coupled with her rapidly developing feelings for Leanna, put both women in danger when Alex’s inquiries pique the interest of a powerful family with bloody connections to the Underground.

If Alex wants to unravel the secrets of the world below she'll have to walk the razor's edge, but some mysteries are better left buried.

Jae’s Writeblr (re) intro

Hello all! I can’t say this is necessarily an introduction as I’ve been on Tumblr for a LONG time, but I’ve never formally burst onto the writing scene outside of fandom, so here I am making that official introductory post!

ABOUT

I’m J.E. Glass (Jae is fine and preferred), a 30-something she/her lesbian author of dark/urban fantasy and paranormal romance with a heavy focus on female-centric and wlw stories. I’ve been writing since I was old enough to correctly hold a pencil, but I only just became published in April of this year with my Sapphic Beauty and the Beast retelling debut UNDERGROUNDER.

I work full time for City Municipalities and write in the free time, but I’m also an avid convention goer and cosplayer with my wife and partner of 16 years. You can find me over on TikTok (@jaeeglass) and Twitter (@JEGlass_). I love creating book trailers and doing nerdy/fandom related TikToks based on my current fixation...which happens to be Gideon the Ninth and Owl House, at the moment.  

My Main Projects

Something I love doing is creating worlds where all my stories can exist separately from one another while remaining under the same banner. I have five books in the works all taking place at different points in time in a society that walks in stride with our own while remaining hidden. I love blending the genres of urban and dark fantasy and focusing on queer female rep. Below is a list of all books both available and upcoming in chronological order.

Conclusion

I hope to interact with this thriving community more and get to know some of you! Please feel free to send me a DM, anon, or chat with me any time. Especially if you've read my work and want to scream at me for the trauma xD I grew up in fandom, so my love language is speaking with readers and flailing together.

In case you missed it, you can also follow me on:

TikTok: @jaeeglass

Twitter: @JEGlass_

 To my beloved @childofwestwind

It’s kind of sad. While going over scenes for Rose Garden this evening with Beth I actually stopped and asked her, “Are we making Andy too snarky in this scene? Should we tone it down?”

And it’s just...it kind of put things into perspective. Not like I haven’t come up against this before, I’m not a naive lamb fresh to tumblr or the world, but this was one of the first times I actually asked this question aloud. I won’t go on a rant or anything because it’s late and I don’t have the proper cognitive thought, but just uttering that question speaks volumes as to how warped female writers, or women in general, have become due to our misogynistic society and internalized misogyny.

Since when did it become the norm to stop and ask if a woman is too strong? What the fuck is that? Honestly? What is too strong even mean in this context? As far as I’m concerned there’s not such a thing. Why do we have to call into question whether or not the level of a woman’s strength is too much? Too much for...what? Men? Society? God himself?  And I know what naysayers will spout, throwing around the term “Mary Sue”, which has always been a sexist way to devalue a woman’s effectiveness in pros. Guys can be instantly good at something, but god forbid there’s a scenario where a woman doesn’t have to cobble together every scrap of talent she can amass and fight for every inch of the automatic respect her male counterpart receives.

It blows my mind we put a cap on female strength or give it limitations and labels. “A woman can’t be truly strong if she depends on a man or needs his assistance.” “A woman can’t be truly strong unless she chops her own wood with the leg hair she’s grown out all winter!” “A woman can’t be truly strong unless she’s had kids!” “A woman can’t be truly strong if she’s ever needed to cry or has cried in front of friends.” “A woman can’t be truly strong unless she punches the male antagonist in the balls so many times he pees blood!” “A woman can’t be strong if she’s been with a woman.” Like, this is all bullshit to me. Fucking write strong women with no limitations. Let them be a huge fucking badass or a snark queen or a quiet power. Just fucking be you and write the women you see fit, not the women out fucked up society wants to see published.

Rose Garden- Chapter 3

Where to Read: AO3 Word count: 6,792 Chapter warning: Mild, unwanted sexual advances. Tagging to prevent possible triggers. I’ll be putting more of these up as the story progresses, just as a warning to readers. There will be at least one scene of attempted non-con in later chapters that I’ll tag as well. 

"I'm going to charge you for that ice, you know. It doesn't come cheap." Seated and skimming reports, Labete looked like hunched gargoyle behind his desk. The sight would have been comical had the chair supporting him and the desk not matched his mountainous size. Say one thing for Dominic Labete, he was a big man.

Part library, part study, the room right off the third floor's main chamber was where Dominic conducted most of his business. Gas lamps burned under decorative glass shades, lending the area a warm glow. The fireplace situated between two stone lions remained unlit and cold. Due to the baths and the steam traveling through pipes in the stories below, there was no need to heat the office, ensuring it remained comfortably warm all winter.

Sprawled undignified in his chair across the large desk like a hawk with a broken wing, Louis shot his friend of nearly two decades a withering look. His suit was unkempt and torn. His hair a mess. He had scratches on his neck and mud on his brown, pointed shoes. The front of his pants had been unbuttoned, lending him access to the part of his body that hurt the most. A bag of ice resting carefully in the crook between his legs did little to lessen the throbbing ache. If he concentrated hard enough, Louis imagined he could feel the imprint of Andy's heel. It was a miserable, inescapable pain.

"Legitimately suck my left tactical," Louis snapped. His nausea was only just now starting to abate, but he could feel the stretch of his bruises beginning to awaken.

"I don't think you want my mouth anywhere near your grapes," Labete sniffed, trying hard not to crack a smile while he skimmed over an unhappy expense report. "Talk to Daniel. He'll be more than happy to kiss them better."

There are moments in storytelling when sexual assault can be used as grounds for character building and plot foundation. There are also moments in storytelling when using sexual assault make you, inadvertently or not, a rape apologist. Learn to spot the difference and write wisely.  

Me editing: The fuck is this shit? The fuck did I write? How the hell can people read this?

My hand slipped while writing, and I might have accidentally killed a character...oops...