About Wander Words

Where stars speak, and stories listen.

Wander Words is a living constellation of fiction, essays, poetry, and world-shaping curiosities. It’s not a single story, but a story-world — one where science, psyche, and myth lean toward one another and hum.

If you’re looking for a tidy niche, this may not be the place—but if you’re a curious mind drawn to the liminal, the lyrical, and the cosmic, you’re home.

Who I Am

I’m JL Tooker—storyteller, worldbuilder, and lifelong student of wonder.

I hold degrees in Agricultural Science (I wanted to be a cowboy), Forensic Psychology (people are endlessly strange), and a Ph.D. in Psychology (not a therapist—a researcher).

But more than anything, I write because something in me keeps tugging at the unseen threads between things:

• Science and soul

• Myth and memory

• Language and consciousness

• Stars and stories

This space is where I follow those threads — and invite you to follow them with me.

How to Enter This World

Wander Words isn’t linear. It’s a constellation.
Choose the point that calls to you:

For Story-Lovers & Mythwalkers

Starwoven — a lyrical sci-fi coming-of-age story where music, memory, and starlight shape reality.

Begin here: Starwoven: Hear My Call - INDEX

Crone’s Cairn — myth-touched tales of feminine archetype, danger, and quiet magic.

Begin here: Crone’s Cairn — Danger of Drowning (or search “Crone’s Cairn.”)

For Deep Thinkers & Meaning-Seekers

The Threaded Deep — where psychology, myth, and reflection interweave, mostly around my worldbuilding a literary sci-fi trilogy, beginning with World Beyond the Song (WIP).

Start with: The Story Beneath the Structure

Personal Essays — writing, identity, and the odd act of being human.

Reader favorite: Neurodivergent Writers: The Craft of Divergence

For Wonder-Wanderers

Whale’s Song — my premier series examining how communication models studied in other species, from whales to the mycelial network, may someday help us make first contact among the stars.

For Language Lovers & Worldbuilders

Threlraan — my invented alien language, shaped by ancient and mythic logic and sonic intuition.

Begin with: Why Invent a Language?

Not Sure Where to Start?

Start Here: A Guided Tour of Wander Words—A map for first-time wanderers.

What to Expect

• Genre-blurring storytelling

• Essays that braid psychology, myth, and craft

• Occasional poetry, strange artifacts, and quiet revelations

• A community of curious minds

I publish when the work is ready—sometimes weekly, sometimes in concentrated bursts when the signal is strong.

A Note on Voice & Variety

I write in series, cycles, and constellations, often returning to ideas months or years later. Think of this space not as a newsfeed but as a mythic archive—alive, growing, and sometimes singing to itself.

If a piece feels like a message from another world, it probably is.

A Note on Craft & AI

Occasional AI-assisted drafting and editing. Human-authored, always.
I sometimes use AI as a thinking partner — never as a ghostwriter. Every story, essay, and poem begins in my mind and is shaped by my hand. When I use AI, it’s the way a sculptor uses extra tools: to refine, not replace. The voice you hear will always be mine.

Join the Wander

Subscribe if you want to walk starpaths, question the obvious, and let words reshape the edges of reality.

Every wanderer brings something different to this place.
I’m glad you found it.

— JL Tooker

(updated 17 November 2025)