Table of Contents | Still There
A new serialised novel from cyberpsychologist and author Elaine Kasket
Poor Cassandra…
An unhappy marriage, a tragic loss, and a personal reckoning...Cassandra Wood is tumbling headlong into a full-fledged midlife crisis. The technological landscape isn't making things any easier, either: her husband makes her take RoboTaxis and electronically surveils her every move, she's expected to play the role of chief mourner on her late friend's creepy 'Memor-I-Am,' and she's started talking to a compelling stranger in some kind of virtual funeral home.
Suddenly Cassandra is thinking things could turn around for her...but will her new life online be her salvation, or her undoing?
Welcome to my new novel Still There - I've taken many of the themes I deal with in my nonfiction (All the Ghosts in the Machine, Reset) and enfolded them into a cracking yarn. And I’m super excited about it.
New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday throughout summer 2025!
Join the story by subscribing now. Need to catch up? You can do that via links on this Table of Contents (see below).
Still There is absolutely free to read, listen to, and subscribe to. (It’s also free to love it, talk about it, restack it, and recommend it.) If you've never experienced serialised fiction on Substack, it's a new thing and quite fun -- give it a try. xoxo
Episode 1 - Christmas Cactus - Cassandra receives some terrible news about Olivia
Episode 2 - Calla Lily - Cassandra hates RoboTaxis, but her husband Paul makes her take one for her sad errand
Episode 3 - Calla Lily Part 2 - Cassandra sees Olivia’s glamorously distressed husband for the first time since it happened
Episode 4 - Rosemary - Cassandra creates even more of a spectacle at a gathering that’s already pretty over the top
Episode 5 - Rosemary Part 2 - Cassandra debriefs with no-nonsense Verity, who goes in on her about why she hasn’t done her social duty
Episode 6 - Snowdrop - Cassandra takes a deep breath and logs onto somewhere she doesn’t want to go
Episode 7 - Snowdrop Part 2 - Cassandra meets someone she didn’t expect to meet, and the dam starts to break
Episode 8 - Crocus - Cassandra is energised both by her unexpected conversation and what she discovers in her mother’s loft; she returns to London with a plan
Episode 9 - Primrose - As Cassandra tries to confide in her therapist, Eleanor, it starts to become clearer why she’s so stuck in her situation
Episode 10 - Primrose Part 2 - Cassandra recollects her past with Paul to try to make sense of things, and an unexpected windfall means that she might once again have the chance to be ‘alone’ with Alex.
Episode 11 - Bluebell - Armed with a new online presence and feeling like more of a force to be reckoned with, Cassandra goes in search of Alex again. She doesn’t have to look for long.
Episode 12 - Bluebell Part 2 - Cassandra ‘drunk dials’ Alex and is nearly discovered by Paul.
Episode 13 - Hawthorn - As her interactions with Alex evolve into new forms, Cassandra reveals her secret to Verity.
Episode 14 - Hawthorn Part 2 - Paul and Cassandra clash.
Episode 15 - Passionflower - In the aftermath of the incident between her and Paul, Cassandra considers her future.
Episode 16 - Passionflower Part 2 - Alex paints a vision of what life could look like if Cassandra were to leave England.
Episode 17 - Passionflower Part 3 - Two successive events allow Cassandra to make up her mind.
Episode 18 - Sunflower (8 July) - Verity and Cassandra execute the plan.
Episode 19 - Venus Flytrap (11 July)
Episode 20 - Venus Flytrap Part 2 (15 July)
Episode 21 - Venus Flytrap Part 3 (18 July)
Episode 22 - Deadly Nightshade (22 July)
Episode 23 - Deadly Nightshade Part 2 (25 July)
Episode 24 - Aloe (29 July)
Episode 25 - Aloe Part 2 (1 August)
Episode 26 - Poppy (5 August)
Episode 27 - Poppy Part 2 (12 August)
Episode 28 - Sweet Acacia (15 August)
Episode 29 - Sweet Acacia Part 2 (19 August)
Episode 30 - Protea (22 August)
Still There is being serialised exclusively on Substack. I’d love your feedback, which might very well shape the final form of the eventual published novel. I hope we can connect!
About the Author
Cyberpsychologist, counselling psychologist, and author Elaine Kasket ventures into new territory with Still There, her first novel. Known for nonfiction work such as All the Ghosts in the Machine and Reset: Rethinking Your Digital World for a Happier Life, she's now exploring the boundaries between memory, technology, and human connection through fiction.
