All those strange words in True Age

Several True Age readers said I'd just better put together a glossary of terms if I knew what was good for me. I pondered this for a couple of seconds, as it meant more work, but then thought what the hell, it can't hurt. So for those who can't quite glean the meaning from the story, here ya go.

Glossary

Boose – short for caboose, basically a city bus

Choosers – People who choose not to take life-extension. They live a lifespan similar to the one we have now, about 80 years.

Docteur – A doctor. French medical research was instrumental in making extended life available to the masses and so this is a nod to those contributions.

Extenders – People who participate in life-extension. 

Fellowship Dome – The state holds regularly scheduled euthanasia for those who have run out of time. This takes place in regional arenas designed for mass extinction and disposal.

Gleap – A global leap or re-location to another area of the world, designed by the state as one of the remedies to help relieve boredom.

GROD – Government Rule on Dispatch. Basically, the police.

HoWee – A taboo form of music that originated with Choosers. It’s unique sound comes from bones.

I Don't Cares – A group – some might say a cult – of rebels who will do anything necessary to combat the new world order.

LIV – Life Intensive Venture. LIV represents the comprehensive plan for humanity – life extension, the government oversight of this, and all the societal mechanisms intended to make it work. Pronounced as it would be in this sentence: I hope I live a long time.

MEOMB – My Eyes on My Business. A warning issued by the GROD to those who observe police actions to ignore what they’ve seen. Also, a self-warning to not interfere in government business.

ReNew – Marriage vows are renewable in several different increments: 10, 25 and so on up to Ultra-vows that are until death do you part.

ReVive – An option to reanimate individuals who have died prematurely, generally used for children or other relatively young people who have died from an accident.

ReFRESH – A way to analyze scientific date. Also used as a psychological torture method.  

Syllable-century system – At the start of each 100 years, a person adds a syllable to his\her name and this signifies what century s\he is in. The first syllable is selected by the parents, after that the individual can choose. For instance: Li at birth, Lilu at 100, Liluna at 200.

The Change – an opportunity to change one’s gender.

The Innovation – The start of an era of extended lifespans through genetic engineering.

The Virtue – A virtual reality program, used primarily for sexual fantasies. Issued to married couples to give them a safe outlet for sexual exploration.

Tabs – True Age Bromide. Tabs support extended life with a combination of ingredients that nourish, calm and fine-tune individual genetic preferences. 

UG – United Government monetary unit. Money.

UNI – a device that provides communication and media access in all forms.

Five Questions for True Age author Liv Byron

Q. Do you seriously think people will be able to live to 300 years of age someday?

A. Yes, without a doubt. Science is nearly there already. This book is more science illustrated through fiction, rather than science fiction of the outlandish idea genre. The bigger question, in my mind is, not if the human lifespan will be expanded but how will we manage all that extra time.

Q. So how do people, with these extra-long lives, cope in your story?

A. In True Age, we find people struggling with the two extra centuries they’ve been given. For one thing, there are not enough resources to adequately support them. On the up side, people are given the tools to ensure that they live relatively healthy, youthful lives for the duration – it’s not as if they are aging as we do now. 

Q. The book talks about the Great Horror of Boredom, what’s that about?

A. Right, it is definitely the biggest challenge for the characters – to find meaning in life. Especially as most people have make-work jobs and assigned housing. There are not a lot of choices.

However, the government of LIV (the Life Intensive Venture) offers solutions, however. For instance, one can change one’s sex in the second century. Married couples take renewable vows. There’s a virtual reality sex machine which provides an opportunity for experimentation. There’s also a relocation service that helps you move to another area of the globe.

Q.  Not everyone in the story lives three centuries, why is that?

A. There’s an opposition group that works to restore dignity to life, asking people to look at quality versus quantity of years. These people, called Choosers, have chosen not to become “extenders”,  those who participate in life extension technology.

Choosers believe the old ways are best. Many of them grow their own food and strive to live as close to nature as possible in a world manipulated by technology.

Q.  So are you, ultimately, saying it’s a bad thing to live 300 years?

A. Not at all. The point is to look at how individuals and societies can successfully support lifespans that even now are so much longer than they were 100 years ago. How do we make later years valuable and meaningful, how to we provide for aging populations and make room for the new generations coming in? How do we preserve the earth’s resources and population growth as people live longer and longer lives?

True Age -- what's it all about?

Here's the synopsis for True Age, available on Amazon, for Kindle.

Would you like to live for 300 years?  The benevolent global government of LIV can help. With the miracle of Extender Technology, you can be a fit, healthy, sexy specimen for centuries.

All that's required is a bit of genetic engineering, a daily dose of True Age Bromide and complete loyalty to a new world order.

While science can provide remarkable longevity for the individual, it also gives an unstoppable power base to those who control the technology. High Tier master Gemini has a plan to stretch the human lifespan to 1,000 years and beyond. His experimental group of Pioneers has already reached the 500 year mark.

Told through a series of vignettes, the novel weaves a world where the concept of time, at the mere human level, becomes warped beyond imagining. 

In this new society, concepts such as marriage, work and the meaning of life must be retooled for the billions of people now fighting for their place on the planet. The search for fulfillment in an era when life goes on and on −even as resources dwindle −can be daunting.

How do people cope? Lara decides a sex change will help her deal with the extra time on her hands. Raba seeks solace in virtual reality. Sol escapes to a tiny corner of the world where nature's way is still revered.  The government provides a robust menu of options, it’s up to you to decide what will make your life worth living.

While most people decide to become Extenders and embrace the chance to live for centuries, there is a growing resistance. A faction known as Choosers keeps to the old ways and rejects unnatural longevity of the government’s Life Intensive Venture.  Arnold Bonner is a Chooser. He won't take the True Age Bromide that would keep him alive and instead grows his own herbal remedies – with noteworthy results.

 A rebellion brews and soon explodes into a war between Extenders and Choosers that asks you to decide what matters most - living long or living well? 

There is no easy answer.

True Age to launch April 1

At long last -- 10 years in the making -- I'm bringing out my sci-fi novel True Age.  Publishes April 1, an Amazon e-pub.