At age 63, author Armistead Maupin is riding high with a new novel, Michael Tolliver Lives, and a new man, Christopher Turner, a website owner nearly 30 years his junior who Maupin recently wed in Canada. And he owes it all to his friend DonkeyDad. AfterElton.com recently had a chance to chat with the author about all of this and more.

AfterElton: Even though this novel features Michael Tolliver from Tales of the City, you state quite clearly it's not a sequel to the other books. Why do you say that?
Armistead Maupin: People will get really mad at me and say, ‘But what happened to DeDe? A few of the other characters do wander by at some points but basically, it's a story told form the viewpoint of Michael Tolliver.

AE: So how is Michael, AKA Mouse, doing these days?
AM: He's 55 and a gardener, and his life is one happy round of Lipitor, Wellbutrin and Viagra.

AfterElton: I'm on two of the three.
Armistead Maupin: You've got good cholesterol, do you?

AE: Um, maybe. Where did the title Michael Tolliver Lives come from?
AM: For years, people said to me, “I'm glad you're not doing Tales of the City anymore because Michael would be dead right now.” That flew in the face of all of my friends who have survived HIV and I wanted to let them know he was still around. Partially it means that, and partially it's ironic, because like a lot of people with HIV, he's lived long enough now to face issues of mortality that have to do with the usual aging process and dying. I can relate to that very easily and want to write about it.

AE: You met your partner Christopher in a very interesting way that is similar to something that happens to Michael in the book.
AM: I've always drawn on my own life. I have to. I have a friend who's been my housekeeper for 25 years. He came in one day and proudly told me that he had been asked to pose for a website for older men, DaddyHunt.com. So I used his handle, which was DonkeyDad—that gives you a general idea of why he was on the website—and went on and checked out his pictures.

AE: And how were they?
AM: To someone else, it would be extremely impressive but to me, it was kind of like watching my Aunt Gladys flashing the troops or something.

AE: And then what happened?
AM: I would sign on as DonkeyDad and roam the website, and I saw this beautiful guy on there. G-rated pictures but just this beautiful face. I looked at him and I immediately connected with him.

AE: So you shot him an e-mail, right?
AM: No, I was a total coward. I just printed out the picture because I wasn't about to put pictures of myself on the Internet. So I saw him walking down the street one day. I chased him half a block and said, ‘Didn't I see you on a website?' And he smiled at me and said, ‘I run that website!' So we got together and it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me.”