This story was based on an actual mid-life dating experience, but there's more to it than even that. 
   

Locations cited in the story are real. Especially interesting are the Spanish enclave of Llivia and Drusilla's castle, Castrum Libiae or Castle Llivia. Go to JackDancer.com and the hyperlinks to get a Google-Eye's view of the castle.
   

The characters, Doctor Drusilla Libica, Tiber, and Drusus, are also based on real people. 
   

The idea of using Drusilla came about when I was looking for an out-of-the-way location for the story's antagonist to have a secret hideaway. And because the train trip took us to Perpignan, France (for real) and that's where Drusilla and her sons depart the train along with Paulo Marti's near-corpse, I needed someplace nearby. Somewhere unique. The Pyrenees were a given, but it took a lot of Google Map searching before I came across the little Spanish enclave of Llivia. 
   

It was the perfect place for the leader of a criminal organization because it was Spanish territory surrounded by France. But more than that, there was a castle, and from the castle, one could exit onto French territory or Spanish territory. What could be better for someone evading authorities? If the Spanish are after you, you exit onto French soil, and if the French are after you, you exit onto Spanish soil. Perfect!
   

When I discovered Llivia and the castle (or the little that remains of it) I also learned that the castle was not only built by the Romans eons ago but it was named after a woman named Julia Lybica. The name evolved into Julia Livia and then Llívia. That led me to Livia Drusilla, also known as Julia Augusta, wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus throughout his reign, as well as his adviser. She was the mother of Emperor Tiberius (our character, Tiber). 
   

The name, "Drusilla" has been synonymous throughout history with evil doings though actually, she wasn't evil at all. She just got a bad rap, and it stuck. Some believed that she had murdered her husband

 

Augustus but it didn't happen. Still, it stuck. 
   

Other fictional characters have been based on Drusilla too: 
   * Drusilla, a DC Comics Amazon who works with Wonder Woman.
   * Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel.
   * Drusilla Paddock, in The Worst Witch children's novel series.
   * Drusilla, a succubus in the Pibgorn webcomic.
      Llivia Drusilla has also been featured in the following works:
   * The popular fictional work I, Claudius by Robert Graves, where she's portrayed as a thoroughly            scheming political mastermind.
   * Livia was also dramatized in the HBO/BBC series Rome.
   * In Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough, Livia is portrayed as a cunning and effective              advisor to her husband, whom she loves passionately.