York trilogy

I am rereading your York Trilogy. I have vacationed in York, so I love the historical significance. I have a good friend with Huntingtons. Im just curious as to what your connection to Huntingtons was before writing this series? I am 54 by the way. L

Many years ago, before I began writing books, I was writing stories and articles for teen publications, and I was interviewing some teenagers who were volunteers at the National Institutes of Health.  They were given various jobs to do, and they were recounting some of their experiences.  One of the boys told me that he could never forget a patient who had four teenage daughters.  He himself was slipping into slow dementia, something called Huntington’s disease.  If you have it, all your children will have a 50% chance inheriting it also.  But they may not know if they have the disease until it shows up, usually in middle age.  He was so concerned for these girls.  I researched Huntington’s disease myself and couldn’t help but  use  it in a novel about life’s uncertainties.