Nicotine Rush or Eyesight? Decisions, Decisions

Colleen "The Thorn Birds" McCullough is going blind--in fact, the hemorrhagic macular degeneration has taken the sight in one eye already. And though smoking is a known accelerant of the condition, McCullough refuses to quit because, she says, "the words are in the cigarettes." (Personally, I'm rather astounded she didn't quit after she nearly died of cancer, but I guess that's addiction for you.) The cigarettes may be losing their touch; as I noted at the beginning of the year, the Rocky Mountain News said of McCullough's latest, "What's wrong with this book? Between stereotypes and cliches and uninspired writing, just about everything."